MP All Models External TB3 NVMe SSD - only 800 MB/s write speed

[funkahdafi]

Hi,

I have a 2019 i-9 iMac and built an external SSD enclosure using a Sonnet Echo Express SE-I TB3. I have tried two different PCIe NVME adapters and my NVME SSD (Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB) is only reaching around 800 MB write speed. Sometimes goes up to 850-870 MB/s. I tried different brand PCIe NVMe adapters and even replaced the SSD (thinking it might be faulty), I also replaced cables, but to no avail. I contacted Sonnet and they said I should be seeing much higher speeds.

Read speed is sitting at an acceptable 2500 MB/s., btw.

Temperatures are in check, I am using a heat sink and the enclosure has a fan. SMART shows I am sitting at about 53C during a stress test (this particular SSD starts thermal throttling around 80C).

Now here is the kicker: I also tried a Highpoint 6661A-NVME enclosure and I am getting the same results there. It's almost as if macOS has disabled write caching on the drive for some reason? Thunderbolt 3 certainly can't be the limiting factor here.

Any ideas what else I should be looking into?

I know I should be posting this over in the iMac subforum, but I figured I will find more people with similar setups and experience here. Hope that's ok.

 

[joevt]

Replace the 970 Evo Plus with 970 Pro? I don't know which SSDs will behave properly in a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure.

I have a similar problem with Samsung 960 Pro 1TB (865 write/2537 read) on Mac mini (2018).
Samsung 950 Pro 512GB behaves slightly better but is not as fast (1194/2412).

Using a USB 3.1 gen 2 to NVMe adapter, a Samsung 950 Pro 512GB does well (997/987) but even a slow NVMe does well, such as a 2TB Intel 660p (994/991).

 

[h9826790]

Sounds like TRIM isn't working.

 

[funkahdafi]

I have a similar problem with Samsung 960 Pro 1TB (865 write/2537 read) on Mac mini (2018).

Interesting. Those numbers are pretty much the same here. Could this be a limitation with Thunderbolt 3 on certain Macs? Or a bug in macOS? I am still running 10.5.3. What do you have on your end, if you don't mind me asking?

Sounds like TRIM isn't working.

on a brand new SSD that contains no data and was just formatted prior to the benchmarks, trim should be irrelevant. System Report does show that Trim is enabled though.

 

[joevt]

Interesting. Those numbers are pretty much the same here. Could this be a limitation with Thunderbolt 3 on certain Macs? Or a bug in macOS? I am still running 10.5.3. What do you have on your end, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm using the latest Catalina 10.15.5 (19F101) on my Mac Mini (2018).

The problem is a combination of Thunderbolt 3 and the NVMe (or the drivers for the NVMe). The same Samsung 960 Pro 1TB gets 2130 MB/s write, 2812 MB/s read in a M.2 slot of a Hackintosh (GA Z170N-Gaming 5). Speed is similar (2154/2939) to my other Hackintosh (GZ-Z170X-Gaming 7). Both Hackintoshes are running High Sierra 10.13.6.

CL!ng.app measures the bandwidth to and from an RX 580 eGPU connected via Thunderbolt on the Mac mini (2018). It measures 1998 MiB/s write and 2593 MiB/s read (max). That translates to 2045 MB/s write and 2655 MB/s read.

 

[funkahdafi]

Ok, so I'll just assume my hardware is ok and this is an Apple issue.

 

[POLJC]

I've been using the TREBLEET Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure with a Sabrent 1TB Rocket NVMe 4.0 Gen4 PCIe M.2 Internal SSD for three weeks now. I'm getting speeds of 2,350 MB/s Read/Write. I have a 2018 MacBook Pro with a 256 SSD, which only gives me about 1,325 MB/s. I am now booting off this enclosure and I can't believe the difference. It's night and day. It gets warm, but not hot. I use the internal SSD now as a backup drive. LOL!

