NVME hotter than EMMC

[shak59]

So it turns out NVME drives run much hotter than EMMC storage.

EMMC would thus have less fan noise, longer battery life, less heat production.

How do you feel about this?

[Nemesis]

Doesnt mean much it depends alot on how the drives are manfactured. I doubt you will see a noticeable difference between the two. Besides emmc is a hardware architecture and nvme a interface specification so this whole distinction of drives based on that doesnt make any sense.

[shak59]

I guess it will be around a 10C difference. That is a lot of work for the fans to cool.

[@R+5]

this:

Publicado originalmente por Nemesis:

Doesnt mean much

is incompatible with this:

Publicado originalmente por Nemesis:

it depends alot on how the drives are manfactured.

because the second statement is true, but also applies for different technology: different tech, different ways it deal with heat.

in relation to op, i think it may be the other way around: emmc is usually cheaper (unless its industrial grade) so that also means it wont work as well with higher temperatures than hardware design with better quality to support bigger changes. nvme are more likely to last longer, even with high temps than emmc, but is also true they can get hot. Also tranfer rates of nvme are faster than emmc, which also means less time wasted in loading. if you are going to use the deck for playing games, it makes more sense to use nvme if you can afford it.

if you watched the linus tech tips video about the deck, the heat readings of the deck in use are very good: the areas where you place your hands remain usually around 25 degrees celcius, which is almost 10 degrees less than other handheld consoles that place the controller very close to the cpu

[@R+5]

check min 13:33
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SElZABp5M3U

[@R+5]

industrial emmc vs standard emmc (ie what most cheap laptops and the deck use)
https://www.atpinc.com/about/stories/data-retention-test-endurance-for-non-volatile-memory-emmc

emmc degrades over time: if you want to use the same memory for more than 5 years, its a safer bet to invest in an nvme

[Nemesis]

Again eMMC is a hardware architecture (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MultiMediaCard#eMMC) and NVMe is a interface specification (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVM_Express) so these terms are completely meaningless at describing a ssd. Thats what i mean by "Doesnt mean much". What matters is how they are manufactured, but i doubt that they will get warm enough to notice anything. The soc will be the main heat generator.

[SockDog]

I imagine the APU and other components will be generating the majority of heat inside the device.

[ReBoot]

... except the eMMC controller will have to run (=eat electricity and spit out heat) longer for the same data.

[Haruspex]

Depends on how the game is utilizing that storage. If it loads off storage once, then doesn't need to access it until loading the next area, you'll see a bit of a spike in heat and power consumption during loading that tapers off after it loads. If the game is always streaming data off storage, such as in an open world game, you may see more consistently high temps and power use.

I would like to see a test for temperature over time and battery life when loading off the NVME drive vs SD card. Improved battery life might be an unexpected plus to using SD cards.

[AndyCalling]

SD card would be interesting. I hear that 1TB Micro SDs run very hot compared to 512MB cards.

[@R+5]

Publicado originalmente por SockDog:

I imagine the APU and other components will be generating the majority of heat inside the device.

it matters little which is the main source of heat in a small closed space (even if it has a fan and a small window): things get hot, and keeping things hot for too long can degrade them.

the quality affects how fast each thing degrades, and if that thing is replaceable or not: you can replace an nvme but not emmc (and emmc are more vulnerable to heat because they have lower quality).

one of the reasons digital cameras dont work great for doing indie films with basic hardware is that: smart film makers will connect an external disk, so the camera has better bandwidth and also the sd card isnt affected with heat.

you want something that can last longer or that can endure longer sessions? you will need an nvme. you wont play games that will demand a lot of the cpu-gpu, and will play for long sessions? then its ok to use an sd.

[SockDog]

Publicado originalmente por @R+5:

it matters little which is the main source of heat in a small closed space (even if it has a fan and a small window): things get hot, and keeping things hot for too long can degrade them.

the quality affects how fast each thing degrades, and if that thing is replaceable or not: you can replace an nvme but not emmc (and emmc are more vulnerable to heat because they have lower quality).

If something adds a negligible amount of heat over the other components who cares. EMMC vs NVME is a percentage over a percentage of the heat envelope. Something that might be realistically designed into the cooling solution regardless.

In short if EMMC is run within acceptable operational temperatures then this question is moot. I seriously doubt Valve engineers haven't stress tested read/writes over long periods on prototypes.

[WarnerCK]

Publicado originalmente por @R+5:

you can replace an nvme but not emmc

The eMMC in the Deck is socketed just like the NVMe.

All models use socketed 2230 m.2 modules (not intended for end-user replacement)

https://www.steamdeck.com/en/tech

[rusty_dragon]

It's a surprise to noone that M.2 SSDs are hot garbage. So, yes, eMMC might be intentional to increase longevity for those who would use Steam Deck mainly for older games.
So, eMMC variant looks interesting.
Wait till people would start to undervolt their Steam Decks.

[MikeyBadtz]

Publicado originalmente por @R+5:

check min 13:33
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SElZABp5M3U

I really hate when people reference these fools at ltt. None of there testing are real world. We want to know what the actually component temps are and how drives compare to each other not what temperature the hand holds are obviously that won't be hot that's dumb. The other geniuses at gamersnexus took thermal videos of how the fan blows... Meanwhile you or the tubers have answered the questions of drives and power draw differences which is what everyone's asking. Linus is like talking to a best buy employee