Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures

[Chancha]

I'd also like to add, when kernel panics are involved, it likely isn't just a temperature issue. If the enclosure or its component is burning up and malfunctions on the fly, all you should get is supposed to be an unsafely ejected volume.

On T2 / Apple Silicon MacBooks, I got experience with various Thunderbolt accessories, when a kernel panic happens it likely is related to power, probably triggering some protection mechanism in the OS / firmware.

 

[miric]

Here's the beginning of the kernel panic report:

panic(cpu 3 caller 0xfffffe0025cef7b8): "apciec[pcic0-bridge]::handleInterrupt: Request address is greater than 32 bits linksts=0x99000001 pcielint=0x00220020 linkcdmsts=0x00000000 (ltssm 0x11=L0)\n" @AppleT8103PCIeCPort.cpp:1305 Debugger message: panic Memory ID: 0x6 OS release type: User OS version: 22G74 Kernel version: Darwin Kernel Version 22.6.0: Wed Jul 5 22:22:52 PDT 2023; root:xnu-8796.141.3~6/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103

 

[AAPLGeek]

Thank you for your response.
1. Absolutely agree. I'm pretty sure the thermal pad is in contact with both the top cover and the SSD because the top cover is a fraction of mm higher than it was on the empty enclosure. I saw a life hack here from somebody to put it on Mac mini body. So I did it and got lower operation temperatures: ~98F°/37°C in idle and ~131°F/55°C under heavy load. I ordered ID-Cooling ZERO M15 heatsink to improve heat dissipation. I know it does not fit with double-sided SSDs out of the box but I'm going to customize it.

2. The first disconnection/kernel panic happened on the first day after a long time of intensive writing to it. I thought it might happen due to the chain: the SSD becomes hot > the enclosure tries to dissipate the heat but it can't due to its small size > Intel JHL7440 controller becomes extremely hot > Fail? My conclusion is based on the next-day observation: I continued copying my data from the HDD the next morning and pushed the SSD to ~149°F/65°C and it failed with a reboot. And right after rebooting, I got multiple disconnects in a row. After that, I put the enclosure on the edge of my Mac mini's body and didn't experience crashes during the rest of the day.

3. Not my case, it's impossible. I already spent money on the Fury Renegade and didn't realize before making this decision this SSD is one of the most power-greedy SSDs. There are not so many 4TB options with the official warranty at my location to choose from. In fact, I'd say, only Kingston is represented officially. I don't know who sells Seagate and WD here. SSDs are such kind of parts I'd rather not risk with them in a long-term perspective. So now I'm considering returning the SSD, leaving TBU405 for further usage with less demanding SSDs, and buying something like Kingston XS2000 4TB or Samsung T7 Shield 4TB (again, no official 4TB options here). As I see, I really don't require NVMe speeds, I think, ~1000MB/s with XS2000 will be more than enough for my use case - storing the photo archive and developing digital negatives in Lightroom Classic. One more option is to find the connection option where I'll get USB3 10Gb/s to simulate XS2000 operation mode.

Separately about max draw of 10.2W. I suppose it is stated for full speeds up to 7000MB/s which this drive is intended. But the enclosure limits the data rate to ~2800MB/s, so I don't think the SSD is able to consume the maximum amount of power.

1) Yes, placing the enclosure on any flat metal surface does wonders for dissipating the heat from these compact enclosures. That heatsink looks a bit overkill, but I suppose it's better to err on the side of caution for intensive workloads.

2) The heat from the TB3 and the SSD controller can quickly go beyond the thermal limit of these small enclosures, especially with a drive that's rated upto 10.2W. The auto eject is definitely related to the max power draw limit.

3) My suggestion to try a different drive was solely to rule out anything wrong with the enclosure itself. The list of 4TB drives that work with the TB3 controller is small enough itself, so I understand your situation. I'd say it's super important to consider your use case when buying these enclosures because let's face it, they're overkill for majority of the users. Unless you're moving over several hundred gigs of data over different drives every day, you likely won't ever notice a difference between a good USB-C drive and a TB3 based storage solution.

