Intel X710 DA2 SFP+ card - remove heatsink?

[MortenB]

Hey

Im running an HP 562SFP+ in my desktop computer. Im about to buy new fans that are 30mm thick, and it will most likely interfere with the heatsink on my network card. I have no other free slots due to a 4090 taking up a lot of space.

Is it safe to remove the heatsink and run without one on this card? Id have a Phanteks 120mm fan blowing fresh air straight towards the chip as long as the computer is running. Im rarely doing big filetransfers so load on the card should be low..

If not, are there any very very low profile aftermarket heatsinks that takes up less space that one could use?

 

[DavidWJohnston]

That card appears to have the Intel X710-BM2 chipset which is rated at 7W TDP and 55C max. According to the pic on the Intel page, the package does not appear to have a heat spreader.

According to the calculator on this page: Assuming case air temp of 30C, with light aiflow (Rv=150), and a 5cm*5cm heat sink, it needs a heat sink height of about 1.7cm minimum to dissipate the heat load, which appears to be slightly under what's installed on the card, which you'd expect. But who knows, this calculation could be garbage-in garbage-out and you'd be fine.

But if it's correct, I would say it's probably not OK to run it without the heat sink. The data sheet on the Intel site also says there is no thermal throttling or cut-off so it will just smoke if it gets too hot.

In my experience: I run the QLogic QLE8142 10G dual-port cards, and they only have a small heat spreader (no heat sink) and they run fine even with low airflow. SFPs get hot, but they're designed to run at like 70C. Are they really that much more efficient than the Intel chipset?

Maybe, YMMV. Good news is those QLogic cards are dirt cheap if you'd like to get one. (No fancy offload capabilities)

 

[MortenB]

That card appears to have the Intel X710-BM2 chipset which is rated at 7W TDP and 55C max. According to the pic on the Intel page, the package does not appear to have a heat spreader.

According to the calculator on this page: Assuming case air temp of 30C, with light aiflow (Rv=150), and a 5cm*5cm heat sink, it needs a heat sink height of about 1.7cm minimum to dissipate the heat load, which appears to be slightly under what's installed on the card, which you'd expect. But who knows, this calculation could be garbage-in garbage-out and you'd be fine.

But if it's correct, I would say it's probably not OK to run it without the heat sink. The data sheet on the Intel site also says there is no thermal throttling or cut-off so it will just smoke if it gets too hot.

In my experience: I run the QLogic QLE8142 10G dual-port cards, and they only have a small heat spreader (no heat sink) and they run fine even with low airflow. SFPs get hot, but they're designed to run at like 70C. Are they really that much more efficient than the Intel chipset?

Maybe, YMMV. Good news is those QLogic cards are dirt cheap if you'd like to get one. (No fancy offload capabilities)

View attachment 28157

Thanks a lot for the reply! I will see what I do when the fans arrive. I also have a single port Connectx-3 thats quite a bit smaller pcb wise, so I can try that instead if it doesnt work out.

 

[DavidWJohnston]

I just realized I made stupid mistake, I used the wrong max temp. It should be 110C. In this case, a heat spreader alone is probably enough; just a flat piece of metal with a little bit of airflow should do it.