I have tried two Extreme Pro 4tb SSDs, and both remain very warm when idling (just by plugging them), even hot at the copper perimeter ring. In both cases tech support said it should NOT do that, and so must be defective and to return for replacement. But I can’t believe two drives in a row, two months apart, were faulty. Further many people have complained about this – yet others say there’s no such problem. So, what’s going on?
I am using an XPS 13 9310, Win10Pro, highest specs available in late 2021, and not modified in any way. Out of curiosity, I plug the drive into my Microsoft Go 3 running Win 11 and … voila! doesn’t get hot when idling!
So, seems to me that there is some unaddressed issue of compatibility going on. For the record, my several Samsung 2tb T-5s and T-7s all run stone cold when idling on the XPS-13.
There must be something that Sandisk has not addressed explaining why so many are complaining about the hot-when-idle issue — some BIOS setting, or a driver compatibility issue, or something affecting these drives on some extremely popular computers.
I’d love to keep the drive and buy a couple more of the same, but can’t unless this can be fixed. Any assistance hugely appreciated. Thank you!
Hi @cattigara,
Have you opened a Support Case? If not opened, for more information, please contact the SD Technical Support team for the best assistance and troubleshooting:
https://kb.sandisk.com/app/ask
Thank you for the reply. I spoke to Sandisk tech support by phone — they say the drive is defective and to return it. But they are wrong — the drive is not defective, and there is something else going on affecting many of their customers. But I will open a ticket — thank you!
For the record, I have received no response whatsoever from Sandisk about my Support Case.
Seems to be a sandisk issue across the board, their drives just run hotter, of course hot itself is subjective, and internal ssd’s often have heatsinks, and don’t’ really like to be too cold in fact.
But yes samsungs do run cooler.
#SanDiskUserRewards
Thank you for the reply.
To be sure, it is not just a matter of the Sandisks running warm when they are “running”, but that on many perfectly stock systems they run warm or hot when idling, just by being plugged in. Since my original post I have discovered that while this problem exists with my XPS-13 (latest, top-of-the-line, Win 10 Pro), it curiously enough does not have this problem with my cheap GO3 running Win 11.
This explains why many reviews claim no problem about idling, while others do — there is some issue of compatibility. Unfortunately I need mine to work on my main computer.
I have the same issue with a SanDisk SSD 2TB connected to an Apple iMac-24.
I got a replacement enclosure because my old ones fan wasn’t turning on. But even with the new one, the drives are getting insanely hot, and after sometime, the drives are forcibly ejected. At this point I am worried about the data. This is by far the worst piece of engineering I have ever seen! It looks fantastic, the concept is great, but the engineering is terrible here. If SanDisk isn’t resolving this, there’s no point in holding on to this hardware, and I would suggest anyone out there from holding off on buying this,
It sounds like you’re experiencing a compatibility issue between your XPS 13 and the SanDisk Extreme Pro SSDs, which may be related to drivers, firmware, or power management settings. Some users report similar issues with certain laptops, especially with specific BIOS settings or power profiles that cause external drives to remain active or draw power even when idle. Since your Samsung SSDs work fine, it’s likely not a problem with the XPS 13 itself. Try updating your BIOS and SSD firmware, and also check the USB power settings in Device Manager to ensure they aren’t keeping the drive active. Additionally, experimenting with different USB ports or using a powered USB hub might help.
