Best NVMe M.2 USB enclosure?

[Thirdgen89GTA]

Has anyone seen any good reviews?  I've only been able to find a few that have any real benchmarks listed, and none of them are the by usual reliable websites.

 

I don't mind cables, I'm looking for the fastest damned USB enclosure for NVMe drives.

 

I've got a Shinestar NVMe enclosure, but it tops out around 1GB and I know these drives go faster when plugged directly into an M2 slot.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JM25YCM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Supposedly this other SHINESTAR is capable of 2GB+, unfortunately its out of stock every I've seen.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F9VQ4XC/?coliid=I3VPZAN1PED3IM&colid=3I6N8Y7TIMWAV&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

I did a crystal bench on a Intel 760p 256GB, and a Samsung 970 EVO and the two are basically identical.  Even though the 970 is actually faster in most reviews where its directly plugged in.   I'm actually installing Windows on these same drives right now, using the same laptop for testing.  So I can do a direct compare of the drive internally installed vs the USB enclosure.  I'll post those when I run the benchmarks.

 

Samsung 970 EVO 250GB.

 

Intel 760p 256GB

[For Science!]

This is the limit of usb 3.2 i think. My samsung 970 is similar via usb

[NewMaxx]

Dependent on the bridge chip. There are some TB3 enclosures (which do not support fallback to USB) and also 20 Gbps enclosures (ASUS has one). Most common is 10 Gbps though - with several different bridge chips, the ASMedia ASM2362 and JMicron JMS583 being the most common. (the Shinestar you are using is JMS583)

[Thirdgen89GTA]

Yeah, thats pretty similar to the bench I did in the enclosure.  Though for time I limited the run to 3 instead of 5.

 

The reason I am interested in the fastest one is that I often use an external drive for data salvage operations at work, and the faster that drive is, the faster I can backup/restore data from a non-booting laptop.

 

Generally if the drive is readable I'll boot off a custom WinPE disk I built and run USMT to salvage the user profile data to a compressed MIG store.  Then I'll replace the drive or laptop, re-image, and restore the salvaged profile. So the faster the drive is the faster I can complete these tasks. Which makes users happier.  I've been using a M2 Sata enclosure, but I also have 2.5" external cables that let me plug a 2.5" directly into a USB port.

 

I actually did a bunch cause it I was a bit bored at work.  I did a Sandisk Extreme 64GB, Sandisk Ultra Flare 32GB, Samsung EVO 850 1TB 2.5", Intel SSD Pro 2500 256GB SATA too.

 

The SATA drives were all in a Startech USB M.2 SATA enclosure. The USB's are of course simply USBs.

 

 

Cheap PNY 8GB commodity drive.  Thing was so damned slow I changed it to 512GB and only ran 1 pass.  Thats not a mistake, the random write tests are slow low as to not even register.  RND4KQ32T16 is something like .0003MB/s.

 

Next is a fairly cheap and plentiful USB 3.0 drive.  The Sandisk Ultra Flare 32GB USB 3.0 drive.  I have like 5 of these things with the WinPE builds on them so I can stick'm in a computer and do some IT magic.  Various scripts loaded for cool stuff.  I was actually surprised at the speed this did.  Not bad.

 

Next is the fastest USB thumb drive I own.  These predate me having the USB External M2 adapters.  So I used to use them for salvage.  Most of the time now they run various bootable things.  But the read/write speeds are still impressive for a true USB Thumb drive.  Sandisk Extreme 64GB (CZ80)

 

Intel SSD Pro 2500 256GB SATA M2.  Nothing special here.  But not horrid.  These are the standard drives in our last gen Dell laptops and desktops.

 

 

 

 

 

[Thirdgen89GTA]

43 minutes ago, NewMaxx said:

Dependent on the bridge chip. There are some TB3 enclosures (which do not support fallback to USB) and also 20 Gbps enclosures (ASUS has one). Most common is 10 Gbps though - with several different bridge chips, the ASMedia ASM2362 and JMicron JMS583 being the most common. (the Shinestar you are using is JMS583)

I'm aware and wishing all our systems had TB3.  My home machine is a MacPro with TB2, and my work laptop is a 2018 MacBook Pro.

