ARCTIC M2 Pro - Heatsink Cooler for M.2 2280 SSD, with ARCTIC TP-3 Thermal Pads, Compatible with PC & Gaming Consoles, for Dual and Single-Sided SSDs - Black

Hey, thanks for asking. I still had some pics on file. It's a pretty simple mod, I do it a lot on more budget-conscious boards - as you said, that naked IO looks awful. I make them with 1/4" (2-3mm) acrylic (if you use a black acrylic like I linked you can avoid having to paint it later). It's essentially just an L-shaped housing. For the top surface, just measure the length and width required to cover the IO components. With this board that's all you really need, but you can make a vertical "wall" coming down to hide the IO from a side view. Once cut to the correct size, sand it down and neaten up the edges. You can either paint it with a matte Krylong or Rust-Oleum, or you can use a vinyl auto wrap to cover it. Attach it to the IO area with a good double-sided tape like this. Note the IO boxes at the bottom are taller than the ones further up. To make it level you'll need to put something under it. This can be as simple as just several pieces of tape stacked on top one another so you have a little wedge of double-sided tape - this isn't supporting any weight, it's only cosmetic. If your drive didn't come with one, I'd suggest getting a heat sink - it's best to keep them cool, and it looks a lot better than a naked drive. I also painted some of the board heatsinks - nice touch if you want to mess with it. Sorry for the long answer. Let me know if you have any more questions!

Depends on the SSD model. The NV3 uses random, cheap controller chips, so it is possible that you want a heatsink. Get some third-party one like the Arctic M2 Pro, Thermalright TR-M.2 2280 Type A, or be quiet! MC1.

The S70 would work. It's actually a high-end drive with DRAM cache, but requires a good heatsink to prevent it from frying itself. Your motherboard does not have one, so get a third-party one like the Arctic M2 Pro, Thermalright TR-M.2 2280 Type A, or be quiet! MC1.

I got a couple of these and they work well. Cheap and effective. only thing is they don't fit double sided nvmes well, but still doable from experience.