Review on ⚡ Highpoint RocketStor 6661A Thunderbolt 3 to PCIe 3.0 X16 Expansion Chassis: Enhance your system with lightning-fast connectivity! by Mike Larkin

Your PCI card is housed in a thick, heavy aluminum case with well-finished surface and excellent heat dissipation. One of the things I can't believe is the fan design. The two small fans are mounted on an internal metal frame rather than on the inner surface of the outer case. This can make the installation less error-prone, but there is a side benefit. it turns the body into a resonant box (think cellos). The noise then gets louder, like a powerful CPU fan running at full speed, with an even higher pitched tone. After some experimentation, I found that the fans aren't really needed even in this design. The included power supply is rated at 12V 5A, so the maximum thermal output of the entire system does not exceed 60W. The TB3 chip doesn't get very hot. Then we have a few cases to discuss: 1. For cards less than 5W: They can't even heat up. So the fan is not needed.2. For these cards in 5-15w. They are hot and have a heatsink installed. My experiment with one of these cards shows that the card can work normally even without a fan in the case when the chip temperature is <180F. (A modern commercial semiconductor can operate at around 200F.) In those cases I would skip the fan.3. For these cards in 15-30W. Usually they have a fan installed. My experiment with a budget graphics card that falls within this range returns 185F with no case fan. The fan on the PCI card runs at 70%, but given the better build (it's from a certified workstation) and the location where the resonator doesn't fire, they sound quite acceptable. For the cards over 30W: If they still stick to the single slot design, they usually have a mesh panel with a turbofan that blows hot air straight through. So they care a lot about their own airflow. Case fans are also not required. There are some exceptions. Some devices, even when running at low power, can get hot due to the design of the circuit board and adjust their performance based on the temperature. NVME drives are one of them. If you want noise-free but need unlimited power, take a heatsink with you. You only need to cover the controller part. Even a tiny 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/4 will work just fine. Just remember not to secure them with a rubber band (most of the designs sold here come with them) as they will eventually crack in the heat and push the metal heatsink onto some vital circuitry nearby.