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OWC Express 1M2 versus MAIWO 40Gbps M.2 NVMe
- Thread starter waloshin
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Based on what I've read online, both use the same chipset, but OWC seems to have a better case with improved cooling efficiency, thanks to the large contact surface provided by the many aluminum fins. Aesthetically, I prefer OWC, but Maiwo can often be found for half or a third of the price, depending on where you buy it.
I think OWC is better, but Maiwo is priced so low that it might be worth buying, even just to give it a try.
I think OWC is better, but Maiwo is priced so low that it might be worth buying, even just to give it a try.
I would recommend checking out the SSD enclosure thread.
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Anyhow, if you want the same chipset but a better designed shell for cooling, you may consider the Qwiizlab or the Hagibis. Like the OWC, they are built as giant heatsinks and run cooler than most of the other enclosures.
Like the OWC, the Qwiizlab supports up to 8 TB. The Hagibis, which looks identical to the Qwiizlab and which uses the same ASM2464PD chipset, does not support 8 TB. It only supports up to 4 TB. I don’t know why but I confirmed that with Hagibis customer support. The Hagibis and Qwiizlab are both backward compatible with Thunderbolt 3, but the OWC is not. On Thunderbolt 3 systems, the OWC falls back to 10 Gbps USB 3.2 gen 2x1.
For these reasons I ordered the Qwiizlab, but since I’m in Canada, the shipping from Amazon is longer than I’d prefer. They quote a 3-4 week delivery time. I’m not sure how long it takes to deliver to other countries. I also don’t know how long it takes if you order directly from Qwiizlab, but they currently have a free shipping deal.
Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures
Thunderbolt 3 / 4 / USB 4 NVMe Enclosures The best enclosures for high speed transfers (2.5GB/s+) usually have one of these 2 chipsets: Thunderbolt 3: Intel's JHL7440, e.g. Acasis TBU-401 / 405 Orico TB3-S2 USB 4: Asmedia ADM2464PD Jeyi TB-2464 Maiwo 2464 ( NewEgg / AliExpress) Satechi Pro...
forums.macrumors.com
Anyhow, if you want the same chipset but a better designed shell for cooling, you may consider the Qwiizlab or the Hagibis. Like the OWC, they are built as giant heatsinks and run cooler than most of the other enclosures.
Like the OWC, the Qwiizlab supports up to 8 TB. The Hagibis, which looks identical to the Qwiizlab and which uses the same ASM2464PD chipset, does not support 8 TB. It only supports up to 4 TB. I don’t know why but I confirmed that with Hagibis customer support. The Hagibis and Qwiizlab are both backward compatible with Thunderbolt 3, but the OWC is not. On Thunderbolt 3 systems, the OWC falls back to 10 Gbps USB 3.2 gen 2x1.
For these reasons I ordered the Qwiizlab, but since I’m in Canada, the shipping from Amazon is longer than I’d prefer. They quote a 3-4 week delivery time. I’m not sure how long it takes to deliver to other countries. I also don’t know how long it takes if you order directly from Qwiizlab, but they currently have a free shipping deal.
Yes, you’re right.
The OWC 1M2 is the same colour as the Mac mini and the Studio Display.
For what it's worth, I recently added the 1M2 to my '24 Mac Mini. I installed a 2TB SSD (SK hynix Platinum P41 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen4) and I'm using it for now as a Time Machine drive. It's delivering ~3500MB/s read and write. The thermal performance seems acceptable given there is no fan. It feels warm to the touch but not alarmingly so.
I figured it was worth spending a little extra on the OWC brand for something that I want to be able to completely rely on and not have to think about again for a long time. Hopefully that proves true 😅
I figured it was worth spending a little extra on the OWC brand for something that I want to be able to completely rely on and not have to think about again for a long time. Hopefully that proves true 😅
Heh. Nice drive just for Time Machine. I'll probably do the same with a different enclosure, but I may get a cheaper DRAM-less drive for that.
Dunno. I'm still waiting for the Black Friday sales on a good SSD. I already have the enclosure though. See below.
If I had to guess, I'd say the OWC has the most surface area for cooling since it has the largest dimensions, but the Qwiizlab is a close second. The OWC weighs 260 g, and the Qwiizlab weighs 250 g.
The OWC does not support Thunderbolt 3, but the Qwiizlab supposedly does.
The best values though if you don't need anything more than 4 TB are the Hagibis and the Colorii. They use the same chassis as the Qwiizlab but are significantly cheaper, maybe because they do not support sizes larger than 4 TB. The OWC and the Qwiizlab both support 8 TB.
