Thermals
Let’s take a look first at what the CrystalDiskInfo reports on the NVMe SSD that we installed in the D1 SSD Plus.
IR Images
Sustained stress test (15 min): no thermal throttling, temperatures plateaued at ~55°C in a 30°C room
You should pay extra attention to operating temperatures, as NVMe drives lower their speeds when overheated to reduce stress. Even with that failsafe, you can easily kill an NVMe drive if you expose it for prolonged periods to stressful conditions, so an enclosure with a good cooling system is highly advised, even if it costs you more. You will save lots of money on broken NVMe drives, in the long (or the shorter) run.
Again, for those who missed the meaning of the paragraph above, heat is the silent killer of SSDs, and many enclosures ignore it. TerraMaster’s finned design and all-metal body make the entire chassis one big heatsink.
Highest Operating Temperature
- Room Temperature: 30 degrees Celsius
- Measured after CrystalDiskMark had been running for 15 minutes
- Maximum:54.8 degrees Celsius/130.64 Fahrenheit
Various Operating Temperatures
- Idle temp: ~36°C
- Normal workloads: ~42–44°C
- Heavy sustained transfers: ~54–55°C
- Cat’s (!) sustained temperature: ~38-39°C
That’s significantly cooler than most 20Gbps enclosures, which often push past 70°C and trigger throttling. And since the D1 is fanless, you get absolute silence, which is a real plus in audio studios, libraries, or simply when working in a quiet office.