 

Since I finally got these benches done.  Here's the comparison of the same drives internally installed vs external.

 

In addition my Parallels VM running Crystalmark.  Even in a VM that is the fastest drive I have.  The PCIe drive in the MBP is crazy fast. I think the randoms take a hit because of the VM acting as an interface layer. 

 

 

 

And back to back.

 

Intel 760p 256GB, internal vs external Shinestar enclosure.

 

And the Samsung 970 EVO 250GB.  Internally installed vs Shinestar Enclosure.

 

[Thirdgen89GTA]

So my thoughts.

 

Basically, if you are installing it into an external USB enclosure the fastest drive isn't worth much.  The quality of the USB enclosure provides more of a boost than the fastest NVMe drive will.

 

I think I'll order a 2nd at work with the ASM2362 bridge for testing.  My Startech SATA enclosures us the ASM chips, can't remember what model.  They've been reliable. 

[NewMaxx]

On 1/24/2020 at 10:13 PM, Thirdgen89GTA said:

So my thoughts.

 

Basically, if you are installing it into an external USB enclosure the fastest drive isn't worth much.  The quality of the USB enclosure provides more of a boost than the fastest NVMe drive will.

 

I think I'll order a 2nd at work with the ASM2362 bridge for testing.  My Startech SATA enclosures us the ASM chips, can't remember what model.  They've been reliable. 

There's a third bridge chip which is more power-efficient (RTL9210). However in general these bridge chips are x2 PCIe internally which means they are a good option for some drives like the WD SN500/SN520 or any of the Phison E8-based drives which only have two lanes. The new 20 Gbps enclosures use the ASMedia ASM2364 by the way. The biggest issue with the TB3 enclosures is that they are Alpine Ridge (not Titan Ridge) which means no USB fallback, the TEKQ Rapide being an example.

[Thirdgen89GTA]

30 minutes ago, NewMaxx said:

There's a third bridge chip which is more power-efficient (can't recall off the top of my head), there's also a difference in encoding - 8b/10b versus 128b/132b - which can impact sequentials. However in general these bridge chips are x2 PCIe internally which means they are a good option for some drives like the WD SN500/SN520 or any of the Phison E8-based drives which only have two lanes. The new 20 Gbps enclosures use the ASMedia ASM2364 by the way. The biggest issue with the TB3 enclosures is that they are Alpine Ridge (not Titan Ridge) which means no USB fallback, the TEKQ Rapide being an example.

The SHINESTAR I have is USB 3.1 gen2 as well I thought.

 

I did see the benchmarks for the TEKQ Rapide, but price, and no USB fall back means its really only useful to me on the MACs at work.

[NewMaxx]

On 1/24/2020 at 10:53 PM, Thirdgen89GTA said:

The SHINESTAR I have is USB 3.1 gen2 as well I thought.

Correct.

[Kalm_Traveler]

Don't forget that having ultimate external drive performance won't help the source drive be any faster than whatever its interface is limited to.

 

That all being said, I've been using this one for almost a year - specifically for backup/transfer duties at home and have found its speed acceptable (minding that it is just USB 3.whatever gen 2, not Thunderbolt 3): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MZQF1H6/

 

At work we just use SATA SSDs in external USB 3.0/3.1 enclosures, which are also sufficient as long as your entire job is not only to be nonstop backing up one Samsung pro nvme drive (or the new PCI-E gen 4 nvme drives) after another for 8 hours straight.

[Thirdgen89GTA]

52 minutes ago, Kalm_Traveler1 said:

Don't forget that having ultimate external drive performance won't help the source drive be any faster than whatever its interface is limited to.

