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USB on M1 Macs isn't actually 10Gb/s? (Also definitely not USB4)
- Thread starter Anonymous Freak
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I wonder if something 50 times larger and heaver (don't forget the power brick) is worth an extra bit of performance.
Tested: Does Your M.2 NVMe SSD Need a Heatsink?
While your NVMe SSD runs faster than the standard 2.5 inch SSD, its temperature also shoots up faster. We investigated the case for NVMe SSD heatsink to see if it's really necessary.
www.maketecheasier.com
I totally get that it is ridiculous.
Looking at most of the TB3 NVMe enclosures they appear to be sealed units, so just curious to know what kind of sustained performance could be achieved by my suggestion.
Improved airflow will help thermals and prevent throttling.
I understand they have thermal pads and heatsinks but I have my doubts about the effectiveness of these when compared to a direct heatsink with some decent airflow.
I have a Wavlink NVMe TB3 enclosure so I’m familiar with the arrangements, I’m not convinced about the effectiveness of how well cooled the SSD is.
Looking at most of the TB3 NVMe enclosures they appear to be sealed units, so just curious to know what kind of sustained performance could be achieved by my suggestion.
Improved airflow will help thermals and prevent throttling.
I understand they have thermal pads and heatsinks but I have my doubts about the effectiveness of these when compared to a direct heatsink with some decent airflow.
I have a Wavlink NVMe TB3 enclosure so I’m familiar with the arrangements, I’m not convinced about the effectiveness of how well cooled the SSD is.
I have the M1 Mac mini, and have finally found a TB3 drive/enclosure combo that gets me full speed on both Read/Write.
Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures
Thank you for sharing. Prompted by your post, and the video you linked, today I exchanged my 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus for a 1TB WD SN750. @joevt you might be interested in this as well. The speed test and real world transfer speed are much better with the WD SN750! This is on my M1 Mac mini...
forums.macrumors.com
Thank you so much for your review and findings. Based on your experience, I also arrived at your conclusion. This was after spending about 2 weeks testing various SSDs and enclosures. Thanks to Amazon Prime's excellent delivery speed and return policies I was able to do this. Anyway, here is my anecdotal testing experience for anyone with an M1 Mac Mini, and a need for the best SSD/Enclosure combination for external storage.I have the M1 Mac mini, and have finally found a TB3 drive/enclosure combo that gets me full speed on both Read/Write.
Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures
Thank you for sharing. Prompted by your post, and the video you linked, today I exchanged my 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus for a 1TB WD SN750. @joevt you might be interested in this as well. The speed test and real world transfer speed are much better with the WD SN750! This is on my M1 Mac mini...
Well, I just did a test of several well rated and known M.2 NVME SSDs and USB4/Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1v2 enclosures to find the best match for my M1 Mac Mini. I finally found the best match for maximum speeds so that I can take best advantage of the M1 Mac Mini's USB4/TB3 port speeds.
Winner: WD Black SN750 (1TB) with Acasis USB4/TB3 enclosure. This combination resulted in the fastest write/read speeds as well as lower speed drop-off when SLC cache was exhausted. Results - Write 2350, Read 2820. Absolutely fantastic.
Other M.2 2280 NVME SSDs tried:
1. 1TB Samsung EVO Plus - worked, but write speeds maxed out around 1400, and read around 2,400. This is not bad, but not good enough to warrant the EVO Plus' price and best theoretical speeds. Many noted that the EVO Plus does not play well with M1 Mac hardware or MacOS. The firmware was confirmed to be the most current for EVO Plus as well.
2. 1TB Adata XPG SX8200 Pro - Worked, but speeds with Acasis were about 1/3 of theoretical max write and 1/2 of read speeds. With the Sabrent TB3 enclosure, speeds were even worse, though those speeds were actually limited by the Sabrent enclosure itself as Sabrent explicitly states lower speeds. I think the actual speed culprit here is that Adata switched the solid Silicon Motion SM2262EN controller chip with the slower SM2262G chip. This is clearly a major complaint on Amazon reviews for this SSD and one which I agree with.
3. 1TB SK Hynix Gold P31 - This is also a very highly rated SSD, with excellent power efficiency and 128L. However, the SK Hynix Gold P31 M.2 NVME SSD does NOT work with M1 Macs and/or MacOS. Trying the Hynix with both the Acasis and Sabrent enclosures resulted in the immediate crashing of my M1 Mac Mini. The Mac would try to restart itself several times, unsuccessfully, then would finally reboot in Recovery Mode. The only way to have the Mac resume normal operations was to disconnect the Enclosure/SK Hynix COMBINATION. I think there is a conflict with SK Hynix's controller chip or Firmware with Intel's TB3 chips (6540 and 7440 Sabrent/Acasis). Using the SK Hynix Gold P31 with a Jeyi USB 3.1 v2 enclosure worked and did result in good speeds commensurate with USB 3.1 v2 (almost 10Gb/s) speeds. I really hope SK Hynix makes the appropriate changes to their SSD so that it will work with M1 Macs and USB4/TB3 enclosures as this SSD has the best value profile amongst its competition.
