a515-56-32dk - Overheating problems with the m.2 SSD?

wsmacl

I just bought an a515-56-32dk. I will add a SATA SSD for my data storage, but I am thinking of upgrading the M.2 SSD as well (to have more space for programs). In what I have seen on-line, it seems there is very little heat dissipation for the M.2. Anyone have insight on this?
Has anyone had overheating problems with the M.2 SSD? Has anyone put in a larger m.2 SSD and had problems (or NOT had problems) with heat?
Thanks for any help you can give on this!

wsmacl

I should ask as well, how much space is left on the 128GB SSD out of the box.

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1201313#Comment_1201313

Maybe you are planning this already:

Your model has space for a 2.5-inch hard-disk drive (HDD) and an HDD upgrade kit (bracket, cable and screws) should be included otherwise ask the retailer for that. Instead of an 2.5" HDD get the new Samsung 2.5" Sata 870 EVO, 1TB, SSD ($64) that will run cool (no heat sink required) and consumes far less power than a M.2 SSD (but Sata is also 6x slower than PCie). Either as your storage or as your boot drive:

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Inch-Internal-MZ-77E1T0B-AM/dp/B08QBJ2YMG?th=1

Tt's not necessary. to have a heatsink for your 128GB M.2 SSD but you need to upgrade to a 250GB SSD (similar heat map) as Window11 Home (with "Bells and Whistles")+Office need 120GB.

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/685109/a515-56-32dk-overheating-problems-with-the-m-2-ssd

Just to help you out some more, as I've got experience with exactly what you are asking about, as your Aspire A515-56 operates on a 1x M.2 SSD PCIe Gen.3x4 boot drives that the fastest PCIe3x4 drives, operate at speeds of up to 3500MB/s read/write, so be ware of that, your laptop also has provisions for a 1x 2.5" SATA III SSD or mechanical drives that an SSD drive can run at 600MB/s speeds.

I'm using 2x 1TB M.2 SSDs drives, be aware that anything below 1TB if you are playing games is not adequate as you will run out of space, and playing your games off the 2.5" SATA III drive will slow your games down as that drive is not as quick as an M.2 1TB PCIe3x4. Also, I fitted to this Nitro laptop one of the fastest M.2 PCIe Gen.3x4 drives from WD which is the 1TB SN750 Black (the other quickest drive is the Samsung 970 EVO Plus) so be aware of that, as both of these M.2 drives are perfect for your A515-56 laptop.

These M.2 PCIe Gen.3x4 drives (especially the slave 2nd M.2 drive on my laptop) does not overheat at all and they run comfortably at 38C at normal computing tasks, for gaming they can get to 65C but these drives do not overheat as much as mechanical drives do, what I've done due to the limited space and height for these M.2 drives in a laptop case, I covered the whole M.2 drive with a layer of high grade Thermal Grizzly thermal pad material on top of the M.2 drive to disperse the heat off the drive even more, and that works 100% and perfectly, you don't need to put any M.2 thermal heat shields, as allot of them do nothing and the better thermal shields, don't fit as they are too thick and you can't close/secure the bottom lid of the laptop.

wsmacl

Puraw - thanks. I am putting a 2tb SSD in the available SATA bay (actually I am using the 870 EVO as it was at $119 on Amazon). I have a lot of photos, docs and videos I store (digital packrat of sorts) and 2 TB gives me room to grow.

Thanks for the info on space -it is somewhat as i expected.

Steve gen - I'm not a gamer (or I wouldn't be buying this laptop), and my current Acer has only about half filled the 256 gb boot drive with OS and programs. But 128 GB seems right - especially of Win 11 takes more space.