Can I connect a thunderbolt 3 external SSD to a USB C 3.1 port?

[Skulleater]

Hello! Today I got my new pc for work (3D scanning) and it has a front USB C 3.1. I use a ASRock B660m steel legend motherboard so I believe it's Gen 2. ASRock > B660M Steel Legend and case: PURE BASE 500DX | Black silent essential PC cases from be quiet!

 

Now I have a few Thunderbolt 3 drives (Samsung x5 SSD) and I thought they would be compatible with this USB C port. However, when I plug them into the pc, they are detected but I'm not able to open them. A message also pops up telling me that "the functionality of my thunderbolt device can be limited".

 

Now I've been trying to find an answer online but I can't really find anything on this.

 

I also tried using a USBC 3 cable to connect the SSD instsead, but that also didn't work.

 

Any help would be appreciateed! 

[adm0n]

Specifically these sumsung drives don't have a USB fall back mode.

So sadly you won't be able to use them without a thunderbolt device :c

Quote

Speaking of which, the TB3 controller in the X5 is Intel’s Alpine Ridge DSL6340. Crucially, that means that this TB3 drive is only a TB3 drive. If Samsung had coughed up for Intel’s newer Titan Ridge family of Thunderbolt controllers, the drive could have been made to work in USB 3.1 fallback modes, but older controllers don’t have that capability enabled for sink devices. Samsung also cautions that Thunderbolt 2-equipped devices won’t work with this baby, either.

(https://techreport.com/review/samsungs-portable-ssd-x5-reviewed/)

 

I don't know if there is anything that can translate between thunderbolt and USB, but it would likely be very pricey ...

[FI Fheonix]

26 minutes ago, Skulleater said:

Hello! Today I got my new pc for work (3D scanning) and it has a front USB C 3.1. I use a ASRock B660m steel legend motherboard so I believe it's Gen 2. ASRock > B660M Steel Legend and case: PURE BASE 500DX | Black silent essential PC cases from be quiet!

 

Now I have a few Thunderbolt 3 drives (Samsung x5 SSD) and I thought they would be compatible with this USB C port. However, when I plug them into the pc, they are detected but I'm not able to open them. A message also pops up telling me that "the functionality of my thunderbolt device can be limited".

 

Now I've been trying to find an answer online but I can't really find anything on this.

 

I also tried using a USBC 3 cable to connect the SSD instsead, but that also didn't work.

 

Any help would be appreciateed! 

A Thunderbolt 3 Storage device requires a Thunderbolt 3 port/cable on your PC. 

[Robchil]

get a thunderbolt 3 pcie card.. 

[GuiltySpark_]

2 minutes ago, Robchil said:

get a thunderbolt 3 pcie card.. 

No Thunderbolt header that I can see on that board. Required for those add-in cards. 

[Skulleater]

12 minutes ago, adm0n said:

Specifically these sumsung drives don't have a USB fall back mode.

So sadly you won't be able to use them without a thunderbolt device :c

(https://techreport.com/review/samsungs-portable-ssd-x5-reviewed/)

 

I don't know if there is anything that can translate between thunderbolt and USB, but it would likely be very pricey ...

Man that just sucks.. These drives were bought before I worked at the company and I personally would've never bought them but it is what it is... So I basically just have to buy new external drives that use USB?

[Robchil]

6 minutes ago, Skulleater said:

Man that just sucks.. These drives were bought before I worked at the company and I personally would've never bought them but it is what it is... So I basically just have to buy new external drives that use USB?

that or get a new mainboard that supports thunderbolt 4? 

 

[adm0n]

10 minutes ago, Skulleater said:

Man that just sucks.. These drives were bought before I worked at the company and I personally would've never bought them but it is what it is... So I basically just have to buy new external drives that use USB?

If you have any thunderbolt capable device at your disposal, you can also attach them to that, and then make them available via the network. This won't be as fast though...

[Skulleater]

31 minutes ago, Robchil said:

that or get a new mainboard that supports thunderbolt 4? 

 

I'm pretty sure that will be the more expensive solution. I'm just baffled that there's no thunderbolt to "x" adapter. If I could still use the drives but just a bit slower, I'd be fine with it and just buy a single new USB c drive. I used them to store project data because they were faster than the storage we had in our laptops, but since I now have very fast M.2's, I would only use them to transfer data from my pc to my laptop. But now I just have to find another way to do that.

[adm0n]

8 minutes ago, Skulleater said:

I'm just baffled that there's no thunderbolt to "x" adapter.

Those thunderbolt controllers are just still pretty expensive. So I doubt people would like to spend 100$ for an USB to thunderbolt adapter (Don't know if that is the actual price). I'm sad, that there aren't any PCIe cards, that work without a header on the Motherboard. But the way Thunderbolt works, it makes sense...

 

I'm pretty sure you can tear those drives apart and buy a NVMe to USB adapter. Won't be as fast, but still work

[Robchil]

9 minutes ago, Skulleater said:

I'm pretty sure that will be the more expensive solution. I'm just baffled that there's no thunderbolt to "x" adapter. If I could still use the drives but just a bit slower, I'd be fine with it and just buy a single new USB c drive. I used them to store project data because they were faster than the storage we had in our laptops, but since I now have very fast M.2's, I would only use them to transfer data from my pc to my laptop. But now I just have to find another way to do that.

that's true.. mine don't but for a new build that's one of the parameters as i have laptop's with thunderbolt.. 

as firewire and esata was back in the days

 

[GuiltySpark_]

USB4 on even the latest boards is still not perfect. Only laptops seem to have it figured out. 
 

https://youtu.be/opPNKCh_Evo