4. 1TB PNY XLR8 CS303 - This is a cheaper SSD option, but still with decent reviews. The SSD worked, but its speeds with the Acasis and Sabrent enclosures were not close to their theoretical speeds. I think write/read of 1050/1270 were the best I achieved with the Acasis enclosure.
5. 1TB Mushkin Pilot-e - I had high hopes for this SSD as Mushkin does use the highly rated Silicon Motion SM2263ENG controller chip, unlike Adata who switched to the slower SM2262G chip. However, tested speeds with the Acasis and Sabrent enclosures did not reach close to the Mushkin's theoretical speeds (tested write/read, 1300/2160). Those speeds aren't bad, but they still were not satisfactory for me.
6. 1TB WD Black SN750 - The best SSD when combined with the Acasis USB4 enclosure. I did read another MacRumors contributor write about his excellent results using the WD with his Acasis TB3 enclosure and M1 Mac, so this is the reason I actually tried it. After all this testing, I know I will be keeping the WD and Acasis combination. Hope other M1 Mac owners can learn from this testing.
Enclosures tested:
1. Jeyi USB 3.1 v2 (10Gb/s) - good quality enclosure with LED indicator, for about $30. I really like this enclosure as it also uses the better rated and reviewed Realtek RTL 9210 chip vs the older and less efficient and problematic JMicron JMS583 chip. The Jeyi with RTL9210 runs cooler and is very stable. The only drawback, and I think it could be attributable to the M1 Mac hardware and/or MacOS, is that the speeds with all tested SSDs did not get close enough to the theoretical speeds. Maybe got 750/820 write/read speeds at best. Again, not bad, but could do better.
2. Sabrent Thunderbolt 3 enclosure - This is the one selling for $89 on Amazon. The enclosure works, but the speeds are far from what is achievable for the better SSDs. Sabrent can be commended for their honesty as they advertise speeds of up to 1600, which is around what I achieved for read speeds maximum. Write maximum for me was a paltry 1050-1100. I figured for $40 more, I can get the best speeds with the Acasis.
3. Acasis USB4/TB3 enclosure - the fastest enclosure I tested. Combined with the WD Black SN750 (see 1st paragraph), my resulting speeds were excellent and very close to the M1 Mac Mini's internal SSD speeds. Since I bought the lowest storage (256GB) option, I knew that I would need a very fast external SSD to store my photo and video files and to work from the external SSD without delays. Even though the Acasis and WD combination cost me around $300 for 1TB, it still is far cheaper than paying for Apple's exorbitant storage upgrade prices. And by having external SSD with USB4 enclosure, I can use the same with other devices like my iPad, iPhone, and other PCs or Macs. I can also change or upgrade my SSD when prices drop for PCIe 3x4 SSDs or manufacturers release better models.
That's it for my actual experience reviewing External SSD and Enclosures for my M1 Mac Mini.
I wonder if the Acasis USB4/TB3 does not seem to be branded under a different name for Amazon Uk.
Just check Amazon USA. I guess the seller just sold out of their stock. Here's the link for your reference.
M.2 NVME SSD Enclosure
ACASIS 40Gbps M.2 NVME SSD Enclosure for NVME PCIe B+M M-Key Solid State Drive External Enclosure Aluminum Shell SSD Case Compatible with Thunderbolt 4/3 USB4.0/3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0
www.amazon.com
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Delivery won’t be as fast but it looks like you can buy the same Acasis enclosure from AliExpress (the pictures are identical).
I’m not sure I can share a link, but if you search for “thunderbolt 4 NVMe” you should be able to find it. It’s the 2nd item down when I did a search (currently listed with 38 sold).
Nice work!
Question on the drive above... I also have it, and my speeds are also substandard. How can I check the controller chip? I can remove the OEM heatsink from the SSD without damage.
Yes. Most everything is Chinese created and made. I'd rather buy from Amazon as the shipping is 2 days maximum, and I can get a full refund if I return the item within a month. With Ali Express, you pay a lower price, but it takes a very long time to get the item, and don't have a very dependable return policy. Or any return policy at all.
1TB Adata XPG SX8200 Pro. Also meant to say that I can't remove the OEM heatsink (to take a peek at the controller) without damaging the drive.