From what I know, the max power draw doesn't quite work the same way inside these enclosures. The bridge chips don't really care much about NVMe power states or if you're only using 1/3 of its full throughput.

 

[miric]

Acasis TBU401E also work in USB mode up to 10Gb/s

How did you get this? I tried to get 10Gb/s with my TBU405, but no chance. My theory is as soon as it has two controllers for Thunderbolt and USB, if it has troubles with Kingston Fury Renegade 4TB via Thunderbolt, to force it connecting via USB-C 10Gb/s. You may think I’m crazy. Yes. Other non-DIY options (for example, Kingston XS2000) don’t look reliable according to reviews on Amazon. So let this combo be 10Gb/s. I tried to connect it directly to my M1 Mac mini, USB-C ports with all cables I had. What I get Thunderbolt 3 (40Gb/s), Thunderbolt 2 (20Gb/s), USB 2.0 (480Mb/s). Nothing more. I also saw 5Gb/s via Dell’s monitor hub, but it’s not a good option because I use Dell connected to two computers.

 

[steve123]

The larger capacity SSD's generally require more power.

It appears that ACASIS has a new model with a built in fan: TBU405PROM1

If you connect the TBU405 to a USB 3 Gen 2 port instead of a Thunderbolt port it will connect at 10 Gbps. So for instance, if you have a Thunderbolt dock with a USB 3 Gen 2 port, you could use that to force connection at the slower speed.

 

[miric]

The larger capacity SSD's generally require more power.

Agree, without any doubt.

It appears that ACASIS has a new model with a built in fan: TBU405PROM1

Which is considered to be barely useful even according to feedback here. The minor advantage I see in comparison to the original TBU405 is a larger case.

I disassembled mine yesterday and found none of the controller chips on the PCB have physical contact in order to dissipate the heat as may be seen in one of Orico's teardowns here. Is it OK? What's the operational temperature of JHL7440? On the other hand, bringing more heat from the enclosure's body to it is barely good.

If you connect the TBU405 to a USB 3 Gen 2 port instead of a Thunderbolt port it will connect at 10 Gbps. So for instance, if you have a Thunderbolt dock with a USB 3 Gen 2 port, you could use that to force connection at the slower speed.

As soon as I have the Mac mini M1, its USB-C ports were advertised as Thunderbolt 3/USB 4. From my perspective, if I use USB 3-ready cables and USB 4 is backward-compatible, I expect to get 10Gb/s on that port and switch to Realtek controller instead of JHL7440, but I get USB 2.0. I also tried to connect the enclosure to the Mac mini's USB-A ports with the modern USB-A > USB-C cables I currently have around, but the drive wasn't recognized at all. I don't use any docks.

My goal was not just to get slower speeds but to switch to USB 3 which is probably more friendly in terms of the power supply. According to AAPLGeek's thoughts and the information about the power consumption of Fury Renegade 4TB of 10.2W maximum plus JHL7440 in the TBU405 of 2.4W, I make a conclusion this combo isn't quite stable through Thunderbolt.

I even don't have a scenario to avoid unexpected ejects of the drive. Even copying large folders of 100-200 GB at once may cause them. Leaving day by day and calming down myself with the thought that my use case is only copying some RAWs from a camera + plus processing them in Lightroom from time to time, and one day to get the eject during copying a large amount of data is "so-so" pleasure. I decided to return the SSD. I'm going to keep the enclosure for lighter scenarios. I'll probably purchase Kingston NV2 4TB because it is one-sided and is considered to be less hot. Or I'll try to go with Kingston XS2000 but the feedback makes me not so optimistic. My goal actually is to get rid of the external HDD LaCie Thunderbolt 2 upgraded with Seagate IronWolf 4TB.

It's a pity I wasn't able to find clear information about exactly this combo. Thanks to everybody who answered my questions. I hope my experience will be useful for someone else.

 

[steve123]

I expect to get 10Gb/s on that port and switch to Realtek controller instead of JHL7440, but I get USB 2.0.

