Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures

[citivolus]

Got the Jeyi and an SN850X yesterday based on this thread to use with my 2021 MacBook Pro. Trying to determine if I am getting the best possible speed with this combo; test result is attached. Mostly it comports with other reports here but the RND4K result seems significantly lower than what others have. Any ideas? I've tried every version of the firmware on the Jeyi site and got almost identical test results each time.

 

[mogens]

That (x4 @ 16 GT/s) looks correct for the Jeyi and a PCIe 4.0 SSD. With no apparent performance increase from updating the firmware, I'd guess you were already running at x4 on the older firmware.

I suspect those speeds are as fast as you are likely to see, and any limits stem from the TB/USB 4 controller in the m1 imac rather the Jeyi firmware. The port controller could either be forcing TB 3 mode or maybe the USB 4 ports on the m1 imac aren't capable of full speed data transfers.

If it's TB 3, TB 3 reserves 20% of the 40gbps bandwidth for video, or 8 gbps. As each 1 gbps is ~125 MB/s, that drops the max theoretical bandwidth to ~4000 MB/s from ~5000 MB/s. Take off another ~20% for data transfer protocol overhead and you get a practical max of around ~3200-3400 MB/s. Given your highest read speeds are a bit above that mark and the write is a bit below it, I'd hazard that is the case.

It's also possible that the USB 4 controller on the m1 imac just isn't capable of faster speeds. There are reports I've read of older (pre 12th gen) Intel USB 4 controllers that also maxed out at around the ~3200-3400 MB/s level, while the more recent gens seem to reach ~4000 MB/s.

Maybe someone with a M3 Mac and a Jeyi (or another ASMedia 2464 based enclosure) with a fast pci4 SSD will report results closer to the what the latest Intel gen chips seem to achieve.

In any case, I'm impressed enough with your reported speeds that I would consider that WD SSD when I upgrade from my old 1TB pci3 sabrent rocket... though I am pretty happy with the speeds I am seeing from such an old SSD!

Yes, I think it’s a problem with the M1 iMacs TB/USB 4 controller. Could be interesting to see if the problem is the same with the M3 iMac. BTW I updated the firmware on my SN850X with Dashboard on a PC. The PC don’t have TB but it regonized the jeyi. Dashboard didn’t, so I had to put the nvme in another USB inclosure.

 

[Ifti]

They seem great but no empty enclosure to add our own drives, is available ! Any idea of read speed when used in independent drives mode ? thanks
[EDIT: I chat with OWC guy and he says changing the drives isn't easy because of thermal paste...
thunderblade is installed with 4 2280 drives whatever the size you choose and thunderblade X8 with 8 2280 drives whatever the size you choose !

The OWC guy is talking rubbish. They don't want to you open the drive of course, but I have opened mine in the past and they are easy to change. 4 screws to open the drive, and the SSDs are placed into standard NVMe M.2 slots - just like any other enclosure. Nothing difficult about it at all.
All you need is some new thermal pads, which are cheap to pick up online. You could buy the smallest size (4TB I think) and upgrade the drives yourself - then sell the 4x1TB drives it came with - easy.

 

[mogens]

There's a new firmware for the jeyi 2464pd (and others) here:

Asmedia

Asmedia

www.station-drivers.com

You need the password "asmedia" to unlock the updater app.

Firmware now says: "Firmware Version: 41.29" on the Mac.
I still get bad write speed in AmorphousDiskMark (1200mb/s write-3400mb/s read) with a SN850X 4tb on my iMac m1:
Blackmagic and Aja both give 3000mb/s + read/ write speed.
I have given up on finding the cause.

 

[Lounge Deluxe]

There's a new firmware for the jeyi 2464pd (and others) here:

Asmedia

Asmedia

www.station-drivers.com

You need the password "asmedia" to unlock the updater app.

Firmware now says: "Firmware Version: 41.29" on the Mac.
I still get bad write speed in AmorphousDiskMark (1200mb/s write-3400mb/s read) with a SN850X 4tb on my iMac m1:
Blackmagic and Aja both give 3000mb/s + read/ write speed.
I have given up on finding the cause.

I unlocked the tool but get the following error, any thoughts perhaps?

