Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures

[Loco Sock]

Well, just put in my order for the Jeyi and the WD_BLACK 2TB SN850X... nice pricing! Drive will be here tomorrow, enclosure on Friday. Saved about $50 over the Acasis and 990 Pro 2TB from a couple months back.

 

[chars1ub0w]

I have the Lexar 4TB with the Zike enclosure attached to my M1 Max 16" MacBook Pro with 64GB RAM and 4TB internal SSD. Have been using it for a couple of weeks. According to AmorphousDiskMark, sequential read/writes are way faster on the internal 4TB SSD, but to my surprise Random read/writes are faster on the external Lexar. I expected the Apple internal SSD to win at everything.

Zike USB4 NVMe enclosure + Lexar NM790 4TB M.2 NVMe SSD

 

[AAPLGeek]

So I picked up a HYPER HD5001GL-90, advertised and labeled as USB4 NVMe SSD Enclosure.

I don't think it has the ASMedia 2464...

View attachment 2314309

No idea what that chip is but it sure isn't an ASM2464.

I dropped in a Hynix P31 Gold 2 TB and got the following:
View attachment 2314310
This is rather disappointing as the Hynix is supposed to be capable of 3500 MB/sec reads and 3200 MB/sec writes.

I'd stay away from the HYPER as it seems they just swapped out the ASM2464 and instead swapped in something that only gives TB3 speeds..

The only saving grace is that it doesn't seem to get too hot, but that's because I leave the silicon wrapper it comes with off. With it on I'm sure it would get mega hot.

Makes me wonder if that's why they took the ASM2464 out..

So I ordered the JEYI enclosure but with the fan option, will test that when it arrives..

I will likely sell off the HYPER assuming whoever buys it doesn't care that it doesn't have the ASM2464.

Hooked it up to a 2020 rMBP and got nearly exactly the same results, so it looks like HYPER just punted and shoved in a TB3 chip and hoped no one noticed.. System Information does identify it as a USB4 device, though.. maybe the cable is crap? Will order a Cable Matters USB4 and see if that helps.

Additionally, it's only connecting at 8 GT/s and link width x4, which means its definitely not an ASM2464.

Hook it up to an Intel rMBP, it will say it is Thunderbolt 3. Hook it up to an M1/2/3 and it will report that it is a USB4 device.

You're misinformed. P31 Gold is a Gen3 NVMe and that's the reason it's connecting at 8GT/s. If you put in a Gen4 drive it'll surely connect at 16GT/s.
Also, the speeds you're getting is within the spec. Just because it doesn't reach the fully advertised speeds doesn't mean that it's not an ASM2464 chip.
In my limited testing, I've only managed to get 3.4GB/s read/write with Samsung 980 Pro, WDSN770 and Phison E18 based NVMe drives.

Read my post here for more detailed information about speeds and compatibility.

 

[Loco Sock]

Got the JEYI enclosure and the WD SN850X 2TB .. the enclosure definitely feels nice and sturdy.

Using a CalDigit cable. Also tried the cable that came with the enclosure and got very similar numbers.

Anyway, could not get the Link Width to x4, it was at x2 even when it was the only device connected to Thunderbolt/USB4 (moved USB-C connection to HDMI). I'm not sure if that's the enclosure dictating that or the machine.

Numbers are very similar to what others have posted, I'll attach a couple to this post.

Probably be returning this too, as I was able to free up a quite a bit of space on my Internal drive, so the need for a fast external drive is not as urgent as it was.

Also, connected to my MiniPC but it didn't seem that the USB port could fully power the enclosure, so not sure if there was a firmware update. Getting a new MiniPC as well, with Thunderbolt/USB4.

 

[mogens]

Thanks! Looking good.

 

[richpjr]

So I was going to return the 4TB SN850X but changed my mind and decided to keep it. Here are the benchmarks in my Hyper:

 

[Earl Urley]

AAPLGeek is correct, I should have tested my HYPER enclosure with a PCIe 4.0 drive, not an earlier generation 3 like the Hynix P31 Gold.