 

That all being said, I've been using this one for almost a year - specifically for backup/transfer duties at home and have found its speed acceptable (minding that it is just USB 3.whatever gen 2, not Thunderbolt 3): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MZQF1H6/

 

At work we just use SATA SSDs in external USB 3.0/3.1 enclosures, which are also sufficient as long as your entire job is not only to be nonstop backing up one Samsung pro nvme drive (or the new PCI-E gen 4 nvme drives) after another for 8 hours straight.

Well yeah, the source can be a bottle neck.  But our newer hardware is USB 3.1 Gen2, and has NVMe drives now.  The newest Latitude, and Optiplex lines are equipped with NVMe drives now.

 

One of the major reasons I needed the external NVMe reader was so that if needed, I could pop the NVMe drive into an external case and decrypt/backup the data if the original unit failed, and not have to rely on having another laptop around I could stick the drive into.  I know that Dells ProSupport will repair the machine, but sometimes I don't have time to wait for them to come out. 

 

I work for a very large company and when an Exec wants that data, all the valid reasons in the world won't help you.  So I needed the ability to shove the drive into an enclosure and access it.

 

I'm just the kind of person that feels that if I need something, I might as well buy the best bang for the buck thing I can. Sometimes that's the fastest thing on the market because its relatively low priced.  Other-times that means yeah, I'll go with a slower product if its more reliable or does more things.

[Thirdgen89GTA]

So, bumping this up because I've had a few months with to 3 different NVMe enclosures.

 

TDBT M.2 NVMe enclosure (JMS583 Chipset)

Shinestar M.2 NVMe enclosure (JMS583 chipset)

Tripp-lite M.2 NVMe enclosure (ASM2362 chipset)

 

I used the exact same Samsung 970 EVO 500GB drive in each unit as my Time Machine backup drive attached to my Mac.  I carry this around with me and have it connected whenever I'm at work so it backs up every hour.  So for most of the time, it sits idle as it finishes the hourly backup within a minute or two.

 

Of all three the Shinestar M.2 was the hottest enclosure.  Even just sitting idle the enclosure was uncomfortably hot to the touch.  It also suffered from random disconnects and at times would not mount.

 

The 2nd enclosure I purchased was the Tripp-lite, of the 3 units this is the coolest running unit, and its the only unit I have that has the ASMEDIA AMS2362 chipset.  The internal design of the Tripp-lite is the exact same as the Shinestar, so its not running cooler because of the case.  A simple aluminum case with slots for the PCB to slide into.  Inside the case there is no heat spreader or anything else.  This was also the most expensive enclosure, and I can't figure out why.  I can only assume because its 'brand name' Tripp-Lite, and not an off brand Chinese board.  Unless the lack of heat is why its more expensive, maybe better designed?

 

The last enclosure I bought was the TDBT M.2 NVMe enclosure.  Like the Shinestar this also uses the JMS583, and despite the inclusion of a larger case, and a heat spreader with thermal pad, it runs slightly hotter than the Tripp-lite unit, but not uncomfortably so.  I assume the heat spreader is doing its job and spreading the heat, and the larger enclosure has more surface area to absorb/dissipate heat.

 

Some pics.

 

 

 

[jameslarkin]

On 4/27/2020 at 9:07 PM, Thirdgen89GTA said:

So, bumping this up because I've had a few months with to 3 different NVMe enclosures.

 

TDBT M.2 NVMe enclosure (JMS583 Chipset)

Shinestar M.2 NVMe enclosure (JMS583 chipset)

Tripp-lite M.2 NVMe enclosure (ASM2362 chipset)

 

I used the exact same Samsung 970 EVO 500GB drive in each unit as my Time Machine backup drive attached to my Mac.  I carry this around with me and have it connected whenever I'm at work so it backs up every hour.  So for most of the time, it sits idle as it finishes the hourly backup within a minute or two.

 

Of all three the Shinestar M.2 was the hottest enclosure.  Even just sitting idle the enclosure was uncomfortably hot to the touch.  It also suffered from random disconnects and at times would not mount.