Try rotating the USB C connector 180 degrees. Some cables and adapters are sensitive to orientation. In one orientation, they connect as USB 2 and in the other orientation they connect as USB 3. I have a JHL7440 enclosure that behaves like this when plugged into a USB A port on my Mac Pro 6,1.

How are you measuring temperature?

 

[miric]

Try rotating the USB C connector 180 degrees. Some cables and adapters are sensitive to orientation. In one orientation, they connect as USB 2 and in the other orientation they connect as USB 3. I have a JHL7440 enclosure that behaves like this when plugged into a USB A port on my Mac Pro 6,1.

How are you measuring temperature?

Thank you for your advice. I'll keep it in mind. Unfortunately, my SSD is already on the way back to a seller.

 

[shoarthing2]

Thank you for your advice. I'll keep it in mind. Unfortunately, my SSD is already on the way back to a seller.

. . . . yes, that seems wise: is there a *quality* single-layer 4 TB NVME available in your locale?

 

[miric]

. . . . yes, that seems wise: is there a *quality* single-layer 4 TB NVME available in your locale?

Do you know any decent examples? I only see the officially presented Kingston NV2 and this is the most probable candidate for me now. But it has a shorter warranty period.

 

[miric]

How are you measuring temperature?

TG Pro app via S.M.A.R.T.

 

[shoarthing2]

Do you know any decent examples? I only see the officially presented Kingston NV2 and this is the most probable candidate for me now. But it has a shorter warranty period.

It is tricky: this database is helpful: https://www.techpowerup.com/ssd-specs/corsair-mp600-gs-2-tb.d1218

. . . but manufacturers keep on mucking about with actual production specs. The Kingston NV2 has the snarkiest (& likely genuinely negative) review I have seen, conducted by someone who knows what they're talking about: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/kingston-nv2-ssd

I settled on the Corsair MP600 Pro NH (I only need 2 TB) despite knowing its current spec. - single-layer 176 Micron TLC NAND - still equals more-or-less 9W actual. It is fine in an ACASIS(TB34V2) with better thermal pad & 2x 40mm sq heatsinks on top - absolutely fine.

I suggest you really seriously research the single-layer 4TB NVME sticks w/ DRAM. Double-layer simply won't work - tho' I enjoy your thinking re: the mad heatsink.

 

[miric]

It is tricky: this database is helpful: https://www.techpowerup.com/ssd-specs/corsair-mp600-gs-2-tb.d1218

. . . but manufacturers keep on mucking about with actual production specs. The Kingston NV2 has the snarkiest (& likely genuinely negative) review I have seen, conducted by someone who knows what they're talking about: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/kingston-nv2-ssd

I settled on the Corsair MP600 Pro NH (I only need 2 TB) despite knowing its current spec. - single-layer 176 Micron TLC NAND - still equals more-or-less 9W actual. It is fine in an ACASIS(TB34V2) with better thermal pad & 2x 40mm sq heatsinks on top - absolutely fine.

I suggest you really seriously research the single-layer 4TB NVME sticks w/ DRAM. Double-layer simply won't work - tho' I enjoy your thinking re: the mad heatsink.

Thank you for your message. Kingston NV2 is not an ideal candidate but it clearly shows the current situation in the market in common and in my location in particular. I’m hardly going to purchase it. Because of “risky”. As well as I’d barely buy Corsair: no official representatives - no official warranty. The SSD is a such kind of part which, I’d prefer, has the official warranty, as much as possible. I do need 4GB, that means Corsair in that modification is even more power-demanding than Fury I’ve just decided to return. I think, I freeze my searches in this area for a undefined period of time. As I wrote, I’d prefer slower but reliable out-of-the-box drive. They are slow, but not reliable.

 

[AAPLGeek]

Got my hands on a test unit of a ASMedia2464 USB4 enclosure. I’ve been using it for the past 2 days with a couple of different SSDs. A few observations:

1. Appears to be just as picky regarding NVMe drives/controllers as the thunderbolt 3 based enclosures.
2. Drives that are fully “compatible” are able to sustain over 3Gb/sec R/W during benchmarks and use.
3. Thunderbolt 3 connectivity is a bit unstable at the moment, although speeds are just as fast and sometimes faster than thunderbolt/USB4.
4. Flawlessly works over USB 3.2 10gbps on both ASi and Intel Macs when connected using a regular USB-C cable.
5. Draws almost 6-8W even when the drive is idling at times, but I’m sure it can be fixed in future firmware updates.
6. The controller chip tends to get quite hot during large transfers. My test unit got uncomfortably hot to touch when transferring over 200GB in one go.