I got 16GT/sec x4 connection and much better read / write speeds with a 2 TB Inland Performance Plus, which was discounted to $99.00 when I bought it.

The Inland SSD has a Phison PS5018-E18 controller, I decided to go that route since my previous experience with the Phison E12 controller was quite positive, owing to its miserly power consumption and Mac compatibility. It also has a DRAM cache, something which I don't believe the SN 850X does.

 

[Loco Sock]

Seems like the HyperDrive is a consistent and clear leader (in my eyes).. and there is really nothing to not like about it.

 

[Pressure]

AAPLGeek is correct, I should have tested my HYPER enclosure with a PCIe 4.0 drive, not an earlier generation 3 like the Hynix P31 Gold.

I got 16GT/sec x4 connection and much better read / write speeds with a 2 TB Inland Performance Plus, which was discounted to $99.00 when I bought it.

The Inland SSD has a Phison PS5018-E18 controller, I decided to go that route since my previous experience with the Phison E12 controller was quite positive, owing to its miserly power consumption and Mac compatibility. It also has a DRAM cache, something which I don't believe the SN 850X does.

The WD_Black SN850X does have DDR4 DRAM cache.

 

[richpjr]

Seems like the HyperDrive is a consistent and clear leader (in my eyes).. and there is really nothing to not like about it.

Really happy with mine and not having to use a screw driver is nice - not that I open enclosures often!

 

[Earl Urley]

Seems like the HyperDrive is a consistent and clear leader (in my eyes).. and there is really nothing to not like about it.

It is simply and solidly built, and I believe it holds together magnetically.

If you insert a double sided SSD, it might be a little tight in there, you might have to go order a thinner thermal pad.

For some reason, on a 2020 Intel rMBP, it sometimes does not connect reliably; I've tried all four ports, two different cables including a CalDigit that came with my TS3 Plus, and it's like 1 time out of every 4-5 times it will refuse to mount.

Its had no problems on the M1, I'm willing to admit it's probably one of those things Apple knows about but will never fix.

With the Inland SSD installed, it does get pretty hot over time.. if it fails somehow I can take it back to MicroCenter and get a new one with little trouble.

Going to see how well the JEYI with internal fan does, managed to order one during that previous sale..

When it stays connected, it performs pretty well on 2020 Intel, it still shows being connected at 16 GT/4x but only in Thunderbolt 3 mode. I'm glad its write speed is over 3 GB/sec, currently wondering about picking up either a 4TB Lexar 790 (no DRAM) or a 4 TB SN 850x (2 GB of DRAM, same amount as the Intel Perf Plus)

 

[AAPLGeek]

It is simply and solidly built, and I believe it holds together magnetically.

If you insert a double sided SSD, it might be a little tight in there, you might have to go order a thinner thermal pad.

For some reason, on a 2020 Intel rMBP, it sometimes does not connect reliably; I've tried all four ports, two different cables including a CalDigit that came with my TS3 Plus, and it's like 1 time out of every 4-5 times it will refuse to mount.

Its had no problems on the M1, I'm willing to admit it's probably one of those things Apple knows about but will never fix.

With the Inland SSD installed, it does get pretty hot over time.. if it fails somehow I can take it back to MicroCenter and get a new one with little trouble.

Going to see how well the JEYI with internal fan does, managed to order one during that previous sale..

When it stays connected, it performs pretty well on 2020 Intel, it still shows being connected at 16 GT/4x but only in Thunderbolt 3 mode. I'm glad its write speed is over 3 GB/sec, currently wondering about picking up either a 4TB Lexar 790 (no DRAM) or a 4 TB SN 850x (2 GB of DRAM, same amount as the Intel Perf Plus)

Had the same issue when connecting to my 2020 Intel iMac. Latest ASM2464 firmware resolves it.

Thunderbolt 3 backward compatibility is going to be a bit iffy until Apple updates the thunderbolt 3 firmware on the older machines in accordance with the USB4 spec.

