Is this the USB C 3.1 Gen 2 SSD drive enclosure I'm looking for? Only $15

[Robert M]

D4,

I included a link for a Inland 2TB NVME M.2 drive for $189, the same price you're paying for the _much_ slower 2.5" SanDisk Ultra. Given the price of both drives, I wouldn't buy the SanDisk. I'd get the Inland model. Here's a link:



The Inland NVME M.2 SSD is about the same price as the SanDisk Ultra and, when it comes to performance, blows the doors off it. Doesn't matter if the Inland drive is in a USB 3.1 Gen 2 case or OWC's Thunderbolt case. It's a much faster drive for about the same price. If you wanted to save some bucks, go for the USB 3.1 Gen 2 case since they tend to be less expensive than the OWC box. It'll still offer a vast improvement in performance over _any_ 2.5" SSD.

Robert

[d4]

Yes. I'm completely following you. But there are some things that are unique to my situation. Mainly, what drives I have on hand. I agree, the 2TB SSD is overkill for backups. But it's what I have. The sale price was too good to pass up, IMO.

jdc wrote:
Your internal 1 TB flash drive is already really really fast -- i think it benchmarks at near 2500 MB/s. So if its already slow with the photos database... moving to an external SSD (500 MB/s) or even NVMe flash (1500 MB/s) drive may not help?

The 500GB Photos library is not slowing down the 2020 MacMini internal SSD. In fact it's really snappy fast, and I'm loving it. I'm only moving it in the near future for future space issues. The internal 1TB SSD is currently 70% full. I will have to move the Photos App library in the next 1-2 years.

jdc wrote: the 4 TB platter is perfect for hours TM backups... but you could *easily* also use it for the monthly bootable clone. Either as is, or dedicate a 1 TB partition to it. Sure, the first clone might take a while, but incremental bootable clones later should take a fraction of that. Using a SSD here seems overkill.

Yes. But then I'll have all my eggs in one basket, an older HDD spinning basket. More peace of mind having it on separate drives. The 4TB HDD will Time Machine backup the 1TB internal bootdrive. And the future 2TB NVME drive with the Photos library. Hopefully the combination of these three techs (HDD, SSD, NVME) will be ok. Fingers crossed.

jdc wrote: The NVME I guess would make the most sense for an external photos only drive, since its the fastest.

This will be a future purchase. Maybe after I see how those pre-order OWC TB3 NVME cases perform.

At this point, I own the 2 external drives. Neither of which is the high-speed NVME TB3 for the Photos Library. So with that future purchase,,, that's how I'll end up with 3 externals and the internal SSD in the MacMini. Pheww! LOL

[jdc]

Robert M wrote:
The Inland NVME M.2 SSD is about the same price as the SanDisk Ultra and, when it comes to performance, blows the doors off it. Doesn't matter if the Inland drive is in a USB 3.1 Gen 2 case or OWC's Thunderbolt case. It's a much faster drive for about the same price. If you wanted to save some bucks, go for the USB 3.1 Gen 2 case since they tend to be less expensive than the OWC box. It'll still offer a vast improvement in performance over _any_ 2.5" SSD.
Robert

This ^^ 100%. Good find. Send the 2.5" SSD back.

Its only a $20 more than I paid for my 1TB XPSPRO a few months ago (alhtough its an SLC vs QLC drive) -- but I would gone for it for the extra space.

Any good NVME case should get you double the 2.5" SSDs performance.

[d4]

Robert M wrote:
D4,

I included a link for a Inland 2TB NVME M.2 drive for $189, the same price you're paying for the _much_ slower 2.5" SanDisk Ultra. Given the price of both drives, I wouldn't buy the SanDisk. I'd get the Inland model. Here's a link:



The Inland NVME M.2 SSD is about the same price as the SanDisk Ultra and, when it comes to performance, blows the doors off it. Doesn't matter if the Inland drive is in a USB 3.1 Gen 2 case or OWC's Thunderbolt case. It's a much faster drive for about the same price. If you wanted to save some bucks, go for the USB 3.1 Gen 2 case since they tend to be less expensive than the OWC box. It'll still offer a vast improvement in performance over _any_ 2.5" SSD.

Robert

Yes. Thank you twice for posting it yesterday and following up! Since the preorder OWC TB3 NVME case won't be shipping until next month I thought maybe I can wait until then to pick up the NVME. You know, spread out the Amex bill pain. LOL. I guess part of it is that in my mind, NVME is still "new" tech. I'm reading about connectivity issues with external cases. And heat issues. And longevity is uncertain perhaps linked to the heat issues. But yeah. Numbers don't lie. NVME is MUCH faster than SSD, I'm with you all on that.

[d4]

jdc wrote:
[quote=Robert M]
The Inland NVME M.2 SSD is about the same price as the SanDisk Ultra and, when it comes to performance, blows the doors off it. Doesn't matter if the Inland drive is in a USB 3.1 Gen 2 case or OWC's Thunderbolt case. It's a much faster drive for about the same price. If you wanted to save some bucks, go for the USB 3.1 Gen 2 case since they tend to be less expensive than the OWC box. It'll still offer a vast improvement in performance over _any_ 2.5" SSD.
Robert

This ^^ 100%. Good find. Send the 2.5" SSD back.

Its only a $20 more than I paid for my 1TB XPSPRO a few months ago (alhtough its an SLC vs QLC drive) -- but I would gone for it for the extra space.

Any good NVME case should get you double the 2.5" SSDs performance.
Grrrr.... my reasoning for keeping the $184 Sandisk Ultra 2TB SSD is quickly dissolving away before I can even hit the "Post Message" button. LOL! miley-gen081:

[jdc]

LOL, I hear ya. I have about 30 clients on Macs that Im their tech guy for.

Explaining all the differences is mind numbing. MOST are good and ask me first... Others just google away and start buying sh__ and I just facepalm when they tell me.

[Robert M]

D4,

Search the forum for my posts about enclosures for NVME drives. I posted links to models i’m using that have performed nicely for me. My primary is a brick of a model from Sabrent. Links include models that I discovered later. Two of them have built-in fans.

Robert