View attachment 919720

 

[joevt]

TREBLEET Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure

I use the Trebleet as my eGPU for Mac mini 2018.

 

[gugy]

I've been using the TREBLEET Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure with a Sabrent 1TB Rocket NVMe 4.0 Gen4 PCIe M.2 Internal SSD for three weeks now. I'm getting speeds of 2,350 MB/s Read/Write. I have a 2018 MacBook Pro with a 256 SSD, which only gives me about 1,325 MB/s. I am now booting off this enclosure and I can't believe the difference. It's night and day. It gets warm, but not hot. I use the internal SSD now as a backup drive. LOL!

View attachment 919720

I have on my 2015 mbp, the same NVMe but gen 3 internally and getting around 2,860 mb/s speeds for both read/write. It's a dam shame Apple soldered their drives on the new models. You could get scream speeds internally with a Sabrent gen 4. Damn you Apple!

 

[WallyL]

Hi,

I have a 2019 i-9 iMac and built an external SSD enclosure using a Sonnet Echo Express SE-I TB3. I have tried two different PCIe NVME adapters and my NVME SSD (Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB) is only reaching around 800 MB write speed. Sometimes goes up to 850-870 MB/s. I tried different brand PCIe NVMe adapters and even replaced the SSD (thinking it might be faulty), I also replaced cables, but to no avail. I contacted Sonnet and they said I should be seeing much higher speeds.

Read speed is sitting at an acceptable 2500 MB/s., btw.

..

I have the exact problem, write speed at 800Mbps and read at 2300Mbps. My setup is a 2019 iMac, Wavlink UTE02 Thunderbolt-3 NVMe enclosure and a WD SN750 2TB SSD and Big Sur MacOS. However, if I swap the NVMe SSD with a WD SN750 1TB NVMe SSD, the read problem is gone. I get around 2000Mbps write and 2300Mbps read.

I think it's something to do with MacOS or NVMe controller chipset not able to handle larger 2TB NVMe SSD.

 

[bsbeamer]

I had tested numerous NVMe adapters before and during the pandemic. Personally found this one below to be the fastest performing with best heat dissipation for the vast majority of uses. It is one of the few "new" generation that truly offers 40Gbps support. Several of the previous generation had issues with read/write limits, especially if using certain blades. Personally have been using for 3+ months with Samsung NVMe without any issues at all.

ORICO NVME Enclosure

ORICO NVME Enclosure

www.amazon.com

 

[Aboo]

I am having the same issue, albeit with the JEYI Gen 2 enclosure which came highly recommended on this forum. I get only write speeds of around 1100-1200, but read speeds are in the high 2500s. Seems to be a common theme here now, not sure how to resolve.

 

[funkahdafi]

Since I have opened this thread, the situation has gotten much worse, even. Write speeds dropped to ridiculous 800 MB/s, just a tad more than a good SATA SSD.

This must be something macOS related, there really is no other explanation. Same enclosure-disk combination plugged into a PC runs perfectly fast, as it should.

 

[WallyL]

Since I have opened this thread, the situation has gotten much worse, even. Write speeds dropped to ridiculous 800 MB/s, just a tad more than a good SATA SSD.

This must be something macOS related, there really is no other explanation. Same enclosure-disk combination plugged into a PC runs perfectly fast, as it should.

Yes, I believe it's something to do with the macOS Big Sur or Catalina. This weekend, I got two separate Thunderbolt-3 NVMe enclosures (URL below) from Amazon and they both have the same slow 800Mbps write speed and expected 2600Mbps read on the WD SN750 2TB NVMe SSD. When I swapped with a 1TB SN750 NVMe SSD, the write speed go up to 2000Mbps and read stays the same at 2300Mbps.

