Some posts back I said that I've purchased a TEKQ Cube enclosure for use with Samsung's new 970 EVO Plus SSD. It's working fine in Windows, but I'm running into problems with macOS. TEKQ has been quick to respond to an e-mail and is looking into the problem. I'll update when this is resolved, one way or the other, but right now I can't recommend this combination for use with macOS.
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Samsung T5/X5 & Equivalents
- Thread starter F-Train
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I don't know whether this and the Leiden enclosure are the same or not. It is definitely not a cable issue. The cable that I received is high quality and I've also tried an Apple TB3 cable.
I'm quite sure that getting into the problem, and what I've done to try and fix it, is tantamount to derailing this thread, which I'm not going to do.
I'm only posting this because I talked about the Cube and I feel obliged to note that while it works fine with Windows, there are problems with using it with macOS and Samsung's new version of the 970 series NVMe, which (correct me if I'm wrong) you are not using.
I'll see what TEKQ has to say. I've sent them a detailed e-mail and they promise a response by Tuesday.
[doublepost=1550965625][/doublepost]If someone has Samsung's latest 970 series SSD (the EVO Plus) in a third party enclosure, it would be helpful to know what the enclosure is and whether the combination is working in macOS.
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I’ve had a very good exchange with TEKQ and would not hesitate to purchase their products in the future. While the combination of TEKQ’s Cube and Samsung’s latest 970 series NVMe (the EVO Plus) works with Windows 10 Pro, it is problematic with Mojave.
It’s unclear whether this compatibility problem has to do with the enclosure or the SSD. TEKQ, which has not experienced a problem with Samsung’s previous version of this SSD, plans to acquire an EVO Plus for testing. Thanks to @Dr. Stealth for bringing to my attention a comment on Amazon on the EVO Plus and its compatibility with Mojave. I will be returning both the enclosure and the SSD.
It’s unclear whether this compatibility problem has to do with the enclosure or the SSD. TEKQ, which has not experienced a problem with Samsung’s previous version of this SSD, plans to acquire an EVO Plus for testing. Thanks to @Dr. Stealth for bringing to my attention a comment on Amazon on the EVO Plus and its compatibility with Mojave. I will be returning both the enclosure and the SSD.
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I have been using the SSD Enclosure by Cable Matters and thought I would give my opinion on its quality.
Product Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Aluminum-External-Enclosure/dp/B07CQD6M5B/
Before ordering this unit, I tried a few other enclosures as well.
Most of them were using the older ASMedia chip and ran a little hot under load. So after some research, I decided to get the ones with Via Labs VL716 chip, or the latest ASMedia Chip ASM235CM.
For heat dissipation, my goal was to get an enclosure with Aluminum housing.
I really liked ineo USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C enclosure (VL716 chip) and Cable Matters Aluminum USB 3.1 Gen 2 enclosure. Both have excellent build quality, and the SSD that I use (Crucial MX500) runs cooler compared to all other enclosures that I tried.
In the end, I ended up going with Cable Matters enclosure. The finish is excellent, and it has heat fins for additional cooling. In addition to a USB-C to USB-C cable, it comes with a USB-A to USB-C cable as well, which is very nice as I can connect my SSD to my older Macbook without buying an additional cable. The instructions manual, and overall quality of the product is excellent. The ASMedia Chip ASM235CM is quite new and is used in Samsung T5 as well.
Overall, a very good product for the price.
P.S.
I use the SMARTMonTools Driver to get S.M.A.R.T. status of USB Drives on Mac
Product Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Aluminum-External-Enclosure/dp/B07CQD6M5B/
Before ordering this unit, I tried a few other enclosures as well.
Most of them were using the older ASMedia chip and ran a little hot under load. So after some research, I decided to get the ones with Via Labs VL716 chip, or the latest ASMedia Chip ASM235CM.
For heat dissipation, my goal was to get an enclosure with Aluminum housing.
I really liked ineo USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C enclosure (VL716 chip) and Cable Matters Aluminum USB 3.1 Gen 2 enclosure. Both have excellent build quality, and the SSD that I use (Crucial MX500) runs cooler compared to all other enclosures that I tried.
In the end, I ended up going with Cable Matters enclosure. The finish is excellent, and it has heat fins for additional cooling. In addition to a USB-C to USB-C cable, it comes with a USB-A to USB-C cable as well, which is very nice as I can connect my SSD to my older Macbook without buying an additional cable. The instructions manual, and overall quality of the product is excellent. The ASMedia Chip ASM235CM is quite new and is used in Samsung T5 as well.