BTW, could you test the power draw when connected at idle on that 2020 Intel rMBP? Coconut battery's "discharging with" value with and without the enclosure connected would give a general estimate.

 

[masotime]

Latest ASM2464 firmware resolves it.

This is interesting. I found firmware for the JEYI enclosures at https://www.jeyi.com/products/jeyi-...tible-with-thunderbolt-4-3-usb-3-2-3-1-3-w2jp, but they all look to be EXE files (Windows).

Do you know of any firmware update tool for the ASM2464 that works on macOS?

 

[Earl Urley]

Looks like 3.88W when not connected, 15.69 when connected? Seems like a lot of power..

AAPLGeek, you say the latest ASM 2464 firmware fixes the issue.. the JEYI webpage that masotime cited indicates that would be the 10_05 firmware as it specifically calls out the not being recognized on M1 MacBook Pro issue.

Have you applied this firmware to your Hyper? Or only your JEYI?

 

[mogens]

This is interesting. I found firmware for the JEYI enclosures at https://www.jeyi.com/products/jeyi-...tible-with-thunderbolt-4-3-usb-3-2-3-1-3-w2jp, but they all look to be EXE files (Windows).

Do you know of any firmware update tool for the ASM2464 that works on macOS?

I found this (use google translate). I don’t know if it’s safe. I believe the latest firmware is JEYI2464_1005_10Min .exe?
https://hackmd.io/@xTaiwanPingLord/ASM2464_Firmware

 

[AAPLGeek]

This is interesting. I found firmware for the JEYI enclosures at https://www.jeyi.com/products/jeyi-...tible-with-thunderbolt-4-3-usb-3-2-3-1-3-w2jp, but they all look to be EXE files (Windows).

Do you know of any firmware update tool for the ASM2464 that works on macOS?

Sadly no macOS firmware update tool exists for any of these ASMedia or even Realtek based USB enclosures. It's frustrating, but its probably something to do with how locked down macOS is.

Looks like 3.88W when not connected, 15.69 when connected? Seems like a lot of power..

Yeah, that power draw is in line with my experience. Even though ASMedia documentation claims to support NVMe power states, it's not yet properly implemented even in the latest firmware. It's also down to the PCBA design and how power efficient it is.
~12W at idle is a bit high though. It's also depends on the capacity of NVMe you're using. For example, any current gen 1TB drive consumes way less power than a 4TB drive. Here are the power states for my 2TB SN810:

I've noticed that only the first two active states are actually supported right now. Mine idles at about 6.5W and I've tested the empty enclosure itself to draw around 3W.

AAPLGeek, you say the latest ASM 2464 firmware fixes the issue.. the JEYI webpage that masotime cited indicates that would be the 10_05 firmware as it specifically calls out the not being recognized on M1 MacBook Pro issue.

Have you applied this firmware to your Hyper? Or only your JEYI?

Yes, that's the most recent version. If you unzip the .exe file on the page you'll find the actual firmware file within called AS_USB4_231005_85_00_00.bin
Not sure about that particular listed issue though, as I never had any connection issues with my M1 MBA even on the oldest firmware. What got fixed for me was thunderbolt 3 connectivity issue with my Intel iMac. On the older firmware, the enclosure never connected reliably and would always eject itself after a few minutes. No such issue with the latest firmware.

 

[Earl Urley]

Perhaps I'll try flashing the Hyper with that firmware as I have access to a Windows 11 PC with a Thunderbolt 3 port; odd that Hyper lists no such firmware on its website..

 

[AAPLGeek]

Perhaps I'll try flashing the Hyper with that firmware as I have access to a Windows 11 PC with a Thunderbolt 3 port; odd that Hyper lists no such firmware on its website..

One has to be mindful with these firmware updates; you could end up bricking your enclosure if you don’t know what you’re doing. Even though the actual .bin firmware can be installed on any enclosure with the asm2464 chip, every manufacturer uses a customized .cfg config file which corresponds to their PCBA layout.

