Some of the best SSDs, specifically the PCIe 5.0 drives based on the Phison PS5026-E26 controller, have been crashing instead of thermal throttling when operating without a cooler. However, it is worth noting that all of the impacted drives are designed and marketed to specifically be used with a heatsink, so the conditions that expose the thermal shutdown will not present themselves if the drives are used correctly (in accordance with manufacturer specifications).
Initially, only the Corsair MP700 exhibited this behavior; however, it's now become apparent that the issue is more widespread and affects other Phison E26-based SSDs that are designed for heatsinks when they are used without heatsinks attached.
German news outlet Computerbase discovered that the Seagate FireCuda 540, Gigabyte Aorus Gen5 10000, and Adata Legend 970 also suffer from the shutdown issue. It was to be expected since the PCIe 5.0 SSDs utilize the same Phison E26 controller. The FireCuda 540, Aorus Gen5 10000, and Leged 970 are still on firmware 22. Seagate hasn't gotten back to Computerbase when the new firmware will be available, whereas Gigabyte promised that it'll arrive "soon."