 

The 2nd enclosure I purchased was the Tripp-lite, of the 3 units this is the coolest running unit, and its the only unit I have that has the ASMEDIA AMS2362 chipset.  The internal design of the Tripp-lite is the exact same as the Shinestar, so its not running cooler because of the case.  A simple aluminum case with slots for the PCB to slide into.  Inside the case there is no heat spreader or anything else.  This was also the most expensive enclosure, and I can't figure out why.  I can only assume because its 'brand name' Tripp-Lite, and not an off brand Chinese board.  Unless the lack of heat is why its more expensive, maybe better designed?

 

The last enclosure I bought was the TDBT M.2 NVMe enclosure.  Like the Shinestar this also uses the JMS583, and despite the inclusion of a larger case, and a heat spreader with thermal pad, it runs slightly hotter than the Tripp-lite unit, but not uncomfortably so.  I assume the heat spreader is doing its job and spreading the heat, and the larger enclosure has more surface area to absorb/dissipate heat.

 

Some pics.

 

 

 

sorry if you answered this but what gave you the fastest speeds ? i have the same problem with low speeds

 

[Thirdgen89GTA]

All enclosures had nearly the same speeds.  Enough that I wouldn't care one way or the other about it.  You are limited to about 1050MB/s read & write for sequential files.

 

The drive you install (Samsung EVO, Intel 760p, etc....) has more impact on the speed than the enclosure does.

 

The items to be concerned about are Stability & Heat.  I have found that the one ASM2362 chipset runs significantly cooler than the JMT chipsets.

 

I haven't tested the Realtek chipset as I don't have one.

 

Right now, based on the 3 enclosures I have, I would try to find an ASM chipset based enclosure with a heat-spreader setup.

[Thirdgen89GTA]

I just purchased a Pluggable enclosure that uses the Realtek RTL9210 chipset, which is supposed to run significantly cooler than either the JMS or ASMedia chips.

 

Its also supposed to be a tool-less enclosure which will be nice for work.

[cheatoz]

@Thirdgen89GTA

 

Loved your testing, I'm looking to get one for myself. Do you mind sharing how your Realtek RTL9210 chipset worked out? Stability, Heat, Performance? Which chipset out of all 3 would you prefer? Any info would be greatly appreciated

[Thirdgen89GTA]

I don't have any of the benchmark screen shots, I'd have to grab a virgin drive and test to snag them.

 

But right now I have two Go To's depending on your combination of budget and use case.

 

If you are buying an Enclosure that you aren't going to be swapping drives on often, and you don't want to spend a ton, Go with the TDBT enclosure.  Its cheap at about $26 + Tax/Shipping, excellent heat dissipation, and it has been rock solid reliable.  I have been using it with a Samsung 970 Evo 500GB SSD for my Time Machine backup and its god amazing fast, the fastest the 3 types I have.  Never had a single disconnect and I've left it connected to my Mac for weeks at a time without issue.  Its also machined better than both the Tripplite and Shinestar. The PCB slots in and comes with anti-vibration pads to make a nice solid mount.

 

This enclosure is also the fastest of the bunch, but only by about 15-20MB/s pure sequential with large files. 

 

TDBT M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure with Heat Sink, 10Gbps USB-C to PCIe NVMe M.2 Hard Drive Enclosure with Thermal Cooling Pad, NVMe M.2 Drive to USB-C External Storage Enclosure, Fits M-Key B+M Key NVMe SSDby TDBT

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

If you are buying an enclosure and plan to be swapping drives frequently, or can afford to spend basically twice the TDBT cost, the Pluggable USB-C enclosure is the winner by FAR.  The sheer ease of use in swapping drives combined with just how cool the Realtek chipset runs is a pure winner. The enclosure locking mechanism is so well designed and latches shut with a positive feel.  It feels so good I've found myself using the case as a fidget device.  Just latching/unlatching when bored, lol. It comes with adhesive thermal pads, but I omitted them due to how often I swap drives at work.  But even without the pads its cool as a cucumber.  With the pads to spread heat to the case, it would keep even the hottest power hungry drives in check.  But its expensive, at $50.

