Msi m.2 shield: we test whether it's worth it (mini review)

There is a lot of expectation among our readers whether it is really worth acquiring a Z270 motherboard with the new MSI M.2 Shield technology . This new generation promises to have a thermal upgrade on our NVMe SSD.

In our internal tests we found that its performance was quite good, it is more… better than expected. But we wanted to spend about 3 ~ 4 hours of continuous testing to check the actual performance of this new cooling system.

Index of contents

MSI M.2 Shield What is it? Worth?

MSI M.2 Shield is a dissipation system designed for M.2 SSDs with SATA and PCI Express (NVMe) format. Basically we have an aluminum plate that covers the entire surface of the M.2 tablet, it is separated by a thermalpad that is in charge of transferring heat to it.

MSI promises to lower temperatures and thus prevent disk throttling. But… Is it really true?

Test of performance

We have used for this occasion the new MSI Z270 Xpower Gaming Titanium motherboard that has three M.2 connections and that only one of them has the Shield M.2 cooling system. We have also used the same motherboard for testing without a heatsink and with a heatsink on the SSD.

For this, we leave you with all the complete configuration of the system.

• Processor: Intel i7-7700k. Motherboard: MSI Z270 Xpower Gaming Titanium. RAM memory: Corsair Vengeance PRO LED. SSD disk: Corsair MP500. Operating System: Windows 10 64 Bit.

As we see in the tests we have done, Crystal DiskInfo has allowed us to monitor all the hot task. In normal values ​​we have that the Corsair MP500 at rest obtains a temperature at rest (idle) of 43ºC and at maximum power (Full) of 67ºC, which is logical and normal in these units.

But it is that when we insert the MSI M.2 Shield we lower the temperatures at rest to 33ºC and full power to 57ºC . Is there a temperature improvement? The answer is clear, YES. In our tests, however, we have not suffered throttling in either test…

Final words and conclusion about MSI M.2 Shield

We believe that the M.2 Shield from MSI is a good invention, that in case it was a little thicker it could maintain better temperatures and thus be able to offer greater performance. As it is, it is a very correct cooling system.

In short, if you want to have your M.2 disk (At least the MP500) in the best possible health, it is a good purchase option. As we always tell you, if you have any questions you already know that you can ask them! And don't forget to visit our guide to the best motherboards on the market.