Thunderbolt 4 & NVMe M.2 External Storage: Read/Write Speeds?

[Chancha]

It looks like MAIWO has a new model released in China since November, K1717.
It is not specified but the chip is likely still ASM2464PD.
Interestingly the spec states this: "completely compatible with Thunderbolt 4 (not compatible with Thunderbolt 3), type-C backward compatible with USB3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0"
Also that speed test is posted by someone who purchased and tested the enclosure a few days ago.

 

[Pressure]

It looks like MAIWO has a new model released in China since November, K1717.
It is not specified but the chip is likely still ASM2464PD.
Interestingly the spec states this: "completely compatible with Thunderbolt 4 (not compatible with Thunderbolt 3), type-C backward compatible with USB3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0"
Also that speed test is posted by someone who purchased and tested the enclosure a few days ago.

Willing to bet it is still cheaper than all the $120 enclosures featuring the exact same controller chip.

I'll look for it at my "local" Maiwo pusher.

 

[Chancha]

Willing to bet it is still cheaper than all the $120 enclosures featuring the exact same controller chip.

I'll look for it at my "local" Maiwo pusher.

Well these are the prices on TMALL:

K1717: RMB359, ~USD$51
K1695: RMB319, ~USD$45

I can imagine the ASM chip really doesn't cost much, if these guys can sell at such prices and still make a profit.

Interestingly the K1695 now comes with a magnetically attached, type-C powered active cooling fan.

 

[Pressure]

Well these are the prices on TMALL:

K1717: RMB359, ~USD$51
K1695: RMB319, ~USD$45

I can imagine the ASM chip really doesn't cost much, if these guys can sell at such prices and still make a profit.

Interestingly the K1695 now comes with a magnetically attached, type-C powered active cooling fan.

Adata just released their USB4 external SSDs.

The Adata SE920 starts at $150 with 1TB of storage and $200 for 2TB of storage.

This seems to indicate that novel enclosures without NVMe drives can be cheaper 😅

Even AnandTech says the OWC Express 1M2 "seems a bit overpriced".

 

[Chancha]

Adata just released their USB4 external SSDs.

The Adata SE920 starts at $150 with 1TB of storage and $200 for 2TB of storage.

This seems to indicate that novel enclosures without NVMe drives can be cheaper 😅

Even AnandTech says the OWC Express 1M2 "seems a bit overpriced".

The OWC design does look like physically the best possible shape as far as passive cooling is possible. And then well it got the OWC brand and if you trust their care in these things. One of their guys is now replying on the Mac Studio storage thread on this. But I personally has had OWC products like dock and enclosure that fails on me, I wouldn't hold them as high regard as say Sonnet or CalDigit for instance. I have been using Macs for more than 20 years, and with storage solutions there is no single brand that has ever earned 100% trust that is worthy of charging serious premium, they all have their ups and downs, and sometimes going too far on some aspects while ignoring others, like LaCie with their pretty looking products.

 

[tvv]

this enclosure uses an ASMedia chip and as such has nothing to do with Intel’s thunderbolt certifications.

Falling back on TB3 does very much have to do with Intel certifications. Hence why it is not used on the OWC enclosure and why it will revert to 10Gbps on an Intel Mac.

 

[splifingate]

Received my Maiwo K1695, today (1 of 3)

[2TB SKHynix P31-Gold nvme's (PCIe3-x4) are used in this test-bed]

I have been using two Acasis TBU405's (USD44/ea. via the Acasis Store), and was frustrated that I could not connect, both, via Thunderbolt (as I had expected *natch*).

One would successfully connect via the TB Bus:

But, the addition of the other would plop that Unit into the USB 3.1 Bus:

So, it's So. I purchased a Maiwo K1695 from Ali for USD51

It arrived, today:

Both, atop my MS:

 

[splifingate]

Maiwo (2 of 3)

The Maiwo feels just a bit warmer than the Acasis. iStat does not report temps for the Maiwo, unfortunately 🤷‍♂️

Photos of the Maiwo backboard:

1695-ASM2464-v4.3 [20230613DPY] (the ASM chip and traces (to the right) were covered by a 1mm thermal pad (which I re-applied, before re-construction))

The Maiwo comes with an additional 1mm double-sticky thermal pad, and a 0.33mm aluminium shim . . . I removed the SkH P31 from the second TBU405, applied the pad/shim atop, and re-connected.