 

[mogens]

I unlocked the tool but get the following error, any thoughts perhaps?

View attachment 2358580

Pick the correct .bin file in the firmware drop down menu. close the program after running the upgrade and reopen to see if it reports the correct firmware. I had to run it twice to get it correct firmware. Also make sure the green light is on, if not reconnect the enclosure.

 

[Lounge Deluxe]

Pick the correct .bin file in the firmware drop down menu. close the program after running the upgrade and reopen to see if it reports the correct firmware. I had to run it twice to get it correct firmware. Also make sure the green light is on, if not reconnect the enclosure.

Thanks, it succeeded after some perseverance. Slightly better r/w but only marginal.

UPDATE: and I just bricked a Zike usb4 drive with this FW version, it concluded the update and then showed FAIL instead of PASS

 

[citivolus]

Got the Jeyi and an SN850X yesterday based on this thread to use with my 2021 MacBook Pro. Trying to determine if I am getting the best possible speed with this combo; test result is attached. Mostly it comports with other reports here but the RND4K result seems significantly lower than what others have. Any ideas? I've tried every version of the firmware on the Jeyi site and got almost identical test results each time. View attachment 2357588

Could this be why???

 

[joevt]

Could this be why???

That's Thunderbolt link width. Thunderbolt is supposed to have link width 2. You need to look at PCIe link width.

A USB-C or Thunderbolt cable has 4 SuperSpeed lines. Thunderbol/USB4 uses 2 for transmit and 2 for receive. Same for USB 3.2 x2. USB 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2 x1 uses 1 for transmit and 1 for receive.

 

[citivolus]

That's Thunderbolt link width. Thunderbolt is supposed to have link width 2. You need to look at PCIe link width.

A USB-C or Thunderbolt cable has 4 SuperSpeed lines. Thunderbol/USB4 uses 2 for transmit and 2 for receive. Same for USB 3.2 x2. USB 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2 x1 uses 1 for transmit and 1 for receive.

Got it, thanks @joevt for the explanation. At this point it seems the difference I am seeing in the Amorphous Random read/write scores compared to others in this thread is due to the Thunderbolt controller in my 2021 14” MacBook Pro…?

 

[Chancha]

Got it, thanks @joevt for the explanation. At this point it seems the difference I am seeing in the Amorphous Random read/write scores compared to others in this thread is due to the Thunderbolt controller in my 2021 14” MacBook Pro…?

I got two 4TB SN850X, dark result was in ACASIS TBU-405 and light was in TBU-405ProM1. Both times connecting to a base M1 Max Mac Studio. So they both use the JHL7440 TB3 controller instead of USB4 that yours does.

Almost identical RND4K QD1 numbers as yours. There is indeed a difference in QD64 both I don't think this perimeter matters much for a truly randomized task, unless you run a database off that drive.

 

[mogens]

Thanks, it succeeded after some perseverance. Slightly better r/w but only marginal.

UPDATE: and I just bricked a Zike usb4 drive with this FW version, it concluded the update and then showed FAIL instead of PASS

Maybe this will help. there's a link to the manual:

http://www.adt.link/download/ADT_UT3G_ASM246xMPTool.zip

Page 10 | [2023 ASMedia ASM2464PD USB4v1 encoder - 64Gbps PC...

Page 10 | nando4 Apr-9-2024 important topic summary notes / FAQ >> Features and builds related 0. ADT-Link UT3G V1.3 spotted with additi...

egpu.io

 

[joevt]

Got it, thanks @joevt for the explanation. At this point it seems the difference I am seeing in the Amorphous Random read/write scores compared to others in this thread is due to the Thunderbolt controller in my 2021 14” MacBook Pro…?

Did you check the link width/link rate in the PCIe tab?

 

[citivolus]

Did you check the link width/link rate in the PCIe tab?

Yes it is x4, see my original post:

Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures

Got the Jeyi and an SN850X yesterday based on this thread to use with my 2021 MacBook Pro. Trying to determine if I am getting the best possible speed with this combo; test result is attached. Mostly it comports with other reports here but the RND4K result seems significantly lower than what...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[OWC_TAL]

Hi All! For anyone wondering, the Express 1m2 is finally back in stock! Units with pre-populated SSDs should be available shortly as well.