Yottamaster:-

Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure, Yottamaster 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 to NVMe m.2 M-Key SSD Aluminum External Enclosure for 2280 M.2 NVMe SSD,with 50cm Thunderbolt Cable

Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure, Yottamaster 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 to NVMe m.2 M-Key SSD Aluminum External Enclosure for 2280 M.2 NVMe SSD,with 50cm Thunderbolt Cable

www.amazon.com

Ineo:-

ineo Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure (not Work with Type C PC), PCIe Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) to NVMe M.2 SSD Case - (SSD not Included) [C2604]

ineo Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure (not Work with Type C PC), PCIe Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) to NVMe M.2 SSD Case - (SSD not Included) [C2604]

www.amazon.com

It's really puzzling .... :-(

 

[joevt]

I am having the same issue, albeit with the JEYI Gen 2 enclosure which came highly recommended on this forum. I get only write speeds of around 1100-1200, but read speeds are in the high 2500s. Seems to be a common theme here now, not sure how to resolve.

I believe the problem is with the combination PCIe gen 3 NVMe and Thunderbolt 3 enclosure.

I can get 2636/2602 MB/s write/read speed (write is slightly faster than read) with a PCIe gen 4 NVMe (Sabrent Rocket 2 TB) in a Trebleet NVMe enclosure

Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure ,Thunderbolt3 to NVME M.2 2280 Hard Drive Case Compatible with New M1 CPU

Specification: Interface: PCIe Rev. 3.0 Maximum read speed: 2800 MB/s (Depend on the model of hard disk) 4 x LED indicator TB 3 NVMe SSD Enclosure 1x TB 3 Cable 1x Screwdriver

www.amazon.com

SABRENT 2TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 Internal SSD Maximum Performance Solid State Drive (Latest Version) (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-2TB).

SABRENT 2TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 Internal SSD Maximum Performance Solid State Drive (Latest Version) (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-2TB).

www.amazon.com

 

[WallyL]

I believe the problem is with the combination PCIe gen 3 NVMe and Thunderbolt 3 enclosure.

I can get 2636/2602 MB/s write/read speed (write is slightly faster than read) with a PCIe gen 4 NVMe (Sabrent Rocket 2 TB) in a Trebleet NVMe enclosure

Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure ,Thunderbolt3 to NVME M.2 2280 Hard Drive Case Compatible with New M1 CPU

Specification: Interface: PCIe Rev. 3.0 Maximum read speed: 2800 MB/s (Depend on the model of hard disk) 4 x LED indicator TB 3 NVMe SSD Enclosure 1x TB 3 Cable 1x Screwdriver

www.amazon.com

SABRENT 2TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 Internal SSD Maximum Performance Solid State Drive (Latest Version) (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-2TB).

SABRENT 2TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 Internal SSD Maximum Performance Solid State Drive (Latest Version) (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-2TB).

www.amazon.com

@joevt - Thanks for sharing your setup. Will check out the product on Amazon.

It is strange that WD SN750 1TB NVMe SSD can achieve a write speed of 2000Mbps and the same brand/model WD SN750 2TB only get 800Mbps write speed. Both on the same enclosure and MBP. That's what prompted me to think of MacOS issue. ?

 

[joevt]

@joevt - Thanks for sharing your setup. Will check out the product on Amazon.

It is strange that WD SN750 1TB NVMe SSD can achieve a write speed of 2000Mbps and the same brand/model WD SN750 2TB only get 800Mbps write speed. Both on the same enclosure and MBP. That's what prompted me to think of MacOS issue. ?

Added some AmorphousDiskMark tests at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/thunderbolt-3-m-2-nvme-ssd-enclosures.2027925/post-29361127

 

[Megabass]

I have the same problem.
SSD Enclosure Orico TOM2T3-G40 transparent, SSD Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB. Read speed ~ 2500Mb, write speed ~ 800Mb, iMac 2020

 

[funkahdafi]

How do we get this to Apple's attention? Do they even listen to bug reports?

 

[bsbeamer]

Are you positive the NVMe with slower speeds are single-sided? All dual-sided blades need adapters that fully support dual sided - which requires more heatsinks for compatibility.