Both the extant TBU405 and the Maiwo are now registered as populating the Thunderbolt/USB4 Device Tree.

 

[splifingate]

Maiwo (3 of 3)

This is the TBU405:

And, this is the Maiwo K1695:

ADM results from the Maiwo:

Ultimately, the necessity of having two TB/USB4 devices attached to Primary Ports on the MS is not inherently necessary, but the expectation is certainly there.

Enjoy the Science

 

[Chancha]

On a modern Mac, it is actually possible to have 2 bus-powered TB devices connected, the requirement is that they are the 1st two devices with negotiation to the TB bus, once that is done you can connect other USB stuff, especially a display through DP alt-mode. I do this regularly, as I have to juggle among two Acasis TB4 enclosures, and one CalDigit 10GbE TB3 NIC, and a type-C 4K display. It only becomes impossible with the 3rd TB device, at that point you need a powered dock, and spread some bus-power there.

 

[occamsrazor]

Nice reports @splifingate - Thanks!
That's a shame it doesn't get temperature data - are no SMART data being passed at all? What about the Acasis?
My TBU401 gets SMART data over connection to a host TB3 port and I do like having it.

 

[Chancha]

You guys can download TG Pro, in preferences you can enable external SMART monitoring. It does show the temps of my TBU-405.

The app costs like 12 bucks but you can use the trial for free.

 

[splifingate]

Nice reports @splifingate - Thanks!
That's a shame it doesn't get temperature data - are no SMART data being passed at all? What about the Acasis?

Welcome!

So, I updated to Sonoma 14.2 (23C64) last night, and--upon re-boot--my displays would not come out of sleep, and (for all intensive purposes) I thought I had borked a perfectly-functional System ;(

Upon return, this evening, I was met with the same no-displays (I have two DP Dell's attached to an OWC TB->2DP adapter in the TB1 port).

AW Unlock is enabled, but my displays would not enliven . . . interestingly, I soon heard the New Mail 'blonk"

Moved the Acasis to TB3, and the screens came-alive!

So, the OWC and the Acasis don't seem to like sharing the same Bus.

The Maiwo and the Acasis do enjoy being part of the same Bus

Just checked iStats, and both the Acasis and the Maiwo are now registered; both are now reporting temperature data (the TBU405's registered from the beginning)

My TBU401 gets SMART data over connection to a host TB3 port and I do like having it.

Agreed. Long-term analysis is critical to deciding how best to operate, in what ways.

 

[splifingate]

On a modern Mac, it is actually possible to have 2 bus-powered TB devices connected, the requirement is that they are the 1st two devices with negotiation to the TB bus, once that is done you can connect other USB stuff, especially a display through DP alt-mode. I do this regularly, as I have to juggle among two Acasis TB4 enclosures, and one CalDigit 10GbE TB3 NIC, and a type-C 4K display. It only becomes impossible with the 3rd TB device, at that point you need a powered dock, and spread some bus-power there.

I am slowly learning the ins-outs.

What I don't want to do is juggle . . . I've been doing that for over three decades 🤷‍♂️

I now have a pristine Acasis TBU405 sitting on the shelf, if anyone is interested

 

[Chancha]

I am slowly learning the ins-outs.

What I don't want to do is juggle . . . I've been doing that for over three decades 🤷‍♂️

I now have a pristine Acasis TBU405 sitting on the shelf, if anyone is interested

A TB3/4 powered dock is the simplest solution to this, if you really have that much I/O needs at the same time. Even an older model / second hand will suffice, all you need is some Watts of power and a legit TB3 not USB-C.

 

[splifingate]

A TB3/4 powered dock is the simplest solution to this, if you really have that much I/O needs at the same time. Even an older model / second hand will suffice, all you need is some Watts of power and a legit TB3 not USB-C.