OWC Express 1M2 USB4 (40Gb/s) Bus-Powered Portable... at MacSales.com

US4EXP1M2 OWC Express 1M2 USB4 (40Gb/s) Bus-Powered Portable External Storage Enclosure for NVMe M.2 SSDs. Add an NVMe M.2 SSD, and build your own portable USB4 drive for daily storage, backup, production-level audio, design, and photography workflows.

eshop.macsales.com

 

[ekwipt]

Hi All! For anyone wondering, the Express 1m2 is finally back in stock! Units with pre-populated SSDs should be available shortly as well.

OWC Express 1M2 USB4 (40Gb/s) Bus-Powered Portable... at MacSales.com

US4EXP1M2 OWC Express 1M2 USB4 (40Gb/s) Bus-Powered Portable External Storage Enclosure for NVMe M.2 SSDs. Add an NVMe M.2 SSD, and build your own portable USB4 drive for daily storage, backup, production-level audio, design, and photography workflows.

eshop.macsales.com

I've got one coming today!

So reinstalled my Samsung 990 Pro from my Hagibis USB 4.0 enclosure, roughly the same speed (same controller), but zero fan noise. It's hard to recommend the Hagibis TBH because of the high-speed whirling sound, I'll put that in my drawer as a backup.

Shipping took 3 months (because of manufacturing), manufacturing looks to be high quality, it's basically a giant heatsink!

 

[crowe-t]

I've got an OWC Express 1M2 coming tomorrow. I'll put my WD 4TB SN850X inside. I currently have it in a cheap SSK enclosure due to the delay of stock at OWC.

 

[crowe-t]

Is the OWC Express 1M2 supposed to feel slightly warm to the touch, even when there is no activity?

I had been using a cheap $17 SSK enclosure that I kept on top of my Mac Studio and it was cold to the touch. Maybe the Mac Studio's enclosure was keeping the SSK cool.

 

[macphoto861]

Is the OWC Express 1M2 supposed to feel slightly warm to the touch, even when there is no activity?

Mine does. From what I understand, it's the ASM2464PD controller chip... it simply runs hot, even at idle.

 

[citivolus]

Sorry for the very general basic question, but in dabbling with a Thunderbolt NVMe enclosure and my 2021 MacBook Pro 14”, I realized that there really isn’t a solution where one could use a dock or hub with a laptop to utilize both the Thunderbolt enclosure and other devices and still get full performance from the enclosure. It seems that USB 4 enclosures are close to utilizing the full 40 Gb/s bandwidth and so they need to be plugged directly into the laptop rather than going through a dock, eliminating the “one plug” solution. Is that correct?

 

[PaulD-UK]

If the USB4 SSD is the only thing plugged into a TB 4 dock, then there will be very little 'lost' bandwidth.
Start plugging things into the other ports then bandwidth is shared.
In practice being able to plug a display, or a USB device, into the dock as well as an SSD far outweighs the loss of bandwidth.

FAR more bandwidth is lost by using an NVMe SSD in an enclosure with incompatibility problems....
Not all SSDs or enclosures play well with Apple's particular USB 4 host chip designs.

In my opinion Apple's Thunderbolt implementations are more reliable, being as they were co-producers of the specification.
At the moment TB4 is no real advance over TB3 for data storage devices: TB4 is really a hub/dock thing, where it is an advance over TB3 docks, and there aren't TB3 hubs.
We await TB5.

 

[citivolus]

I am using a Pro Display XDR with my MacBook, so I guess my dream of a single plug for both this and an enclosure must wait..

 

[PaulD-UK]

And my DIY 5K iMac monitor is having it's first birthday this weekend 😀 sharing its bandwidth with two TB3 docks and five TB3 NVMe SSDs strung off the two ports of my Mac mini...

 

[crowe-t]

Mine does. From what I understand, it's the ASM2464PD controller chip... it simply runs hot, even at idle.

Thanks. I also see the light flashing at times. Is that when the computer isn't in use?

 

[macphoto861]

Thanks. I also see the light flashing at times. Is that when the computer isn't in use?

Mine blinks a bit even when I'm not actively using it... I assume that's the OS doing stuff.