Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures

[SpecFoto]

I purchased the Acasis TBU401E last year, with a 2TB blade and I'm very happy with the results. But I need something bigger now, so I'm looking at 4TB blades. What would be the better choice: WD Black SN850X or Samsung 990 Pro?

TIA!

I too have had a Acasis 401 enclosure for almost 2 years with a Samsung 2TB 980 Pro. It is my external startup drive for my 27" iMac. It runs fine but it hot to the touch, even with 2 thermal pads, so I added an external heat fin to the enclosure. Just last month I got a new Acasis 405 enclosure and put a WD 4TB 850X and it runs a lot cooler, it is barely warm to the touch. I am using this with my new Mac Studio. Sorry, I don't take temp readings.

Both have been just great with no issues as the start-up drive. The 405 enclosure does start up a bit quicker, and shutdown is instantaneous, where with the iMac with the 401 enclosure takes 10 seconds to shut down.

 

[EzisAA]

1,5 year with Acasis 401 enclosure and Samsung 980 Pro 2TB. Yes, it hot, but Samsung 980 Pro is also hot NVMe drive, but max temp what I got is 55 ℃/ 131 ℉.
If I need to buy again, then I would buy again Acasis 401 enclosure.

 

[crowe-t]

Has anyone been able to find a place selling the OWC Express 1M2 enclosure? OWC won't have more in for 134 days from now.

 

[Ifti]

Has anyone been able to find a place selling the OWC Express 1M2 enclosure? OWC won't have more in for 134 days from now.

I picked up both of mine (one empty enclosure as I had my own 4TB SSD, and one prepopulated 8TB) from Flexx.
When I got the second one they only had 2 remaining, and told me they probably wouldnt get any more until late March......

Need to 3D print a spacer of some sort - like I have between by Thunderblades.....

 

[crowe-t]

I picked up both of mine (one empty enclosure as I had my own 4TB SSD, and one prepopulated 8TB) from Flexx.
When I got the second one they only had 2 remaining, and told me they probably wouldnt get any more until late March......

Need to 3D print a spacer of some sort - like I have between by Thunderblades.....

I never heard of Flexx. Do they have a website? I can't find them online.

 

[Ifti]

I never heard of Flexx. Do they have a website? I can't find them online.

Flexxmemory.co.uk

Tip - if you find the item, create an account and place the item in your basket - DO NOT purchase it.
You will receive a couple of email reminders saying you have something in your basket etc. Ignore them.
In a day or two you’ll get a 5% voucher emailed to you.
Use that to place you order with 5% off

That’s what I done both times! lol

 

[Lounge Deluxe]

So if you stick the NMVE WD into a PC, what happens? IE ignore the USB4/TB4 interface.

Tried that, but no luck unfortunately (got a notification like 'incorrect operation' or something similar.

Because all my personal data is still readable on this defective drive I cannot RMA it to Amazon

 

[crowe-t]

Flexxmemory.co.uk

Tip - if you find the item, create an account and place the item in your basket - DO NOT purchase it.
You will receive a couple of email reminders saying you have something in your basket etc. Ignore them.
In a day or two you’ll get a 5% voucher emailed to you.
Use that to place you order with 5% off

That’s what I done both times! lol

Thanks for the link. I just checked and it's out of stock.

 

[foo2]

Tried that, but no luck unfortunately (got a notification like 'incorrect operation' or something similar.

Because all my personal data is still readable on this defective drive I cannot RMA it to Amazon

I don't get it. If you put it into a Windows PC and you can't format it, and you can't access the data on a Mac, how is the data still readable?

 

[chars1ub0w]

My Lexar 4TB in Zike enclosure runs at 55ºC without the plastic sleeve when there is no access.
When I'm exporting from iMovie, it can rise to 65ºC, both the iMovie Library and the destination are on the Lexar.
Although high (maybe needs better thermal pad?), 65ºC is still within non-throttling parameters, right?

 

[Lounge Deluxe]

I don't get it. If you put it into a Windows PC and you can't format it, and you can't access the data on a Mac, how is the data still readable?

The drive's in permanent read-only mode. After a search through Google I found many other topics about ssd drives getting into this mode which is irreparable. So yes, I can read the drive perfectly but cannot write to it including altering partitions in any way (like formating, deleting partitions et cetera).