Overall, a very good product for the price.
P.S.
I use the SMARTMonTools Driver to get S.M.A.R.T. status of USB Drives on Mac
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I completely agree. I hear that all the time, the "Real-Life difference will not be noticed.". Utter BS. I'm running the X5 with 2GB/s writes and 2.5GB/s reads. When I copy files to or from this drive from my internal drive files move at light speed. 50GB file in 20 seconds. For smaller files I don't even get the progress bar pop-up in Finder. It's instant. Maybe my "Real-Life" is different from the norm.
The first few times I used my Samsung XE I would click to copy a file, look away for a moment or two and be sitting there waiting for it to copy before I realized -- it was already done! The T5 is fast and I had become used to its pacing, but this XE -- wow!!! Small files -- BOOM! Indeed, instant........
Hi i have the lacie thunderbolt 2 enclosure with a 500 ssd that i bought couple years ago for a good amount of money. Do you think if i am gonna swap the internal 500gb ssd with a samsung 860 1 tb ssd i will have the maximum speed that support the ssd? Or to buy another enclosure for better speed for my mac mini 2018?
You will probably get close to 380 MBps speed in the Lacie Thunderbolt enclosure. It’s a limitation on the Lacie Thunderbolt interface. With a good USB3 enclosure you can get upto 530 MBps. The advantage of the Lacie enclosure is TRIM support, and SMART status as Thunderbolt supports AHCI commands. If you plan to use it with a 2018 Mini, you will need the Thunderbolt 3 to 2 adaptor (~40$)
Thank you for the reply, which is my best option for my new samsung 1 tb 860 ssd and if you have a link to amazon please.
If you haven’t purchased the Samsung 860 SSD yet, then I’d recommend getting a Samsung T5. It’s small form factor is a huge bonus. If you already have the SSD, then you can check the Cable Matters enclosure (review posted above)
Depending on your own personal needs options may vary. But, if you really want to future proof go for the Samsung X5 TB3. You won't have to buy another in a couple years as you may with slower drive/enclosure combinations, you will get the fastest speeds and reliability available with this drive. Yes, speed DOES matter.
See post #10 here.
2TB Samsung X5 Benchmark.
See post #10 here.
2TB Samsung X5 Benchmark.
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If you have time, it would add helpful info to the thread if you comment on how your decision is working out.
Cheers
While trying to decide what external storage I will be getting when I pick up a Mac Mini, I came across this thread and the Samsung prices have fallen further. On Amazon, the T5 1 TB is now $168 and the 2 TB is $348. Really trying to decide if the X5 1TB for $448 is worth it.
I owned a retail store where I CONSTANTLY had to copy data back and forth and redo people's HD, so any time saved was more money made.
I now do mainly data recovery...
PC-3000, DDI4, etc.
I've had a Sonnet Fusion for 3 years
purchased as 256GB SSD for $300 (brutal expensive)
I swapped the drive out for an Evo 970 back when $650 was an incredible deal.
- contrary to Sonnet's claim "Oh, it can't handle the voltage of greater capacity" ...
the 2TB 970 Evo has been fine for 2+ years...of heavy use.
It's VERY fast - has absolutely been reliable.
Recently, I've bought two (one lost in shipping
of the TB3 variant) ...Sonnet NVMe to TB3 (will eventually swap to 2TB unless 4TB hits soon)
The problem
There's literally NO. WAY. To connect TB2 if the source is TB3 with an integrated cable.
TB2 version can connect to either.
All TB3 --> TB2 adapters are thunderbolt 3 MALE ... to TB 2 female. If you find something else please let me know.
Sonnet TB2 + Evo 970 = 1250 Write / 1250 Read ... very solid.
Sonnet TB3 + OEM SSD = 1250 Write / ≤ 2200MB/s Read (great, but I haven't used it much yet)
The fastest test of any of my devices:
- NetStor
- Requires AC adapter
- Supports RAID 0 / 1
- The following results however are with a single drive to a 15in MBPr 2017 ...
I've seen no problem with reliability.
Politely, I totally disagree with your claim that they're of minimal practical value -- Penny wise (how so if they aren't pound wise also?) and pound-stupid ..?
Time saved is time saved. Time is money.
I have 4x 4TB NVMe U.2 Samsungs in a RAID array, also. I LOVE fast storage. And I see no comprehensible reason to not buy SSD drives that are fast and reliable as you can.
CAVEAT: TRIM & Garbage routines = DATA LOSS vs spinning drives minute inconvenience to recover.
