You Can Now Watercool M.2 Drives!

M.2 storage devices use a much smaller form factor and can reach incredible speeds which make SATA drives seem extremely outdated. NVMe solutions are capable of read rates beyond 2000MB/s and offer incredible performance. As a result, many high-end users have switched from SATA units like the Samsung 850 Pro to the Samsung SM951. Of course, this comes at a price premium but the advent of extreme devices provides another option for media professionals and other users requiring the absolute best storage speeds.

Custom water cooling has traditionally focused on the CPU, GPU and to a lesser extent memory. In some cases, it’s possible to link the custom loop to a motherboard’s MOSFETs but this isn’t very prevalent. One other area which is extremely niche is storage water cooling and we’ve seen some wacky attempts such as the EKWB Intel SSD 750 Series Water Block. The latest invention comes from respected water cooling company, Aqua Computer which allows you to add superior cooling to M.2 devices. Aqua Computer’s PCIe 3.0 4x kryoM.2 card uses a multilayer PCB with a gold surface which acts as a contact point for each layer. On another note, the PCI-E contacts are gold plated and the circuit paths are impedance controlled.

The M.2 SSD is mounted via a thermal pad which means the adapter can offer passive cooling. Additionally, the adapter can house a passive heatsink constructed from black anodised aluminium or a copper water block. This water block opts for the standard G1/4 threads to ensure the best possible compatibility.

Aqua Computer’s full range should be available starting May with the following prices:

• kryoM.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter – 18.90 EUR
• kryoM.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter with passive heat sink – 29.90 EUR
• kryoM.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter with water block – 67.90 EUR
• Passive heat sink for kryoM.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter – 12.90 EUR
• Water block for kryoM.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter – 49.90 EUR