 

[Ifti]

Thanks for the link. I just checked and it's out of stock.

Most places are out of stock with next shipments expected late March I'm afraid.....

 

[macphoto861]

The drive's in permanent read-only mode. After a search through Google I found many other topics about ssd drives getting into this mode which is irreparable. So yes, I can read the drive perfectly but cannot write to it including altering partitions in any way (like formating, deleting partitions et cetera).

I would take a 12v battery with a couple of wires, and just start applying voltage to random pins on the connector, then plug it in to see if it still comes up. Repeat until it doesn't.

 

[Ifti]

I picked up both of mine (one empty enclosure as I had my own 4TB SSD, and one prepopulated 8TB) from Flexx.
When I got the second one they only had 2 remaining, and told me they probably wouldnt get any more until late March......

Need to 3D print a spacer of some sort - like I have between by Thunderblades.....

A quick 3D print and issue solved!

Now all drives have space to breath

 

[Levina]

I too have had a Acasis 401 enclosure for almost 2 years with a Samsung 2TB 980 Pro. It is my external startup drive for my 27" iMac. It runs fine but it hot to the touch, even with 2 thermal pads, so I added an external heat fin to the enclosure. Just last month I got a new Acasis 405 enclosure and put a WD 4TB 850X and it runs a lot cooler, it is barely warm to the touch. I am using this with my new Mac Studio. Sorry, I don't take temp readings.

Both have been just great with no issues as the start-up drive. The 405 enclosure does start up a bit quicker, and shutdown is instantaneous, where with the iMac with the 401 enclosure takes 10 seconds to shut down.

I use a Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB in the Acasis TBU401 as an external for my Mac Mini M2Pro. It was running pretty hot at first but I put in an extra thermal pad and it runs very cool now. It hardly ever goes to 40ºC. Cool to the touch. I'm very happy with the drive.

I might keep this one the way it is as an extra back-up drive for my images or for an extra drive with an iMac I am thinking about buying, get a new Acasis 405 with the WD 4TB 850X for the Mac Mini. I like cool. Thanks.

 

[ekwipt]

I also got the Hagibis USB 4.0 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure with a Samsung 990 Pro. It is faster than my Thunderbolt 3 enclosure. The fan is like a high-speed high-pitched whirl, I might put it under my desk, lose a bit of speed and plug it into my OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub or my Belkin Thunderbolt 3.

I've also got the OWC on order, so I might transfer the Samsung 990 Pro there when I get it

 

[ekwipt]

A quick 3D print and issue solved!

Now all drives have space to breath

View attachment 2339404

Are you using any hubs, or direct connection to your Mac, can you explain it?

 

[ekwipt]

I have a MacBook Pro 16" M1, I've used two ports already on the left side (OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub), and on my right-hand Thunderbolt 4 port I had my Thunderbolt 3 NVME drive, but after buying this Hagibis USB 4.0 I was wondering, are there any hubs that can take multiple drives like this and run them full tilt? What would be the recommendations?

The best I can find (the latest) https://www.sonnettech.com/product/echo20-thunderbolt4-superdock/overview.html

 

[maximit]

View attachment 2339938


I also got the Hagibis USB 4.0 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure with a Samsung 990 Pro. It is faster than my Thunderbolt 3 enclosure. The fan is like a high-speed high-pitched whirl, I might put it under my desk, lose a bit of speed and plug it into my OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub or my Belkin Thunderbolt 3.

I've also got the OWC on order, so I might transfer the Samsung 990 Pro there when I get it

For some reason when i formatted the drive in exFAT instead of APFS I got faster speed, the 4GB/s write.

 

[ekwipt]

For some reason when i formatted the drive in exFAT instead of APFS I got faster speed, the 4GB/s write.

Wow super quick!

I had a quick search and found this:

Picking the Right Drive Format: ExFat is Not Your Friend

Formatting your drive? Which do you pick? HFS? NTFS? Here's how to choose, and why ExFat is not your friend.

eshop.macsales.com

"Here’s the problem with ExFat. It’s not Journaled. While reading/writing to a drive, some information is cached – especially some quick small elements. If they’re not accounted for, and you eject the drive incorrectly, you’ll possibly lose data or corrupt the drive."

so especially with the issues of the drive not shutting down properly when closing Macbook Pro lids etc (i have this with my Thunderbolt 3 drive, I don't think it's a good option for a bit more speed

 

[maximit]

Wow super quick!