So if you install .cfg file included in the JEYI update, you could end up bricking your Hyper enclosure as it might be configured differently. If you still want to do it, take a dump of the original .cfg before updating your Hyper enclosure to the new firmware. Take the values from that .cfg dump and edit the new .cfg file so that it matches the factory installed .cfg as much as possible.

 

[Earl Urley]

Nah, I've put in a tech support request to Hyper regarding the Intel Mac connection issue. I'll wait for them to issue an update; I'll run the mentioned JEYI update on the JEYI enclosure I have on order rather than risk sh*tcanning the Hyper, since I don't feel adventurous enough to do binary editing at the level necessary to insure a clean flash.

 

[mogens]

I have now received my Jeyi 2464 pro enclosure.
I ordered on Jeyi's website and the shipping went very quickly from China to Denmark (5 days).
I tested it with a wd sn850x on my iMac M1.
Everything is fine in Blackmagic and Aja, but the write speed is slow in AmorphousDiskMark.
I had the same problem with the Acasis TBU405 and the same disk, but realworld tests with a 500gb folder showed that the write speed was ok.
Maybe AmorphousDiskMark has a problem measuring the SN850X 4tb disk correctly?

 

[Loco Sock]

I have now received my Jeyi 2464 pro enclosure.
I ordered on Jeyi's website and the shipping went very quickly from China to Denmark (5 days).
I tested it with a wd sn850x on my iMac M1.
Everything is fine in Blackmagic and Aja, but the write speed is slow in AmorphousDiskMark.
I had the same problem with the Acasis TBU405 and the same disk, but realworld tests with a 500gb folder showed that the write speed was ok.
Maybe AmorphousDiskMark has a problem measuring the SN850X 4tb disk correctly?

If it's possible, can you try the firmware updates mentioned a few posts ago. Unless you are running the latest firmware on the Jeyi.

Thanks for the report!

 

[mogens]

Hard to tell, I can only find this: "35.25". On Jeyi's site it says:

Jeyi ASM2464 USB4 Enclosure Firmware​

JEYI2464_1005_10Min .zip

JEYI2464_0810_10min.zip

 

[Loco Sock]

Hard to tell, I can only find this: "35.25". On Jeyi's site it says:

Jeyi ASM2464 USB4 Enclosure Firmware​

JEYI2464_1005_10Min .zip

JEYI2464_0810_10min.zip

Yeah, it's difficult without a Windows computer... everything regarding firmware is geared towards Windows. I can't even tell what the firmware is on my current monitor because none of the software runs on Mac.

 

[AAPLGeek]

I have now received my Jeyi 2464 pro enclosure.
I ordered on Jeyi's website and the shipping went very quickly from China to Denmark (5 days).
I tested it with a wd sn850x on my iMac M1.
Everything is fine in Blackmagic and Aja, but the write speed is slow in AmorphousDiskMark.
I had the same problem with the Acasis TBU405 and the same disk, but realworld tests with a 500gb folder showed that the write speed was ok.
Maybe AmorphousDiskMark has a problem measuring the SN850X 4tb disk correctly?

I've seen that anomaly using Amorphous with quite a few drives, including the SN810. Weirdly enough, encrypting the drives brings the write speed upto ~2500mb/s.

Hard to tell, I can only find this: "35.25". On Jeyi's site it says:

Jeyi ASM2464 USB4 Enclosure Firmware​

JEYI2464_1005_10Min .zip

JEYI2464_0810_10min.zip

35.25 is an older firmware from May 2023. But that's not really the version you should be paying attention to as any manufacturer can edit the .ini to reflect their own custom versioning.

Out of those two JEYI files, 1005 is the most recent one. If you unzip the the those .exe files contained within, you'll get a folder that has a bunch of files including the .bin file, which is the actual firmware.

New:

Old, but a bit more recent than as what shows up as "35.25" in that Mac system info screenshot:

 

[masotime]

35.25 is an older firmware from May 2023.

I'm curious, how did you determine this? I'd love to learn how to do this in the future for similar or other devices.