I will definitely keep that in-mind! The OWC TB Hub looks promising, as well as the CalDigit Element Hub . . . fortunately, my needs are shadowed by my expectations.

Just glad that I now have a way to use the internal TB Hub in a manner that meets expectation

 

[SpecFoto]

It looks like MAIWO has a new model released in China since November, K1717.
It is not specified but the chip is likely still ASM2464PD.
Interestingly the spec states this: "completely compatible with Thunderbolt 4 (not compatible with Thunderbolt 3), type-C backward compatible with USB3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0"
Also that speed test is posted by someone who purchased and tested the enclosure a few days ago.

Just ordered 1 of the new Maiwo K1717 enclosures, got for $54 delivered thru Banggood including shipping insurance. With the Holidays, it will take a few weeks to arrive.

I have been using a Acasis 401 enclosure with a Samsung 2TB 980 Pro for about 22 months as my startup drive on my 2019 27" iMac. No issues at all, it starts up in 10 seconds. Last month I added a Acasis 405 enclosure with a WD Black 4TB 850X and it has worked just fine on the iMac as well, the 401 is now used as storage for my 14" MBP M1 Pro. Definitely though the 405 with the WD Black runs cooler than the Acasis 401 with the Samsung. I put an external metal heat fin on the 401 and that helped, as did setting it on the stand base for the iMac, but still it was warmer to touch than the new 405.

My plan is to add a MacStudio and thought I would investigate the new Maiwo enclosure as it is supposedly a bit faster, not that speed has been an issue, as both my Acasis enclosures run in the 2,800 MB/s +/- range. But at half the price I paid for Acasis 405, why not see how it works out. Eventually I would like to get 2 identical enclosures, either the 405 or the K1717, with identical 4TB NVMe's and RAID them together for the Mac Studio, that would hold all my photography files.

 

[macphoto861]

Just checked iStats, and both the Acasis and the Maiwo are now registered; both are now reporting temperature data (the TBU405's registered from the beginning)

A few things I've noticed about iStats with regards to external Thunderbolt drives:

1) Temperature sensor won't show up when you connect a drive. A restart will fix that, but a less disruptive way is to open the iStat Menus app, and select "Reinstall".

2) Similarly, when you disconnect a drive, iStat continues to show it, and appears to "stick" on the last reported temperature. Even after reconnecting the drive, it will still show that temperature before it had previously been disconnected, not the current temperature. Again, the "Reinstall" menu option will take care of that.

 

[splifingate]

A few things I've noticed about iStats with regards to external Thunderbolt drives:

1) Temperature sensor won't show up when you connect a drive. A restart will fix that, but a less disruptive way is to open the iStat Menus app, and select "Reinstall".

2) Similarly, when you disconnect a drive, iStat continues to show it, and appears to "stick" on the last reported temperature. Even after reconnecting the drive, it will still show that temperature before it had previously been disconnected, not the current temperature. Again, the "Reinstall" menu option will take care of that.

Well, I'll be! Exactly as you stated

Appreciate the better understanding.

 

[pransu]

I use TGPro to check the temp. It provides "real-time" info, well perhaps few seconds delay. I don't have issue when I disconnect external drive. It will show as "N/A" few seconds after. The caviat is it costs $10, but it also provides other info like fan control, etc.

 

[splifingate]

The OWC TB Hub looks promising

Ordered one the other day . . .

 

[Calibre5]

Here are my AmorphousDiskMark results from my newly delivered Maiwo K1717 on my Mac studio M1 Max base model. I've fitted a 2TB WD_Black SN770 into the K1717.

Temperatures reported by iStat Menus never went over 36 degrees C whilst testing.

For comparison my previous OWC Envoy Express enclosure averaged 1600/1200 MB/s Read/Write speeds.

 

[vader_slri]

Anyone have experience with the Maiwo K1719? Seems to be an evolution of the K1695. I’m assuming it’s using the same Asmedia chip inside.

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[Ploki]

My 980 Pro started failing after 4.7TBW and less than 2 years, lost about 15GB of data.