M.2 Drive Options

Just like with many other parts of this hobby, you have a number choices when it comes to how you want to handle the covering of your M.2 drives with the armor. With a S-Ranked Armor, you have three choices (or four, depending on location), which are pictured below on an example ASUS X570 TUF GAMING

With Option A, there are two 4mm holes cut above where the drive is. Those holes are for attaching a 1/8-inch (3.15mm) thick copper block via counter-sunk M4 screws and washers with thermal pads that press directly on to the drive, thus making the armor above it a heatsink. The copper blocks with thermal pads and screws are sold separately as a kit that you can find here.

Option B is to have a pattern of cutouts above the drive. In this case they're hexagons and can be any other simple shape such as triangles, circles or squares. Note that the minimum size for each hole is 3mm and can not be placed any closer than 2.4mm apart. This is to keep the structural rigidity of the material. 

Option C is to have a large cutout for a heat sink. Currently the openings are sized for EK Waterblocks M.2 heatsink (https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-m-2-nvme-heatsink-gold). Other heat sinks may be possible, but is highly dependent on the size. This is option is very dependent on the armor and may not be possible due to there not being enough material surrounding the cutout. Email me before requesting this.

The use of stock M.2 heatsinks in a design is highly dependent on the motherboard. Through much trial and error, it's been determined that some stock M.2 heatsinks take up too much space to be used. As a rule of thumb, most bottom heatsinks that are underneath the chipset shroud are usually the only ones that can work. Any other location isn't a great idea, at best. As such, please send a message to confirm whether a particular board's armor could support using the stock heatsink(s).

Please note that for Option B and C, if you request either a shape that has not designed for or are using a heatsink that is not from EK, it will lead to a longer lead time.

Lastly, note that any of these options on their own do not have any additional cost if they are matched, i.e. both top and bottom are the same option. Splitting the options, such as Option B on top and Option C on bottom, will incur an extra cost.