What external storage solutions are you going to use with the Mac Studio

[vernam]

On my new Mac Studio:

Orico TB3 with Samsung 970 evo plus 2TB

Next up is the Mac itself :

And Finally :

Acacis TB5 enclosure with a WD Black 4TB

Hope this helps.

 

[pshufd]

On my new Mac Studio:

Orico TB3 with Samsung 970 evo plus 2TB

View attachment 2520690

Next up is the Mac itself :

View attachment 2520691

And Finally :

Acacis TB5 enclosure with a WD Black 4TB
View attachment 2520692

Hope this helps.

Could you provide the exact name of the Orico enclosure or a link?

 

[vernam]

Could you provide the exact name of the Orico enclosure or a link?

[Intel Certified] ORICO Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Enclosure, Aluminum External M2 2280 PCIe M-Key Adapter Case with 0.5m Thunderbolt 3 Cable - USB C Compatible (SSD NOT Included)

[Intel Certified] ORICO Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Enclosure, Aluminum External M2 2280 PCIe M-Key Adapter Case with 0.5m Thunderbolt 3 Cable - USB C Compatible (SSD NOT Included)

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[maflynn]

Acacis TB5 enclosure

One of the complaints with the Acacis is the termal pads are too thin to actually make contact with the metal housing - is that your experience? How's the heat for this?

I'm considering this enclosure with a Samsung 990 Pro.

My other options either OWC 2TB Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 or The Sabrent Rocket Xtrm 5

I'm leaning towards the Sabrent, given my familiarity with Sabrent. I've been using them for years and have been pleased with their SSds and enclosures. My only concern is unlike the Acacis, there is no fan, so cooling is passive only. I don't know if temps will be an issue

 

[pshufd]

One of the complaints with the Acacis is the termal pads are too thin to actually make contact with the metal housing - is that your experience? How's the heat for this?

I'm considering this enclosure with a Samsung 990 Pro.

My other options either OWC 2TB Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 or The Sabrent Rocket Xtrm 5

I'm leaning towards the Sabrent, given my familiarity with Sabrent. I've been using them for years and have been pleased with their SSds and enclosures. My only concern is unlike the Acacis, there is no fan, so cooling is passive only. I don't know if temps will be an issue

You could always just use a thicker pad.

The TB4/USB4 options were small and expensive until last summer when a bunch of companies came out with them and then prices dropped and there were a lot more options. I suspect that this will happen with TB5 too but do not know when.

 

[maflynn]

You could always just use a thicker pad.

That's what the vendor stated as a resolution - kind of rubs me the wrong way. I mean you're spending hundreds of dollars and the vendor cannot provide the correct components?

 

[pshufd]

That's what the vendor stated as a resolution - kind of rubs me the wrong way. I mean you're spending hundreds of dollars and the vendor cannot provide the correct components?

My approach was to get a TB4 external in the OWC 1M2 for $120. I will look at TB5 when the prices come down and there are more options. If you need the 5K read/write now, then your options are limited. I'm coming from external drives well under 1K MBps so 3K is a huge upgrade.

 

[Sharky II]

Another issue with the Acasis and most of these manufacturers is that the hinged design of the top plate means that you're not 100% confident that the thermal pad is actually flush e.g. you need 1.5mm thickness at one end of the NVMe drive, and 2mm at the other end. You can tell this from the imprint of the chips on the thermal pad (or lack of indentation)

The OWC just fits perfectly. I suspect they'll bring a Thunderbolt 5 enclosure out soon.

 

[maflynn]

The OWC just fits perfectly. I suspect they'll bring a Thunderbolt 5 enclosure out soon.

They have a TB5 drive, just no enclosure yet. Maybe in the near future but sadly my need is more immediate

 

[pshufd]

Another issue with the Acasis and most of these manufacturers is that the hinged design of the top plate means that you're not 100% confident that the thermal pad is actually flush e.g. you need 1.5mm thickness at one of the NVMe drive, and 2mm at the other end. You can tell this from the imprint of the chips on the thermal pad (or lack of indentation)

The OWC just fits perfectly. I suspect they'll bring a Thunderbolt 5 enclosure out soon.

I'm hoping for a 1M3.

The 1M2 is just wildly popular judging from all of the YouTube video reviews that I see about it.

 

[theorist9]

One of the complaints with the Acacis is the termal pads are too thin to actually make contact with the metal housing - is that your experience? How's the heat for this?

I'm considering this enclosure with a Samsung 990 Pro.

My other options either OWC 2TB Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 or The Sabrent Rocket Xtrm 5

I'm leaning towards the Sabrent, given my familiarity with Sabrent. I've been using them for years and have been pleased with their SSds and enclosures. My only concern is unlike the Acacis, there is no fan, so cooling is passive only. I don't know if temps will be an issue

If you also have a need for a dock, you could get the Sonnet Echo 13 TB5 SSD dock, which comes with a fan.