All four of these enclosures use the ASM2464PD chipset.
Arriving today. I bought it for pretty subjective reasons. 1), The led is on the front instead of the back so I can see it. 2), The fins run across the body so on intensive runs, I can have a fan blow across the enclosure without either having to look at the fan or have it blow on me. 3), Its a company that's been around since at least the early 1980's and I've always been satisfied with their products. 4), Cheapest is not a criteria I use all that often.
Have a WD Black 4TB SN850X coming as well.
Thanks for the discussion.
Have a WD Black 4TB SN850X coming as well.
Thanks for the discussion.
I just got the OWC 1M2 and tested it with the Samsung 990Pro:
I did two large copy operations from the internal SSD and another Samsung T7 Shield external to the OWC/990Pro. It maintained the expected speeds at a steady rate until completion. Heatsink lukewarm to the touch.
I must say this is my first experience with a single external drive that fast. One gets used to that real quick.
I did two large copy operations from the internal SSD and another Samsung T7 Shield external to the OWC/990Pro. It maintained the expected speeds at a steady rate until completion. Heatsink lukewarm to the touch.
I must say this is my first experience with a single external drive that fast. One gets used to that real quick.
I have 3 of the MAIWO 40Gbps, each with 4TB NVME inside, they do get hot but only if you are doing massive file transfers which I don't. Hit nearly 3000MB/S R and W, for £28 ($35 each) bloody bargain!
They were so good that the price of one Orico 40Gbps drive that I did have paid for the 3
They were so good that the price of one Orico 40Gbps drive that I did have paid for the 3
How does it do with Thunderbolt 3?I have 3 of the MAIWO 40Gbps, each with 4TB NVME inside, they do get hot but only if you are doing massive file transfers which I don't. Hit nearly 3000MB/S R and W, for £28 ($35 each) bloody bargain!
They were so good that the price of one Orico 40Gbps drive that I did have paid for the 3
Yes, that is how I use mine. But I also have an Intel NUC HTPC that only has TB3 and so it would be nice to have an enclosure that is compatible with both.
It is because there are some enclosures (e.g., OWC 1M2) that have the same chipset but fall back to 10 Gbps on TB3 interfaces.
Yeah, that OWC 1M2 doesn't support Thunderbolt at all. It falls back from 40 Gbps USB 4 to 10 Gbps USB 3.
That really pisses me off... at myself. I needed an external drive quickly and did a little bit of searching for a TB4 solution. I saw posts about the 1M2 and its speed, so I thought, "Great!" and ordered one along with a 4TB 990 Pro.
Speed was as advertised, and I didn't think another thing of it until I read your post! A few mouse clicks confirms everything you stated. How did I miss this? Anyway, after reading about the differences between TB4 and USB 4, I'm a little mollified. For my uses it shouldn't matter.
Nevertheless, a valuable lesson learned from an experience that could have been a whole lot worse.
I bought the OWC knowing it had this limitation because I hadn't planned on using it for TB3. I still don't but it would be nice to have that flexibility.
It remains a mystery why the OWC doesn't fully support TB3 while Qwiizlab apparently does even though they both use the same chip set and are billed as USB4 and not TB. Qwiizlab's webpage provide very little in terms of specs and does not address the TB3 issue at all whereas OWC provides specs and manuals (another reason for more confidence in their product). So, has anyone confirmed with a real world test that the Qwiizlab does indeed support TB3 at higher speeds?
I'm purchasing a Mac Mini M4. I have already purchased the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB SSD. Has anyone experienced any heat issues when pairing the 990 Pro with the OWC 1M2? I'm considering the OWC or the Acasis TBU405 with the fan switch?
I do not do heavy gaming, but would like to play a few games in the future. Mostly productivity, web work and smaller videos.
I do not do heavy gaming, but would like to play a few games in the future. Mostly productivity, web work and smaller videos.
I have the OWC 1M2 with a 2TB 990 Pro connected to a Mac mini M2 Pro. No heat issues using Windows 11 Virtual Machine. It gets warm but not hot.
Thank you. Are you using Windows 11 under Parallels with the M2 Pro? How is the overall performance with the SSD. I'm still deciding to go M4 or M4 Pro because of Parallels.
I don’t think you need a fan. I’m using a 4tb WD SN850X which I’ve read runs hotter than the 990 Pro. When I loaded it with 1.6tb of files from my internal via an OWC T'bolt 4 hub it barely got warm.
I am using the free VM Ware Fusion to run WIN 11. Performance is fantastic (see my speedtest above).