Just an FYI - it appears temperature reporting is inaccurate for dual-sided blades. Seems macOS reports one of the sides with most adapters, not an average or each side individually.

Sonnet has a list for their PCIe adapter that helps breakdown the single/dual sided. The dual sided have a (1) footnote with checkmark:

https://sonnettech.com/support/downloads/manuals/M2_compatibility.pdf

 

[funkahdafi]

Are you positive the NVMe with slower speeds are single-sided? All dual-sided blades need adapters that fully support dual sided - which requires more heatsinks for compatibility.

Just an FYI - it appears temperature reporting is inaccurate for dual-sided blades. Seems macOS reports one of the sides with most adapters, not an average or each side individually.

Sonnet has a list for their PCIe adapter that helps breakdown the single/dual sided. The dual sided have a (1) footnote with checkmark:

https://sonnettech.com/support/downloads/manuals/M2_compatibility.pdf

I have a 2 TB Samsung EVO 970 Plus, which - regarding the document - is a dual-sided SSD. I plugged it into a Sonnet Express SE-I TB3 edition using various NVMe to PCIe adapters, and they all end up giving me a maximum read speed of around 800 MB/s. I had a support ticket open with Sonnet who confirmed to me that I should see much higher throughput. They had no idea what could be wrong.

 

[Aboo]

I have a 2 TB Samsung EVO 970 Plus, which - regarding the document - is a dual-sided SSD. I plugged it into a Sonnet Express SE-I TB3 edition using various NVMe to PCIe adapters, and they all end up giving me a maximum read speed of around 800 MB/s. I had a support ticket open with Sonnet who confirmed to me that I should see much higher throughput. They had no idea what could be wrong.

I don't think the 2TB Samsung Evo 970 plus is double sided. Looking at the NVME drive there are NAND chips only on one side and the document also does not have the 1 superscript/footnote to indicate it as such.

I didn't realize that this was an ongoing issue with Mac OS. The best way I have gotten apple's engineering team to take a look at an issue like this is to find someone with a Mac Pro lol. Those machines are so expensive that they get a dedicated support team out in Austin that can readily escalate the issue to engineering after they capture the issue with the recording tool.

If you know someone with a Mac Pro, now may be the time to call in a favor!

 

[WallyL]

I have the same problem.
SSD Enclosure Orico TOM2T3-G40 transparent, SSD Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB. Read speed ~ 2500Mb, write speed ~ 800Mb, iMac 2020

I have a Wavlink TB3 NVMe enclosure with WD SN750 1TB SSD and the write speed around 2300Mbps. However, the 2TB version of the same WD SN750 only get around 860Mbps. speed benchmarks attached.

I did another test on the same enclosure with my cousin Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB NVMe SSD. The write speed is the around 800Mbps and read speed in the 2600Mbps range.

Since :-
1. Both WD 2TB SN750 and Samsung 2TB 970 EVO Plus gave slow write speed around 800Mbps. Read speed is fine.
2. A 1TB WD SN750 write speed is good at 2300Mbps and read speed of 2800Mbps

I think the slow write speed for 2TB WD SN750 and Samsung 2TB 970 EVO plus NVMe SSD might be due to MacOS since the Wavlink enclosure works fine for 1TB WD SN750.

 

[WallyL]

I have a 2 TB Samsung EVO 970 Plus, which - regarding the document - is a dual-sided SSD. I plugged it into a Sonnet Express SE-I TB3 edition using various NVMe to PCIe adapters, and they all end up giving me a maximum read speed of around 800 MB/s. I had a support ticket open with Sonnet who confirmed to me that I should see much higher throughput. They had no idea what could be wrong.

The Samsung 970 EVO Plus is a single sided SSD according anandtech.com review on this NVMe SSD.

The Samsung 970 EVO Plus (250GB, 1TB) NVMe SSD Review: 92-Layer 3D NAND

www.anandtech.com

 

[Aboo]

I've submitted a bug report, would encourage others to do the same, so this gets attention....www.apple.com/feedback