 

It does however have one draw back.  The included USB-C to USB-A and USB-C to USB-C cables failed to negotiate at USB 3.0 speeds, I was limited to USB 2.0 speeds.  As I have an abundance of USB-C 3.1g2 and USB-A 3.1g2 cables so I never contacted the MFG to obtain new cables.  But these cables feel cheap, and didn't work on the first enclosure I bought.   At $50, the cables should be higher quality.

 

Plugable USB C to M.2 NVMe Tool-free Enclosure USB C and Thunderbolt 3 Compatible up to USB 3.1 Gen 2 Speeds (10Gbps). Adapter Includes USB-C and USB 3.0 Cables (Supports M.2 NVMe SSDs 2280 2260 2242)by Plugable Technologies
 

[Thirdgen89GTA]

I just made this very short clip of how easy it is to swap drives with the Pluggable enclosure.

 

 

[cheatoz]

Great, thank you for detailed info. Money is not an issue and I don't care about the looks really. I'm basically picking between chipsets. Which one would you pick RTL9210, ASM2362 or JMS583. In terms of reliability, better heat control, thermal throttling and compatibility with different systems. I know its a lot  

[Thirdgen89GTA]

rtl9210

[magi44ken]

Thanks for sharing this informative reviews on the different m2 enclosure.

 

I find one m2 enclosure with a unique fan design. Check it out.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088MCXKT5/

 

[Thirdgen89GTA]

I wouldn't trust anything with a fan.  A decent heat sink with is all you need.  Remember, its not in a hot computer case near other hot components.  Its all by itself.

[ewitte]

1GB/s+ seems good I get about 890MB/s on my drives that do 3GB/2GB internally with my enclosure.  Did the same speeds when I was pre-testing my 980 pro too.

[Elad.Evron]

On 1/25/2020 at 3:41 AM, Thirdgen89GTA said:

Has anyone seen any good reviews?  I've only been able to find a few that have any real benchmarks listed, and none of them are the by usual reliable websites.

 

I don't mind cables, I'm looking for the fastest damned USB enclosure for NVMe drives.

 

I've got a Shinestar NVMe enclosure, but it tops out around 1GB and I know these drives go faster when plugged directly into an M2 slot.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JM25YCM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Supposedly this other SHINESTAR is capable of 2GB+, unfortunately its out of stock every I've seen.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F9VQ4XC/?coliid=I3VPZAN1PED3IM&colid=3I6N8Y7TIMWAV&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

I did a crystal bench on a Intel 760p 256GB, and a Samsung 970 EVO and the two are basically identical.  Even though the 970 is actually faster in most reviews where its directly plugged in.   I'm actually installing Windows on these same drives right now, using the same laptop for testing.  So I can do a direct compare of the drive internally installed vs the USB enclosure.  I'll post those when I run the benchmarks.

 

Samsung 970 EVO 250GB.

 

Intel 760p 256GB

thats one gig a sec, the limit on USB 3.2 gen 2, the only way to get faster transfor speeds is by having a thunderbolt port or to wait for USB 4

[VTECH01]

Hi,

thanks for testing these different enclosures.

I might be interested in an enclosure as well. (located in Europe)
I didn't want to start a new thread for this as I had a few questions more or less related to this topic.

 

I'm debating wether I should go for Nvme or Sata as external drive.
I'll be using it as work drives. Storing photo's (also when shooting tethered directly to the drive), transferring footage from camera card to the drive and might ocassionally edit using that drive.

 

Are Nvme SSD's dramatically faster than Sata SSD's in an external enclosure?

Is passive cooling as important with Sata SSD as it is with Nvme?

Nvme's more future proof?

Any new enclosures someone bumped into?