Overall, I’m quite impressed and it does seem to be a solid alternative compared to the current crop of overpriced TB3/fake USB4 enclosures.

 

[Alex771]

I could not find anything like that up until now, with the closest match being a bulky M.2 enclosure from Sonnet

I am trying to determine the advantages of using "bulky" Thunderbolt 3 enclosures with PCIe card slots.

Why would I use them to serve as M.2 SSD enclosures, when you can have smaller, bus-powered ones, either with a Thunderbolt 3 or USB4 upstream interface and a PCIe x4 downstream interface?

(By the way, I would like to point out this list of controller chips used in enclosures, by Dan Charlton.)

In the bulky category, I count the OWC Mercury Helios S3, the Sonnet Echo Express series and ICY BOX IB-3101-TB3, for example.

Is there something inherently better about using a PCIe card with an M.2 SSD attached?

Apart from the advantage that you can use the PCIe card slot for something else, is there any reason to prefer "bulky"?

I won't be doing any more measurements on the Sabrent dual NVMe M.2 enclosure because those WD SN700's are now happily on my Sonnet 4x4 PCIe x8 card.

I couldn't find a 4x4 card with an 8-lane interface. Are you using this one? Which enclosure are you using it in? Why do you prefer this to small form factor enclosures? (I am looking for hints why I might want keep myself open to the more expensive, bulky alternatives.)

 

[tvv]

@Alex771

I am trying to determine the advantages of using "bulky" Thunderbolt 3 enclosures with PCIe card slots.

Why would I use them to serve as M.2 SSD enclosures, when you can have smaller, bus-powered ones, either with a Thunderbolt 3 or USB4 upstream interface and a PCIe x4 downstream interface?

(By the way, I would like to point out this list of controller chips used in enclosures, by Dan Charlton.)

In the bulky category, I count the OWC Mercury Helios S3, the Sonnet Echo Express series and ICY BOX IB-3101-TB3, for example.

Is there something inherently better about using a PCIe card with an M.2 SSD attached?

Apart from the advantage that you can use the PCIe card slot for something else, is there any reason to prefer "bulky"?



I couldn't find a 4x4 card with an 8-lane interface. Are you using this one? Which enclosure are you using it in? Why do you prefer this to small form factor enclosures? (I am looking for hints why I might want keep myself open to the more expensive, bulky alternatives.)

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDACL4M20GB/

this card is x8 upstream and x4 to each of the four SSDs downstream. It is also half length, so it fits in an enclosure like a Helios 3S. The advantage of using a PCIe card is that you can use one that contains a PCIe switch to get the full four lanes to each drive. Something like the OWC express 4m2 doesn't have this switch, so each drive gets 1 lane (which isn't an issue if you are using a RAID since you are maxing out the upstream anyways over thunderbolt). But if you are not using in a raid configuration, more lanes per drive is better.

 

[micheloupatrick]

I am trying to determine the advantages of using "bulky" Thunderbolt 3 enclosures with PCIe card slots.

Bulky enclosures with PCIe card slots or enclosures like the OWC express 4m2 have other advantages :
1. They usually have a fan, reducing the risk of thermal issues
2. They are self powered, overcoming the limitation of around 15 watts (roughly two nvme drives) of machines like the Macbook Pro or even the Mac Studio
3. They allow to build larger volumes based on several nvme blades

I'm using two OWC Mercury pro U2 dual enclosures with eight nvme drives each and they work flawlessly.

 

[Kr0n05K!ngR]

1) Yes, placing the enclosure on any flat metal surface does wonders for dissipating the heat from these compact enclosures. That heatsink looks a bit overkill, but I suppose it's better to err on the side of caution for intensive workloads.

