Is there any space for additional RAM and SSD heatsinks?

System memory (SO-DIMM RAM)

For SO-DIMM memory (i.e. the kind that fits in laptops), there is generally no room for additional heatsinks. Since laptop memory also tends to run at lower voltages than their desktop counterparts, heatsinks aren't necessary either.

SSD drives

Things look different for SSDs in the M.2 format. Since this format is now used for both laptops and desktops, there are many SSD products in the market that are already equipped with custom heat sinks. In laptops, the space for such SSD heat sinks is limited. Many XMG laptops already have their own SSD heatsinks integrated or they have a thermal pad, which thermally connects the typical SSD height either to the motherboard or to the bottom shell of the laptop.

For a rough overview of which laptop still has room for SSD heatsinks, please check out this thread on our Reddit support forum:

PSA: Before you buy M.2 SDDs with heatsinks, check how much space your laptop has

If your laptop doesn't have room for the heatsink of your preferred, you might still be able to use it. With some of those SSDs, the heat sink can be removed or it is only included as an optional accessory anyway.

Practical example: Samsung SSD 9100 PRO (Gen5) in XMG NEO 16

The graph below shows the results of a 10-minute sequential write stress test (worst-case scenario) using the 4 TB version of the Samsung SSD 9100 PRO.

xmg-neo-16_e25_samsung-ssd-9100-pro-4tb-write-test_thermal-comparison_samsung-heatsink-vs-xmg-solution.png

The test compares two configurations: one with the original Samsung heatsink (model MZ-VAP4T0CW), and one without a heatsink (model MZ-VAP4T0BW), instead using our own integrated cooling solution inside XMG NEO 16.

Test Setup

System: XMG NEO 16 (E25) with Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, 32 GB DDR5-6400, RTX 5090
Test software: Microsoft DiskSpd (1M block size, 1 thread, queue-depth 8, no software cache).
Samsung heatsink: To fit the tall original heatsink, our own SSD heat spreader XMG NEO 16 was removed. No additional thermal pads were used.
XMG solution: The bare SSD was placed directly under our custom heat spreader. Thermal pads on both the top and bottom of the SSD establish contact with the spreader and the inner surface of the laptop’s bottom cover. This effectively turns the metal chassis into a passive heatsink.

Test Result

Both configurations maintained a steady, uninterrupted write speed throughout the test—fully within PCIe 5.0 specifications and without any thermal throttling. After a few minutes, the temperature curves of both solutions converged and stabilized around 64 °C.

Since the CPU load was minimal in this test scenario, the system fans remained relatively quiet throughout.

Conclusion

This test demonstrates that well-engineered, chassis-integrated SSD cooling makes bulky heatsinks unnecessary - even for high-performance Gen5 SSDs. This approach is standard across all XMG and SCHENKER laptops, where SSDs are always thermally connected to the chassis. By contrast, we cannot make general statements about the thermal performance of laptops from other brands.

Bottom line: If you're using an XMG or SCHENKER notebook, you can confidently choose the heatsink-free version of an SSD without compromising on performance or thermal reliability.