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You can easily see the SM controller chip on one side of the SSD. Don't know which side is your heat sink, but if it's easy to take off, you should be able to read the chip's printing. It will actually read "SM2262ENG" or "SM2262EN", which are the better chip. If it reads "SM2262G", then you have the lower performing "new" controller that Adata substituted without changing the model. When I received the Adata XPG SX8200 Pro, I immediately looked at the controller chip (bare stainless steel/Aluminum) and saw it was a SM2262G. Knowing this I ran a Black Magic speed test and immediately knew it was sub performing with my M1 Mac Mini. The Mushkin Pilot-e actually does still use the SM2262ENG chip, which is hidden under their label. But you can easily pull back the label without tearing and read the printing. As in my review, the Mushkin ran OK but did not come close to the performance of the WD Black SN750. As the prices for both the Adata and WD are about the same, you should return the Adata and get the WD, if you still are able to do so.
Yeah I can't remove the heatsink, and I've had it for several months.
Remember, I'm the guy that already has a WD SN750 + ACASIS, so I've got a good combo for the time being.
I'll just stick the ADATA into one of my non-TB3 SSD enclosures where USB 3.1 gen 2 is the max anyways.Ha ha. I forgot already. With this COVID lockdown, there's not much to do now but play with tech and try to optimize my M1 Mac Mini. Those USB 3.1 gen 2 enclosures are nice and cheap now, and yet still perform decently at 10Gb/s. At least you'll still get use out of your Adata. I wonder what, or who, will come out with the next best enclosure and SSD. With the M1 Macs, we're stuck with PCIe 3x4. Maybe the next M1X Mac Mini will support PCIe 4. Those will be screaming fast and outpace even the Mac's internal SSD speeds.Yeah I can't remove the heatsink, and I've had it for several months.
Remember, I'm the guy that already has a WD SN750 + ACASIS, so I've got a good combo for the time being.
Excellent write up👍
I have the same hardware and agree with your synopsis totally.
Thanks Jzjz2021. I originally bought the 8GB RAM/256GB Storage M1 Mac Mini. But after using it for over 2 months, I decided to return it (Costco has 3 month return period for computers/electronics). I was experiencing memory pressure going into the yellow zone several times, and this only because I have several apps open, with multiple desktops, and several tabs in both Safari and Chrome. If I started editing a few photos and maybe a video or two, the memory pressure would almost stay in the yellow. That in and of itself is not necessarily bad as the memory pressure is not in the red, but there is a bit of slowness in certain apps. For the premium of $200 I decided to just get the 16GB/256. I've only had it for 5 days but I feel much more at ease and noticed my Mini running consistently fast and smooth. Even if I don't get a proportionate return upon resale, I think it is worth the $200. Do you have the same M1 Mac Mini specs? Do you also have the same Acasis USB4 and WD Black SN750?
I am using a M1 MacBook Pro 16GB/1TB ..I have the same Acasis USB4 enclosure and the WD Black SN750 1TB and a WD Blue SN550 1TB also..Both work well but the Black model definitely is faster.
Yeah, my experience is similar, someday I will open a thread with all my screenshots showing how 8GB are constantly compressed, especially when I connect an external display to the MBA. The amount of compression and swap memory is huge, and I think not very healthy for the SSD.
Good choice switching to 16GB of RAM 👍🏻
Thanks for the thorough testing. I read that the 2TB SN750 WD black write speeds are lower than 1000 write in the Acasis enclosure. A problem that seems to persist with 2TB versions. Have you tested the Acasis enclosure with any 2TB drives?
None as of yet. But thanks for the heads up on the 2TB. I don't know why the 2TB would have slower write speeds than the 1TB. Would you know?
No, just read would be a bug in macOS. Check it out here. Not sure it applies to the M1's though. I will test when I receive my Acasis enclosure.
External TB3 NVMe SSD - only 800 MB/s write speed
Hi, I have a 2019 i-9 iMac and built an external SSD enclosure using a Sonnet Echo Express SE-I TB3. I have tried two different PCIe NVME adapters and my NVME SSD (Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB) is only reaching around 800 MB write speed. Sometimes goes up to 850-870 MB/s. I tried different brand...
forums.macrumors.com
The Blue vs Black speed tests are attached below:
WD Blue NVME 1TB in ACASIS enclosure attached to MBP 16GB/1TB via Thunderbolt 3 cable.
WD Black NVME 1TB in ACASIS enclosure attached to MBP 16GB/1TB
Tests were run using Black Magic Speed Test, DiskMark and Sensei Apps. The results are a little noisy but the Black edition is definitely faster overall👍
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