Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures

[Berries-A-Million]

What makes you think USB will give you better protection for data corruption than Thunderbolt? Or are you referring to the gimmicky display on the device that does nothing more than display some SMART information that your OS can display, too? Don't get scammed.

You obviously don't have a clue what you are talking about. How about read all about it.

 

[funkahdafi]

You obviously don't have a clue what you are talking about. How about read all about it.

Not sure why you have to resort to baseless argumentum ad hominem.

I did read all about it. It's a lot of marketing BS that people with no clue fall for. It does SMART, which you can do on your Mac, and it has power loss protection of "up to" 10 seconds through capacitors. My 20 US$ UPS eats that for breakfast, and my Thunderbolt enclosure runs circles around this outdated USB-only enclosure in terms of performance.

So, you're paying extra for features you don't need, and you're paying for an NVMe SSD that you put in a USB enclosure that can't give you NVMe speeds. You're literally wasting your money. I mean, if it makes you happy, go for it.

 

[Mike Boreham]

This is an interesting graph from that Kickstarter

This appears to show that Dockcase provides a larger write cache .....unless they used a different NVMe blade in the two tests?? They don't say what was used at all, that I can see.


I think the main point is that it is a USB enclosure and this is a thread about Thunderbolt enclosures.

 

[ekwipt]

Macbook Pro16" M1 Max

I've called my NMVe drive "External_1", Is that a MAcOS No no? Should I have given it a alphabetical name only?

I've recently found that MacOS lost the mapping somehow. I mainly Produce music on my Mac, I can't remember what program I was in but there were tow External_1 Drives, one was a link to the drive and one was the drive (I maybe stupidly deleted the link drive thinking it was their in error, but I've noticed recently that anything that relies on samples has the sample link broken.

 

[Berries-A-Million]

Not sure why you have to resort to baseless argumentum ad hominem.

I did read all about it. It's a lot of marketing BS that people with no clue fall for. It does SMART, which you can do on your Mac, and it has power loss protection of "up to" 10 seconds through capacitors. My 20 US$ UPS eats that for breakfast, and my Thunderbolt enclosure runs circles around this outdated USB-only enclosure in terms of performance.

So, you're paying extra for features you don't need, and you're paying for an NVMe SSD that you put in a USB enclosure that can't give you NVMe speeds. You're literally wasting your money. I mean, if it makes you happy, go for it.

Again, you don't know what you are talking about. This has nothing to do with a smart ups. You think you are going to carry a UPS with you everywhere you go? LOL. You seem to not understand how having that 10s of power to write the cache out of memory on to the disk is so valuable. That is what enterprise grade storages do and have batteries to help prevent that. The speeds it produces with a 10gb bandwidth is plenty for 90% of the people who need them.

 

[funkahdafi]

Again, you don't know what you are talking about. This has nothing to do with a smart ups. You think you are going to carry a UPS with you everywhere you go? LOL. You seem to not understand how having that 10s of power to write the cache out of memory on to the disk is so valuable. That is what enterprise grade storages do and have batteries to help prevent that. The speeds it produces with a 10gb bandwidth is plenty for 90% of the people who need them.

I absolutely and unironically know exactly what I am talking about. You seem to think I don't understand what this device does. I understand 100%, but my argument is that it is utterly useless. You give up almost the entirety of the performance benefits that come with NVMe SSDs just to protect yourself from an event that is almost guaranteed to never happen to you - even in case of a sudden power outage.

When was the last time you lost data due to not having a 10s power buffer in your enclosure? How many people do you know that experienced this?

Again, you're falling victim to marketing BS. Big time. You probably buy anti-aging lotions for your skin, too.

 

[lotech]

Adding to the discussion again.

Upgraded from a 970 EVO Plus 1TB to a 2TB 980 Pro in a JEYI Thunderbolt 3 enclosure. No real change in read speeds but doubled write speeds. Not too surprising as the enclosure is only PCIe 3 - not the PCIe 4 the 980 supports.

Interestingly in system info under NVMExpress - all the specs match the numbers of the internal Apple SSD of my 2019 16" MBP.

EDIT - Ran AmorphousDiskMark and got R 2851 / W 2782 with the 980 Pro.
Also tried an official Apple cable and one I got from Ali and speeds were similar - not all cables are created equal but looks like I got some cheap ($US29) good cables.

 

[dcmaccam]

Adding to the discussion again.

Upgraded from a 970 EVO Plus 1TB to a 2TB 980 Pro in a JEYI Thunderbolt 3 enclosure. No real change in read speeds but doubled write speeds. Not too surprising as the enclosure is only PCIe 3 - not the PCIe 4 the 980 supports.

Interestingly in system info under NVMExpress - all the specs match the numbers of the internal Apple SSD of my 2019 16" MBP.

EDIT - Ran AmorphousDiskMark and got R 2851 / W 2782 with the 980 Pro.
Also tried an official Apple cable and one I got from Ali and speeds were similar - not all cables are created equal but looks like I got some cheap ($US29) good cables.


View attachment 1993119

What Version of Mac OS are you using? I have replaced the 500GB 970 EVO drive inside a Samsung X5 Thunderbolt drive and replaced it with a 2TB 970 EVO Plus. Read speeds are OK and much the same as before 2500Mbs. However write speeds went from about 1600Mbs (970 EVO Catalina) to 1200Mbs (970 EVO Monterey) to 800Mbs (970 EVO Plus Monterey) So I wonder if installing a 1TB 980 Pro might be a means of getting my write speed back up.

 

[lotech]

What Version of Mac OS are you using? I have replaced the 500GB 970 EVO drive inside a Samsung X5 Thunderbolt drive and replaced it with a 2TB 970 EVO Plus. Read speeds are OK and much the same as before 2500Mbs. However write speeds went from about 1600Mbs (970 EVO Catalina) to 1200Mbs (970 EVO Monterey) to 800Mbs (970 EVO Plus Monterey) So I wonder if installing a 1TB 980 Pro might be a means of getting my write speed back up.

Monetery 12.3.1.

 

[Lihp8270]

Again, you don't know what you are talking about. This has nothing to do with a smart ups. You think you are going to carry a UPS with you everywhere you go? LOL. You seem to not understand how having that 10s of power to write the cache out of memory on to the disk is so valuable. That is what enterprise grade storages do and have batteries to help prevent that. The speeds it produces with a 10gb bandwidth is plenty for 90% of the people who need them.

Your laptop has a battery that will last much longer than 10s when power is lost so it’s irrelevant.

By your comment about not carrying a UPS around. It suggest you’re not using it on a desktop (where a UPS would be better)

 

[dcmaccam]

Thanks for your reply!

Dammit, I've ordered it online from the official WD Website and of course I couldn't check if the part numbers are "correct" to run up to 2k mb/s. So should I just return it and order the same unit?

EDIT: I've found which unit I got according to WD's Website: WDS100T3X0C. So I guess it's still the "old" one. But somehow the speeds are nerfed...

I have the same problem I have finally obtained decent write speeds in my converted Samsung X5 Thunderbolt 3 drive.

I put a 500GB WD 750 Black in and get 2100 write 2500 read. My next move was to update this to a 1TB WD 750 Black however I have just discovered the old/new issue.

My 500GB drive starts with a code of 21 which should be the new one but it works OK

The product number of my 500GB is WDS500G3X0C

The product number of the 1TB is. WDS100T3X0C

Everything 500GB and below has a G 1TB and above has a T

So maybe its not whether its the S/N starts with a 20 or 21 that dictates an old or new version but the G or the T in the product number.

I was just going to order one fro WD UK website as they have it on special. But I feel that I may just end up sending it back it it does not match the speed of my 500GB drive which is 1/2 full.

 

[indiekiduk]

An OWC engineer figured out the slow write problem!

Get Up to 67% Faster External Drive Performance With Your M1 Mac!

Not getting the write speeds you were expecting with an external drive on your M1 Mac? Read on for some breaking news...

eshop.macsales.com

via

Does it matter which Thunderbolt ports you use?

There’s evidence to suggest that original M1 Macs write more slowly to external SSDs in some configurations. Does this extend to later models with M1 Pro or Max chips?

eclecticlight.co

I understand the issue as without a TB display connected the mini is reserving bandwidth in case one is plugged in. Once one is plugged in the reservation disappears and now the SSD can use the full bandwidth left over which in the case of the display that OWC were using there was more than enough left for max write speeds.

 

[EntropyQ3]

I can't say that I fully understand the assertion that not having a Thunderbolt display reduces write speed. It seems to me that in that case, NO external SSDs should be able to get good write speeds and it seems some always perform well regardless of screen connection. I have a Studio Max computer connected to a Lenovo P27U-20 Thunderbolt display. I was cautious and bought an ACASIS box with JH7440 controller and a Samsung 980 Pro 2TB drive, formatted it in exFAT and got the expected 2500 MB/s R/W performance.

Then I tested moving it between the three remaining thunderbolt ports in the back, to see if one of them was in any way shared with the monitor connected one in a way that impacted R/W performance. I observed no difference between the thunderbolt inputs at all.

(Incidentally, the USB-C ports in the front yielded horrendous performance 750/550 R/W MB/s as tested with BlackMagic, 350/650 R/W MB/s (!!!) as tested with AmorphousDiskMark.)

 

[Berries-A-Million]

Your laptop has a battery that will last much longer than 10s when power is lost so it’s irrelevant.

By your comment about not carrying a UPS around. It suggest you’re not using it on a desktop (where a UPS would be better)

I guess some people just don't get it. If something happens to the copy or when its finishing its write while its in the process of doing it, either your laptop or computer crashes, you unplug it too early, and so on, this will save you. There is a lot more too it than what YOU think.

 

[thestudentisrea]

I've read the thread now, but not sure how much has evolved since certain posts written.

I have m1 mini on the way, and want to add 4tb of fastest storage that can be had at a semi-reasonable price.

1) Do the 4Tb WD SN750's have the same issue as smaller ones where some units have slower write speeds than others? If so, is there any way to check that with the vendor before purchasing?

2) If the TB3 (NON USB4) version of the Acasis enclosure exists, I'm not seeing (*edit*) it from any US vendors. Shipping to US and had months-long ordeal last time I ordered from Ali-Express. Not sure if shipping situation has improved since then.

3) Which other enclosures are confirmed to work with double-sided 4Tb sticks? Do any of them have better thermal management or active cooling?

4) Since 980 Pro doesn't appear to come in 4Tb size, is there anything BETTER than the WD SN750 I should be looking at that's not too much more expensive?

5) Is there a combo enclosure/hub unit I should be looking at that still gives same speed as the fastest tb3/usb4 enclosures, but also is powered, fan cooled, and/or provides true 10Gb/s usb ports? (I won't be running displays off of hub)

6) I may just be getting details mixed up at this point, but I was planning on running one 4k display off hdmi. Do I need to do some kind of juggling act about display plugged into TB or some such nonsense to get full speed on the external drive plugged into the other Tb3/usb4 port?

 

[thestudentisrea]

Or... if I do have to wait a month for shipping because the enclosure I want isn't available from a US distributor, would this be more stable for desktop use since it's powered? Anyone using this? Any reason to believe it's not as fast?

139.29US $ 65% OFF|Thunderbolt 3 Ssd Hard Drive Enclosure | Nvme External Enclosure Thunderbolt 3 - 3 - Aliexpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

AliExpress is such a muddled mess. I just looked up 4 seemingly different versions of the basic Acasis enclosure, and despite what each said in the title, each then had the same pics saying it's usb4 backward compatible, etc. then says in one place up to 2Tb only, then another for same product up to 8. Just seems to be the same recycled description fragments for each of the products. Hard to know what to believe.

 

[wdhpgx]

2) If the TB3 (NON USB4) version of the Acasis enclosure exists, I must be blind, because I'm not seeing it. Where can it be purchased? (Or have I misunderstood something about avoiding the USB4 due to tunneling or whatever?)

From my search, I get:

Acasis Thunderbolt 3 40Gbps NVMe M.2 8TB Aluminum Shell SSD Enclosure

Not recommend SSD: Samsung 970 EVO plus / Samsung PM981 / ADATA Recommended SSD: Samsung 970 EVO / Samsung 980 Pro / Samsung 990 Pro / SEAGATE 530 1.The computer MUST have thunderbolt 3/4 or USB 4 interface 2.TB34 only supports 2280 M.2 NVMe SSD TB34/TB34m1 TBU405AIR TBU401 TBU405/TBU405M1...

www.acasis.com

which says, "Status: Discontinued"

so I'm guessing the only chance of finding it is used or old stock etc.

 

[thestudentisrea]

AliExpress has multiple hits for TB3 in the title of Acasis encloosure, but all then have infographic later that says usb4, backward compatible, etc. I aked them about this the other day, but no reply yet.

If Tb3 only version is not currently available, what's my next best choice? I think Shell Thunder case has same controller. I like that it has a fan. Amazon QA says it fits double sided 4Tb stick, but one of the reviewers says no.

Anyone on here done a double sided stick in this unit?

 

[adonis3k]

I would get..

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/fastest-nvme-external-enclosure-with-m1.2272255/post-31146535

 

[thestudentisrea]

Re: Orico:
Easily available in one form or another. Still not 100% sure if the usb4 version of that one has the same "tunneling" issue as the Acasis.

Looking for actual speed comparisons between that and this one since I like that it has active cooling and am in a hot climate that doesn't always have good ac:

Fledging Shell Thunder SSD Enclosure (0GB) with Active Cooling - PCIe NVMe Portable External Enclosure m3

Fledging Shell Thunder SSD Enclosure (0GB) with Active Cooling - PCIe NVMe Portable External Enclosure m3

www.amazon.com

 

[adonis3k]

Suppose a fan is better than no cooling, but depends if its a noisy little **** lol

 

[thestudentisrea]

Concerned about heat, few comparisons I could find put Shell Thunder enclosure neck and neck with the Acasis, and both appear to get along great with the SN750, so I ordered 4Tb version of the drive, the Shell Thunder (for the fan) enclosure, and everything including the m1 mini should arrive this week.

Fingers crossed, and will be sure to run speed tests once it's all up and running.

Since I was planning on running HDMI out to single 4k monitor, where does that leave me in regards to the OWC discovered issue about no TB monitor slowing write speeds? Would I need some kind of dummy dongle or something to fix that? A TB3 dock that gives me true 10Gb/s over USB would be nice, but I don't really NEED it, and seems like an expensive fake seat belt just to turn off the dingy thingy if you know what I mean.

Is this still an issue in latest OS or whatever, and if so, what's cheapest fix?

 

[MediaGary]

I have an Acasis TBU401 and a Sabrent EC-T3EN Dual NVMe enclosure. For cooling, I went all belt/suspenders/duct-tape by adding a 100mm x 40mm x 11mm heat sink on each and moving air with a USB-powered speed-adjustable 92mm fan made for cooling AV receivers.

The heat sinks stick to the enclosures with a blue heat-conductive silicone pad that I bought as a single 100mm square, and cut to size. Everything was obtained on eBay. The heat sinks are sold as a 3-pack.

 

[thestudentisrea]

Yeah, I was just looking at those heat sinks on Amazon. I may be using drive with my macbook on the go, though, so that setup would be a bit much. Looks like the kind of thing I might do for fixed setup, though. Hell, I ran a milk crate PC for a few years.

 

[joeriggs]

The heat sinks stick to the enclosures with a blue heat-conductive silicone pad that I bought as a single 100mm square, and cut to size. Everything was obtained on eBay. The heat sinks are sold as a 3-pack.

The heat sink on the enclosures is an interesting idea. Are you just attaching it just via the silicon pad?
Has it been successful in lowering temps, how about without the additional fan?

SN750, so I ordered 4Tb version of the drive, the Shell Thunder (for the fan) enclosure,

FYI, I wasn't able to completely close the Shell w/ a double sided 4TB drive inside.
I could get 2 of the 4 screws on but not all 4.