It's $550 and $750 for the 2 TB and 4 TB, compared with $370 and $600 for the Sabrent Rocket XTRM 5.

Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 SSD Dock (2TB)

Thunderbolt 5 dock with high performance internal 2TB SSD storage, Thunderbolt 5 ports, and more. Compatible with Mac, Windows, Chromebook, and iPad Pro.

www.sonnetstore.com

 

[ultratiem]

One of the complaints with the Acacis is the termal pads are too thin to actually make contact with the metal housing - is that your experience? How's the heat for this?

I'm considering this enclosure with a Samsung 990 Pro.

My other options either OWC 2TB Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 or The Sabrent Rocket Xtrm 5

I'm leaning towards the Sabrent, given my familiarity with Sabrent. I've been using them for years and have been pleased with their SSds and enclosures. My only concern is unlike the Acacis, there is no fan, so cooling is passive only. I don't know if temps will be an issue

These quick storage benchmarks do nothing to tell about how the drive handles heat. I had a 10 Gbps m.2 enclosure from Sabrent and if you simply transferred a 8GB file, no problem. The problems arose for any sustained task. Moving 2TB at 60 Mbps doesn’t feel good. Heat is a massive issue for m.2 drives. I doubt any of the models listed above will handle heat for prolonged situations without throttling, especially at TB5 speeds.

I have an old ZikeDrive666 that handles heat fairly well as the entire chassis is an aluminum heat sink. Even then, it runs at a constant 70C. No throttling at least.

I just recently picked up an OCW Express (DIY chassis) and it is the king in handling heat. Unfortunately it caps at USB4, so you’re limited to 4 Mbps. But if you care about heat and the longevity of your drive, the Express is impressive.

 

[Ifti]

The OWC 1M2 are great. So good that I purchased too many!! lol

I have 2x8TB and 1x4TB - may sell the 4TB version as I never touch it!

What I have noticed though is that the 'pre-built' versions come with the OWC Aura SSDs. These are all well and good, but I also purchased an empty 1M2 enclosure and installed my own 4TB Samsung 990 Pro SSD - and this is actually slightly faster and [I feel] performs a bit better then the Aura drives.......

 

[Ifti]

I just picked up a Terramaster D1 SSD Plus enclosure, which I will test shortly. Its also USB4 so should perform the same as the 1M2, but this thing has a beast of a heatsink - if you think the 1M2 had sufficient cooling, take a look at this monster!

https://www.terra-master.com/global/d1-ssd-plus.html

Will post back once tested!

 

[pshufd]

The OWC 1M2 are great. So good that I purchased too many!! lol

I have 2x8TB and 1x4TB - may sell the 4TB version as I never touch it!

What I have noticed though is that the 'pre-built' versions come with the OWC Aura SSDs. These are all well and good, but I also purchased an empty 1M2 enclosure and installed my own 4TB Samsung 990 Pro SSD - and this is actually slightly faster and [I feel] performs a bit better then the Aura drives.......

I think that the Aura drives use less power so they might be a better solution for when your USB4 ports are drawing a lot of power together.

 

[splifingate]

That's what the vendor stated as a resolution - kind of rubs me the wrong way. I mean you're spending hundreds of dollars and the vendor cannot provide the correct components?

My two TBU-405's each had full-contact 🤷‍♂️

 

[Ifti]

Its a shame the front SD slot on the Mac Studio doesn't support SD Express.......

 

[theorist9]

They have a TB5 drive, just no enclosure yet. Maybe in the near future but sadly my need is more immediate

I think the reason is that Intel won't certify 0 GB TB drive enclosures is that, unless they come with a built-in SSD, they can't be assured the power draw won't exceed what's available from the TB port.

The exception, seen with previous-gen 0 GB TB enclosures, was when they were throttled to reduce their speed (to 800 MB/s), and thus limit their power draw.

The part I don't understand is this: Suppose you have a wall-powered (as opposed to bus-powered) enclosure. In that case, can't the power be supplied by the enclosure itself? Or even with a wall-powered enclosure, can the power for the SSD come only from the port?

 

[pshufd]

I think the reason is that Intel won't certify 0 GB TB drive enclosures is that, unless they come with a built-in SSD, they can't be assured the power draw won't exceed what's available from the TB port.

The exception, seen with previous-gen 0 GB TB enclosures, was when they were throttled to reduce their speed (to 800 MB/s), and thus limit their power draw.

The part I don't understand is this: Suppose you have a wall-powered (as opposed to bus-powered) enclosure. In that case, can't the power be supplied by the enclosure itself? Or even with a wall-powered enclosure, can the power for the SSD come only from the port?

I think that these don't have additional power. One workaround that I've seen is to use a powered dock as a passthrough for the TB drive.

I have a portable monitor and it works from my MacBook Pro. But it black screens randomly. It has a second USB-C port. I connected that to wall power and the black screens went away. So not-enough-power is a thing with USB peripherals.