2) The heat from the TB3 and the SSD controller can quickly go beyond the thermal limit of these small enclosures, especially with a drive that's rated upto 10.2W. The auto eject is definitely related to the max power draw limit.

3) My suggestion to try a different drive was solely to rule out anything wrong with the enclosure itself. The list of 4TB drives that work with the TB3 controller is small enough itself, so I understand your situation. I'd say it's super important to consider your use case when buying these enclosures because let's face it, they're overkill for majority of the users. Unless you're moving over several hundred gigs of data over different drives every day, you likely won't ever notice a difference between a good USB-C drive and a TB3 based storage solution.

From what I know, the max power draw doesn't quite work the same way inside these enclosures. The bridge chips don't really care much about NVMe power states or if you're only using 1/3 of its full throughput.

I would recommend getting a few 5v fans USB fans, and then sticking the enclosure on top. My two enclosures drives (Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4) stay between 45c and 55c on full load.

I recommend not relying on the enclosure, and thermal pad alone to dissipate heat, try and provide the enclosure air flow.

Examples of fans I use:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ELUTENG-Co...words=5v+fan+80mm&qid=1694814804&sr=8-12&th=1

Enclosures:

Thunderbolt3:

SABRENT M.2 Thunderbolt NVMe Enclosure SSD Docking Station USB C External Aluminum Thunderbolt 3 M2 NVMe Adapter, Tool-Free, with Cooling Pad, Fast Data Transfer, M Key only, Cable Included (EC-T3NS)

Description: The Sabrent Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Tool-Free Solid Aluminum Enclosure is the ultimate combination of convenience, performance, and reliability! Thunderbolt 3 technology enables amazing speeds of up to 1600 MBs. TRUST RELIABILITY: Don't entrust your valuable DATA to devices that a...

www.amazon.co.uk

Thunderbolt4 / usb4:

ORICO 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure USB4 PCIe3.0x4 USB-C Aluminum Adapter, Upgraded NVMe PCIe 2280 M-Key External M2 Solid State Drive Enclosure, Compatible Thunderbolt 3/4 USB3.2/3.1/3.0/ Type C

ORICO 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure USB4 PCIe3.0x4 USB-C Aluminum Adapter, Upgraded NVMe PCIe 2280 M-Key External M2 Solid State Drive Enclosure, Compatible Thunderbolt 3/4 USB3.2/3.1/3.0/ Type C

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[TheBogeyMan]

Startech have a 4-bay case with additional ports.

4 Bay Thunderbolt 3 NVMe Enclosure - External Drive Enclosures | Hard Drive Accessories | StarTech.com Europe

4 Bay Thunderbolt 3 NVMe Enclosure, For M.2 NVMe SSD Drives, 1x DisplayPort Video and 2x TB3 Downstream Ports, 40Gbps | Europe

www.startech.com

OWC have their Thundeblade.

OWC ThunderBlade - The Fastest Production Drive in the Universe

Work faster and smarter. Achieve speeds up to 2949MB/s, storage capacities up to 32TB, fanless chassis, and SoftRAID for advanced RAID control.

www.owc.com

I tried the StarTech.
Nice unit & it works well.
But, the fan is always on and is pretty loud, especially for a unit that's going to sit on your desk.
Ended up returning it.
Now using the OWC Express 4M2 unit. Almost silent.

 

[kappabruce]

Got my hands on a test unit of a ASMedia2464 USB4 enclosure. I’ve been using it for the past 2 days with a couple of different SSDs. A few observations:

1. Appears to be just as picky regarding NVMe drives/controllers as the thunderbolt 3 based enclosures.
2. Drives that are fully “compatible” are able to sustain over 3Gb/sec R/W during benchmarks and use.
3. Thunderbolt 3 connectivity is a bit unstable at the moment, although speeds are just as fast and sometimes faster than USB4/TB4.
4. Flawlessly works over USB 3.2 10gbps on both ASi and Intel Macs when connected using a regular USB-C cable.
5. Draws almost 6-8W even when the drive is idling at times, but I’m sure it can be fixed in future firmware updates.
6. The controller chip tends to get quite hot during large transfers. My test unit got uncomfortably hot to touch when transferring over 200GB in one go.

Overall, I’m quite impressed and it does seem to be a solid alternative compared to the current crop of overpriced TB3/fake USB4 enclosures.

Thanks for the info. Which enclosure did you get? The only one I know of that uses that chip is the ZikeDrive.

 

[Alex771]

3. They allow to build larger volumes based on several nvme blades

I'm using two OWC Mercury pro U2 dual enclosures with eight nvme drives each and they work flawlessly.

That's how I started out – looking for an enclosure that can house two or more SSDs. The fact that the U2 Dual (like other "bulky" enclosures) devotes only two PCIe lanes put me on a path to find a way to allow each SSD unbridled 4-lane bandwidth; not using RAID.

I did not find a 1-slot enclosure with an x8 mechanical (x8 electrical) slot to use the Sonnet M.2 2x4 with. Even if I did, a Thunderbolt 4 port supports only 4 PCIe lanes. I don't know how the Sonnet card would fare. Sonnet claims 3400 MB/s without stating under which conditions this could happen.

I found the QNAP qda-u2mp U.2 case though, which seems to mediate 4-lane traffic to each M2. SSD. But I didn't find a Thunderbolt 3 U.2 enclosure to go with that (except for this Lacie 1big dock hack).

You could use a Thunderbolt 4 dock and attach 3 individual Thunderbolt 3 or USB4 enclosures. Each TB3 device connected to any port of a TB4 dock gets 4 lanes of PCIe. So that's a solution, if speed is the main criteria.

1. They usually have a fan, reducing the risk of thermal issues

So do small enclosures, like the Acasis TBU405PRO M1, Fledging Shell Thunder and the ICY BOX IB-1922MF-C32, which is also sold by Ineo as the C2598EC. The combination of a fan inside an enclosure, that is at the same time a heat sink might be as effective. (I am still reading what others think about that.)

 

[Alex771]

this card is x8 upstream and x4 to each of the four SSDs downstream. It is also half length, so it fits in an enclosure like a Helios 3S. The advantage of using a PCIe card is that you can use one that contains a PCIe switch to get the full four lanes to each drive.

Yes, that's a solution I consider. I thought that an x8 mechanical (x8 electrical) card in a x8 (x4) slot might not work properly.

I received this reply by OWC regarding the 8-lane PCIe card for four M.2 SSDs:

"The Accelsior 4M2 does not strictly require x8 PCIe lanes for it to work. It will work with an x4 lane environment such as the Helios 3s, however, with a reduced bandwidth. The overall performance of the card and the drives installed will be affected by this limitation."

 

[Alex771]

The only one I know of that uses that chip is the ZikeDrive.

See USB-C SSD enclosure chipsets compared (2023) +list of JHL7440 & ASM2464PD enclosures by Dan Charlton.

 

[Alex771]

I have identified 7 speed categories for SSD enclosures connected to a Thunderbolt 4 port. This is in part based on the list of enclosure chipsets by Dan Charlton. Feel free to scrutenize.

From the left, the first item is the downstream interface of the enclosure. The second item is its upstream interface for the connection to the host. I am assuming that a suitable cable is being used. The third item is the resulting interface mode of a computer's Thunderbolt 4 port.

 

[AAPLGeek]

Thanks for the info. Which enclosure did you get? The only one I know of that uses that chip is the ZikeDrive.

See USB-C SSD enclosure chipsets compared (2023) +list of JHL7440 & ASM2464PD enclosures by Dan Charlton.

Mine is a test unit direct from a source in China. Apart from the ones listed by Dan Charlton, there's Wavlink WL-ST401C, but it's not out on any of their sales channels yet.

WAVLINK WL-ST401C 40Gbps USB4 Type-C Tool-Free Enclosure for M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD

WAVLINK WL-ST401C M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure adopts USB4 technology and achieves maximum transmission speed of up to 40Gbps. It’s perfect for Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 3 computers and compatible with USB4 / USB3.1 / USB3.0 computers. Put in your M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD, plug and play, no driver...

www.wavlink.com