What is the fastest thunderbolt 3 NVMe M.2 enclosure?

[hajime]

Hi, I have the following product. Is there a much faster one?

A Adwits USB 3.1 UASP to PCIe NVMe M.2 2230/2242/2260/2280 High-Performance SSD Adapater, External Enclosure Case for WD Black, Samsung 960 970 EVO PRO Solid State Drive & More, Dark Grey

A Adwits USB 3.1 UASP to PCIe NVMe M.2 2230/2242/2260/2280 High-Performance SSD Adapater, External Enclosure Case for WD Black, Samsung 960 970 EVO PRO Solid State Drive & More, Dark Grey

www.amazon.ca

 

[ruslan120]

This one is limited to USB C speeds (10 gigabits a second -> roughly 1.25GB/s theoretical max).

Faster would be a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure (it has to say it in the title).

Fastest would be a PCI-Express card with 4 NVMe slots in an eGPU enclosure, running the drives in RAID 0).

 

[junkw]

be sure to put a SSD that can handle high sustained write too

 

[hajime]

This one is limited to USB C speeds (10 gigabits a second -> roughly 1.25GB/s theoretical max).

Faster would be a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure (it has to say it in the title).

Fastest would be a PCI-Express card with 4 NVMe slots in an eGPU enclosure, running the drives in RAID 0).

Thanks. The last option is an interesting idea that I should use when I need the fastest throughput. For the time being, I would go for a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure with Samsung 970 Evo Plus. Which Thunderbolt 3 enclosure is the best?
[automerge]1577399096[/automerge]

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

The enclosure you are linking to above IS NOT a "thunderbolt3" enclosure.

It's a USB3.1 enclosure of some type.
The page doesn't specify USB3.1 gen2 or USB3.1 gen1, so I'm going to assume it may be only a "gen1" enclosure that will max out around 500MBps for reads.

Which tbolt3 is "the best"?
Can't really say.
There are (at least right now) very few of them "out there".

There ARE numerous USB3.1 gen2 enclosures (that accept nvme drives).
These typically yield read speeds around 965-970MBps and writes in the mid-800's.

If you want tbolt3, buy a Samsung X5 and be done with it.
But these WILL NOT RUN with only a tbolt2 port (unless you use a dock).

 

[ruslan120]

There are a few Thunderbolt 3 enclosures, but for some reason the most reliable offerings (based on reviews) are Thunderbolt 3 SSDs already in enclosures (as Fishrrman alluded to with the X5), or USB C enclosures + NVMe SSD.

I’m not sure why that is. Maybe the controllers are tuned to the specific SSD. Maybe the enclosures aren’t designed to be opened and modified hence making them more reliable.

 

[junkw]

there is one example here

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1tb-samsung-970-in-thunderbolt-3-enclosure.2209733/

 

[hajime]

OK. When I want the fastest thunderbolt 3 drive, I will get the X5.

For the ADWITS enclosure I have, sometimes it has issue. For example, not all PC recognize it all the time. What would be a good replacement for it to use with my Samsung 970 Evo Plus if I don't need thunderbolt 3 speed? Of course Windows 10 and Linux compatibility is a must. Mac OS compatibility is nice to have but not necessarily.

 

[POLJC]

I am using a TREBLEET Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure with a Sabrent 1TB Rocket NVMe 4.0 Gen4 PCIe M.2 Internal SSD. I'm getting speeds of 2,350 MB/s Read/Write. I have a 2018 MacBook Pro with a 256 SSD, which only gives me about 1,325 MB/s. I am now booting off this enclosure and I can't believe the difference. It's night and day. I've been looking for an external drive to accommodate my 200GB Photos library, and with this drive, I can now store everything in one drive. It's awesome. I run my MacBook Pro in clamshell mode, connected to a 27-inch LG UHD monitor. I need to use my MacBook Pro because it's the only computer I have for home. I retired my awesome, but old Mac Pro. So, the laptop has become my main computer.

 

[KPOM]

I use a Shell Thunder from fledging.net (also available at Amazon). It supports PCIe 3.0 x4. I'm using it with a 2TB Sabrent Rocket Q and am getting write/read speeds of about 2000/1700, which is somewhat slower than POLJC, but the SSD itself is slower. The nice thing is that the Shell Thunder has a built-in fan that keeps the drive relatively cool.

 

[POLJC]

I use a Shell Thunder from fledging.net (also available at Amazon). It supports PCIe 3.0 x4. I'm using it with a 2TB Sabrent Rocket Q and am getting write/read speeds of about 2000/1700, which is somewhat slower than POLJC, but the SSD itself is slower. The nice thing is that the Shell Thunder has a built-in fan that keeps the drive relatively cool.

Nice. Mine gets warm at times but not hot. Are you using it as you main OS drive?

My internal Apple SSD has become my second Time Machine backup drive. LOL!

 

[KPOM]

Nice. Mine gets warm at times but not hot. Are you using it as you main OS drive?

My internal Apple SSD has become my second Time Machine backup drive. LOL!

No, I’m using it primarily as a backup drive using Carbon Copy Cloner. Notwithstanding the 10.15.5 bug/security update, it is bootable for me, though.

 

[satcomer]

No, I’m using it primarily as a backup drive using Carbon Copy Cloner. Notwithstanding the 10.15.5 bug/security update, it is bootable for me, though.

thst bug is if the person has direct connection to the Thunderbolt drive port! Bloggers salivate at digging at Apple! Take what you read on blog sites until they video post the hack I remain skeptical!

 

[edubfromktown]

I am using a TREBLEET Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure with a Sabrent 1TB Rocket NVMe 4.0 Gen4 PCIe M.2 Internal SSD. I'm getting speeds of 2,350 MB/s Read/Write. I have a 2018 MacBook Pro with a 256 SSD, which only gives me about 1,325 MB/s. I am now booting off this enclosure and I can't believe the difference. It's night and day. I've been looking for an external drive to accommodate my 200GB Photos library, and with this drive, I can now store everything in one drive. It's awesome. I run my MacBook Pro in clamshell mode, connected to a 27-inch LG UHD monitor. I need to use my MacBook Pro because it's the only computer I have for home. I retired my awesome, but old Mac Pro. So, the laptop has become my main computer.

View attachment 919716

Wow that is fast!

 

[D.T.]

I've got a TekQ TB3 enclosure, with a Sabrent 1TB Rocket NVMe (like a few folks above), it's sitting next to my Mini and a 140mm AC Infinity fan - so it's getting some air flowing across it, and it's totally cool to the touch.

Generally gets ~ 2K write / ~2.4K read - '18 Mini, i7, 32GB RAM, 512GB storage.

External:

Internal: