CrystalDiskInfo and high (>60/65 degrees) Composite Temperatures

[kiddingguy]

On my gaming notebook (specs see sig) in the last couple of days CrystalDiskInfo reports over 60-65 degrees and temperature is turning red.

I have already compressed-air my vents, and still the red 'flags' occur.

My notebook is currently 6 years old. Does that mean it's going EOL...? Or is something else the case?
I have updates it with all latest software and firmware/BIOS-updates. Yet, the latest BIOS dates June 2021.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I wouldn't say it's EOL, it's just getting old.

Did you try re-applying grease on the CPU/GPU?

 

[kiddingguy]

On 18/01/2026 at 00:13, Mindovermaster said:

I wouldn't say it's EOL, it's just getting old.

Did you try re-applying grease on the CPU/GPU?

 

I haven't done that. Yet.
Basically because the (over)heating is mentioned (occurs?!) on the SSD.

It's also placed on different parts on the mobo... does that matter in heating and other related stuff?

Edited January 17 by kiddingguy

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

On 17/01/2026 at 17:18, kiddingguy said:

I haven't done that. Yet.
Basically because the (over)heating is mentioned (occurs?!) on the SSD.

It's also placed on different parts on the mobo... does that matter in heating and other related stuff?

if you havent re-greased any of it, rather not CPU or GPU, you might want to. I think both of them are on the same heatsink, correct?

Ever try putting in a new SSD? Did that fix anything?

[kiddingguy]

On 18/01/2026 at 00:45, Mindovermaster said:

if you havent re-greased any of it, rather not CPU or GPU, you might want to. I think both of them are on the same heatsink, correct?

Ever try putting in a new SSD? Did that fix anything?

You got a point on the same heatsink.

The SSD has been (re)placed about a year/1,5 years ago.

Let's start with grease for CPU/GPU...

[kiddingguy]

I have ordered some ARCTIC MX-6 thermal paste... coming in next week. Let's see what it does.

[kiddingguy]

Btw, this is CrystalDiskInfo message on the SSD. With nothing much going on on CPU intensity and all; basic usage of visiting some Internet-pages and having Outlook open.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I'd get a new SSD. This isn't normal. If it's still under warranty, RMA it. If not, it's about ready to blow.

[Steven P. Administrators]

Have you ruled out any weird program running constantly in the background hitting the disk?

Are you able to download a SSD toolkit for your SSD (latest firmware etc).

[kiddingguy]

On 18/01/2026 at 19:05, Steven P. said:

Have you ruled out any weird program running constantly in the background hitting the disk?

Are you able to download a SSD toolkit for your SSD (latest firmware etc).

The disks have the latest firmware installed.

Is there a tool to see which processes are constantly running and eating up the disk?

[kiddingguy]

On 18/01/2026 at 18:58, Mindovermaster said:

I'd get a new SSD. This isn't normal. If it's still under warranty, RMA it. If not, it's about ready to blow.

Thx. Contacted Kingston Warranty on this.

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 18/01/2026 at 19:31, kiddingguy said:

Is there a tool to see which processes are constantly running and eating up the disk?

Yes, tools like Resource Monitor, Process Monitor, and iotop help identify processes heavily using your disk; You can also check the built-in Resource Monitor (via Task Manager) .

Is a good place to start.

[kiddingguy]

Can anything be said on this?

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 18/01/2026 at 21:10, kiddingguy said:

Can anything be said on this?

Looks kind of normal, so that rules out any malware/service thrashing the disk  

[kiddingguy]

Applied new thermal paste... it's (still) running at 55 degrees in idle mode [and fan settings on 'silent', as well as 'turbo' mode].

Not that much activity going on (no playing games and stuff).

[Steven P. Administrators]

Seems to have improved!!!!!

Google says this:

For a PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD, the normal operating temperature range is generally between 30°C and 60°C (86°F - 140°F). While idle temperatures can sit in the 30–40°C range, they often rise to 50-60°C under load, which is considered perfectly normal for these drives. 

My T-Force PCIe 5.0 x4 SSD idles at around 50C with a big heatsink on it,

and my PCIe4.0 x4 Samsung 990 Pro SSD is idling at 49C doing nothing! (it is an alt OS drive, so not even being used in Windows).

and that is under the motherboard heatspreader plate for the M.2 slots.

I have pretty decent cooling (8 fans excluding AIO) so idk 50C, idle seems normal anything between 30-60C is considered normal.

A factor might be a combination of things like your case airflow, are all the fans and openings free of dust? Intake from the bottom and expelling heat out the top/back of PC?

[kiddingguy]

I think I have a PCIe Gen 3 NVMe connector. 2 fans, and 3 'fan exits' (2 at the back, 1 on the right). Airflow is pretty good (decent). There's three options they can run: silent, performance and turbo. [the KC3000 can get up to pci-e 4.0]

Notebook is: Asus ROG Strix GL731GV-EV026T from January 2020 (so 6 years old)

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Operating Temperature  0°C~70°C

 

https://www.kingston.com/en/ssd/kc3000-nvme-m2-solid-state-drive?capacity=2048gb

[kiddingguy]

Kingston got back to me that I’ll be getting a replacement.

However, I need to send in my default NVMe disk and not able to use my primary computer for 2-3 weeks. Yikes.

Let’s see what can be done about this…

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 22/01/2026 at 09:52, kiddingguy said:

Kingston got back to me that I’ll be getting a replacement.

However, I need to send in my default NVMe disk and not able to use my primary computer for 2-3 weeks. Yikes.

Let’s see what can be done about this…

If you can afford it, look on Marktplaats, Tweakers for a secondhand backup SSD for temporary use (Amazon.nl and Amazon.de might also have cheaper returned SSDs you can buy).

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

You may wish to look into adding a heatsink for the Kingston M.2 2280 NVMe SSD.  While a "conventional" raised fin copper heatsink might not fit inside the laptop's chassis, it is possible a flat copper shim style of heatsink might fit.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky