I’m hoping for advice on power budget considerations when buying an SSD for the Framework 13 Pro, also taking heat into consideration.
The WD_Black SN8100 is a drive that I’ve been strongly considering since it’s Gen5x4, has DRAM cache, and supports TCG Opal.
It’s described by Sandisk as having the following power specs:
Average Active Power Read: 6.4W
Average Active Power Write: 7.0W
Maximum Working Temperature: 85ºC (185ºF)
Strangely, no maximum power specification is provided by WD/Sandisk, but I found this test that mentions 6.8W was the maximum they observed (strange considering that’s under the manufacturer’s spec).
Of the options on the Framework configuration page, the SN7100 draws 3.7W Max and the SN850X draws 6.3W Max. In terms of performance, the comparable drives would be with the Phison PS5031-E31T. I can’t find specifications for the PS5031-E31T drives Framework is offering, but for example techpowerup states that the Corsair MP700 Elite 2TB (Phison E31T) has a maximum power draw of 4.7W. The Kioxia Exceria Plus G4 2TB is also E31-based and tested at 5W max with 3.2-3.4W average. So it looks like a Phison E31T SSD draws around 4W.
Might anyone be able to advise me on whether the WD_Black SN8100 is a good choice (or not) for the Framework 13 Pro?
Since the SN8100 is higher power, it runs hotter. The thermal stress test in the reviews linked above place the SN8100 at 102ºC, vs 87.3ºC for the Kioxia Exceria Plus G4 (14.7ºC higher). Is this significant enough to cause problems, or cause the fan to be running often?
The SN8100 draws almost twice as much power (3.5W more) than the Kioxia Exceria Plus G4 2TB during average use, is this a reason for concern?