Example:
Lost partition map often will appear in diskutil as ... Disk2s0 ... or similar)
Inaccessible via OS... but cheap "carving tools" (Data Rescue) will get files (not hierarchy).
This is because the SSD is emulated ... and the OS isn't in control of the drive. The firmware / controller are opaque to the OS. And the SSD is constantly reorganizing data because of the differences in how the cells are written -- along with wear leveling. Without the $MFT or HFS Catalogue, you'll have no idea where the data is -- is often not contiguous and without the database indicating where the files are, you'll get very little data that's not corrupted.
WORST STILL: Many SSDs, (Samsung, SanDisk, everything Apple, etc.) use encrypted drives so that they don't have to be 'erased' -- thus sparing a write cycle. So when you do a quick format, you've deleted the key... the drive is encrypted, and once gone, it's gone for good. Drive Savers can deal with some of those as they were paying Apple annually for knowledge regarding the encryption algorithm.
Tools within PC-3000, specifically, the SSD add-on, will let you stop garbage collection and TRIM -- so the drive can be powered on without it reorganizing the data. Which -- in theory, should give you a chance at getting that data.
Hope that's helpful to someone.
PS
The transfer took ~ 45 seconds. Not a minute. DEFINITELY not over.
Under 50 seconds.
Attachments
The greatest advantage of Samsung Portable SSD T5 is that it generates no problem at all with Mac. I have tested many other external portable SSD and have found all sorts of issues. Even Samsung Portable SSD T3 froze sometimes (albeit very rarely) the Mac. And the Samsung Portable SSD T1 was not recommended for Mac:
Mac Owners Should Hold Off on New Samsung T1 Flash SSD
https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/mac-owners-should-hold-off-on-new-samsung-t1-flash-ssd
But the new Samsung Portable SSD T5 model is awesome, even to boot Mac and work from it all day long. It does not even get hot, which is amazing! I have used several units since September 2017. I also have Samsung Portable SSD X5, but have not used it that much, albeit so far, so good. The only big difference between such two models is the faster sequential read/write for large files of the second. Random read/wrote speed is not that different (for instance, you will not notice much difference booting and general usage). And the second gets hot. Unless you want to deal with very large files (movies, etc), the Samsung Portable SSD T5 is the best choice.
Mac Owners Should Hold Off on New Samsung T1 Flash SSD
https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/mac-owners-should-hold-off-on-new-samsung-t1-flash-ssd
But the new Samsung Portable SSD T5 model is awesome, even to boot Mac and work from it all day long. It does not even get hot, which is amazing! I have used several units since September 2017. I also have Samsung Portable SSD X5, but have not used it that much, albeit so far, so good. The only big difference between such two models is the faster sequential read/write for large files of the second. Random read/wrote speed is not that different (for instance, you will not notice much difference booting and general usage). And the second gets hot. Unless you want to deal with very large files (movies, etc), the Samsung Portable SSD T5 is the best choice.
I remember when I got the T1. I had to do some sort of workaround to wipe their security stuff off the drive and to set up the drive with the correct formatting for my Macs...... T3 was much easier in that regard and of course the T5 -- no problems at all. I am still using the T1 but not for anything really important now, though.
Cross posting because people get snippy about discussing USB NVMe cases in a TB3 NVMe thread
Quick question: I'm going to pickup an X5 for use on an upcoming MM18 purchase, but I'd like to use it in the interim on my existing MBP '15 - the latter only has TB2, and I understand the Apple, non-powered TB2>TB3 adapter won't work because the X5 needs more juice.
Anybody know if a reasonably inexpensive adapter/hub, that will supply power? Since it's going to be basically drawer-ed when I replace the machine in the next 30 or so days, I'd rather not drop $300 on a more full featured hub. Though that being said, __if__ the hub added a significant amount of flexibility to the MM, then maybe ...?
The OWC TB3 dock looks pretty slick, would get back my digital audio out and SD card reader, a nice bunch of additional legacy USB - I'd assume since it's externally powered, I could go MPB >> TB2 >> TB3 >> DOCK >> X5
Anybody know if a reasonably inexpensive adapter/hub, that will supply power? Since it's going to be basically drawer-ed when I replace the machine in the next 30 or so days, I'd rather not drop $300 on a more full featured hub. Though that being said, __if__ the hub added a significant amount of flexibility to the MM, then maybe ...?
The OWC TB3 dock looks pretty slick, would get back my digital audio out and SD card reader, a nice bunch of additional legacy USB - I'd assume since it's externally powered, I could go MPB >> TB2 >> TB3 >> DOCK >> X5