I had a quick search and found this:

Picking the Right Drive Format: ExFat is Not Your Friend

Formatting your drive? Which do you pick? HFS? NTFS? Here's how to choose, and why ExFat is not your friend.

eshop.macsales.com

"Here’s the problem with ExFat. It’s not Journaled. While reading/writing to a drive, some information is cached – especially some quick small elements. If they’re not accounted for, and you eject the drive incorrectly, you’ll possibly lose data or corrupt the drive."

so especially with the issues of the drive not shutting down properly when closing Macbook Pro lids etc (i have this with my Thunderbolt 3 drive, I don't think it's a good option for a bit more speed

Yes Im aware APFS is a better format for macOS. As I stated in my original post, I use the drive in my repair business for data migration. I have mine split into multiple partitions, HFS/APFS/exFAT for compatibility with older macs as well as PCs. Just wanted to mention how I got the 4GB/s speed if anyone is out for outright speed.

 

[Ifti]

Are you using any hubs, or direct connection to your Mac, can you explain it?

16TB OWC Thunderblade
8TB OWC Thunderblade
8TB OWC Thunderblade
These 3 drives are connected to an OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub, giving me a single connection back to my MacBook.
Hub is hidden down the side of my desk (attached via velcro)

OWC Express 1M2 pre-populated with 8TB OWC Auto Pro IV
OWC Express 1M2 with 4TB Samsung 990 Pro
These drives are currently used standalone, but I have purchased another OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub that they will both connect to similar to the above.

I have found that using these hubs does not affect the speed I obtain from the drives in any way - not noticeable anyways.
The drives/hubs are at the corner of my desk - I use Apple Thunderbolt 4 Pro cables to connect them back to my MacBook, which is at the middle of the desk.

I have a couple of other external Drives that I use locally.
Dockcase Explorer Edition with a 1TB Samsung 980 Pro - used for my CCC clone.
Dockcase Pocket Edition with a 2TB Sabrent Rocket 2230 SSD - used for my Time Machine backups
Sharge Disk SSD with a 2TB Sabrent Rocket 2230 SSD - used for general storage, moving files around, etc.

All of the above drives have been reviewed individually on my channel (link in sig)

Ive been through tons of other drives - currently have 2 Glyph Atom Pro 8TB drives, which I do not use so these are boxed and will go up for sale!
Otherwise, I think I'm happy with the setup now!

 

[ekwipt]

Ive been through tons of other drives - currently have 2 Glyph Atom Pro 8TB drives, which I do not use so these are boxed and will go up for sale!
Otherwise, I think I'm happy with the setup now!

Great setup man!

 

[Ifti]

Something I've noticed with the above setup and the 1M2 drives.
Contrary to what I said above, it seems using the OWC TB4 Hub does in fact decrease the speed of the drives - although I'm only talking by about 50Mbps. So rather then 3000Mbps, for example, I'd get 2950Mbps on average.

In addition, I also noticed using a longer cable with these drive also decreases performance by around the same amount. Cable quality doesn't matter (I tested with an Apple 2m TB4 Pro cable). For the best performance you need to use a short cable (ie, the one that came with the drive) or one thats 0.8m or less, since these are passive cables. Longer cables are active cables, and signal quality will decrease a tad.

Either way, its such a small difference its just not noticeable in normal usage.

Good article about cables here, especially the section on 'Passive, Active and Distance' : https://appleinsider.com/inside/mac/best/how-to-pick-the-best-thunderbolt-cable-for-mac#:~:text=Since the signal degrades over,for those with hefty budgets.

 

[macphoto861]

Contrary to what I said above, it seems using the OWC TB4 Hub does in fact decrease the speed of the drives - although I'm only talking by about 50Mbps. So rather then 3000Mbps, for example, I'd get 2950Mbps on average.

Out of curiosity, what's the result when two drives are simultaneously being read or written? Does this combine to fully utilize the 40gbps bandwidth, or does the spec keep some of it "in reserve"?