 

[MarkC426]

The part I don't understand is this: Suppose you have a wall-powered (as opposed to bus-powered) enclosure. In that case, can't the power be supplied by the enclosure itself? Or even with a wall-powered enclosure, can the power for the SSD come only from the port?

This is why I got a ‘real’ external SSD….. 😁
Retail £1299….😧, but I got it ‘ON OFFER’ from Amazon for under £500
There where only 2 left at the time (I should have bought both).
The FireCuda blade can also be replaced (for a larger one in the future)
As it’s older tech it is only TB3, but it’s fast and silent.

 

[pshufd]

This is why I got a ‘real’ external SSD….. 😁
Retail £1299….😧, but I got it ‘ON OFFER’ from Amazon for under £500
There where only 2 left at the time (I should have bought both).
The FireCuda blade can also be replaced (for a larger one in the future)
As it’s older tech it is only TB3, but it’s fast and silent.


View attachment 2524578

There are USB-A Power-Y cables where you plug two USB-A plugs into a computer and one plug is for signal + power and the other is for power so you get twice the power available. I had an old IDE enclosure that came with this type of Y-cable for mini-USB. I see them for USB-A to USB-C but I didn't see any that were strictly USB-C.

 

[theorist9]

I think that these don't have additional power.

Right, they do not.

One workaround that I've seen is to use a powered dock as a passthrough for the TB drive.

As I understand things from an email discussion I had with Sonnet, this doesn't fix the problem. The attached bus-powered drive could still exceed the TB power limit, except now it will be exceeding that provided by the dock's TB port instead of by the computer's TB port.

 

[theorist9]

This is why I got a ‘real’ external SSD….. 😁
Retail £1299….😧, but I got it ‘ON OFFER’ from Amazon for under £500
There where only 2 left at the time (I should have bought both).
The FireCuda blade can also be replaced (for a larger one in the future)
As it’s older tech it is only TB3, but it’s fast and silent.


View attachment 2524578

I suspect if you replace the 2 TB SSD with a bigger one, unless it's the 4 TB one it's designed for, you'd have the same potential problem that's presented by any device that allows all 4 PCIe lanes to be made available to the SSD--that it could overdraw the TB port and thus trip the computer's current protectors, which would corrupt the transfer and possibly the directory.

As I understood things from my email discussion with Sonnet, the only way to eliminate the risk (with a 0 GB enclosure) is to get a PCIe box, insert a PCIe SSD card, and plug your SSD into the card. The PCIe card has a PCIe bridge that powers the SSD directly.

One thing I don't understand is that you can potentially get full TB3 speed (2,800 MB/s) from an Intel-certified 0 GB enclosure if you configure two external SSD's in RAID 0, where each SSD is provided 2 of the 4 available PCIe lanes. But then you're running two cards simultaneously into the same port. And if Intel won't certify a 0 GB enclosure with one SSD on 4 lanes because of unknown power draw, why would it certify a configuration that runs two SSDs on 2 lanes each?

I.e. for the same SSDs, powering two SSDs that are operating simultaneously, where each is using 2 lanes, should draw at least as much power as a single SSD operating on four lanes, unless the power demand is not linear with speed above 1500 MB/s. Is that what's going on?

 

[Brian33]

One thing I don't understand is that you can potentially get full TB3 speed (2,800 MB/s) from an Intel-certified 0 GB enclosure if you configure two external SSD's in RAID 0, where each SSD is provided 2 of the 4 available PCIe lanes. But then you're running two cards simultaneously into the same port. And if Intel won't certify a 0 GB enclosure with one SSD on 4 lanes because of unknown power draw, why would it certify a configuration that runs two SSDs on 2 lanes each?

I.e. for the same SSDs, powering two SSDs that are operating simultaneously, where each is using 2 lanes, should draw at least as much power as a single SSD operating on four lanes, unless the power demand is not linear with speed above 1500 MB/s. Is that what's going on?

I've looked at a lot of Thunderbolt two- and four- slot NVMe enclosures, and I think all of them had an external power input. I don't recall exactly, but I think some were certified and some not.

I am guessing, but I think a manufacturer could build a 0-GB single-slot enclosure with external power input, and that such an enclosure could be Intel-certified. I have not found one, certified or not.

I think it's just that the manufacturers just don't see a good sales market for such a device. Again though, I'm speculating. Would love to know the answer.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

I think that these don't have additional power. One workaround that I've seen is to use a powered dock as a passthrough for the TB drive.

I have a portable monitor and it works from my MacBook Pro. But it black screens randomly. It has a second USB-C port. I connected that to wall power and the black screens went away. So not-enough-power is a thing with USB peripherals.

This is a similar solution to the one that can be used with the iPhone and iPad when their respective ports can't power an external SSD or large thumb drive. In this case the external power is powering both the SSD and the iPhone.