NVMe SSD with enclosure options

mudkipz on 05/05/2020 - 01:40
Last edited 05/05/2020 - 01:55

Hi,

I'm looking at these two possible options for an SSD + enclosure. Both have the same drive bundled in, but the difference in price is evidently with the enclosure. Aside from the gamer marketing and RGB on the Asus, is there a difference in these two enclosures? It also looks like the Simplecom one seems to get hot after sustained use, according to some reviews.

$348.00 - Asus ROG Strix Arion ESD-S1C with WD Blue SN550 NVMe M.2 1TB SSD
https://www.scorptec.com.au/bundle/Hard-Drives-&-SSDs/Enclos…

$269.00 - Simplecom SE503 with WD Blue SN550 NVMe M.2 1TB SSD
https://www.scorptec.com.au/bundle/Hard-Drives-&-SSDs/Enclos…

Alternatively, would anyone be able to share their NVMe SSD + enclosure recommendations?

I really want to make sure the enclosure is absolutely right for me, as I've had trouble before with 2.5" drive enclosures previously. I know that's a different bit of tech, but I've had a range of issues with a mix of cheaper and more expensive enclosures. I'd like to avoid that altogether, by ensuring I end up with a reliable NVMe enclosure.

On a semi-unrelated note, does anyone know if external NVMe SSDs can be finicky with drivers and the such? I've heard that that can be the case, but I'm keen on it to be plug and play out of the box (after formatting once, of course).

Thanks.

Computing

Comments

  • Hybroid on 05/05/2020 - 01:47

    Do you really really need an external NVMe drive? Would something highly rated like this not do: https://www.amazon.com.au/SanDisk-1TB-Extreme-Portable-SDSSD…

    • mudkipz on 05/05/2020 - 02:01

      Yeah, I've definitely considered the off-the-shelf options also. The main three I see people generally going for are:

      • WD My Passport (currently $219 at JB)
      • SanDisk, as you've linked
      • Samsung T5 (often makes regular appearances on OzB)

      My concerns about the above aren't many, but there's a few. No matter how much I've dived into reviews, there's always one or the other seemingly being less favourable in speed tests. The other thought is the lack of flexibility if something goes wrong with the drive, the whole thing is gone (as they're generally not shuckable). And lastly, on price/value it seems that spending a bit more on an NVMe will yield a performance boost that's not insignificant.

  • zrmx on 05/05/2020 - 02:30

    I'd contact Scorptec to see if they can tell you what bridge chip the Simplecom SE503 uses. Just in case if you want to take advantage of USB 3.1 Gen 2 speed in the future, you might want to have a read at this thread, in case if you run into any issues in the future. https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/stable-nvme-usb-adapter…

    In short, it seems like getting an enclosure with the Realtek RTL9210 chipset will help run things cooler, while regardless which chipset your enclosure will have, updating the firmware on them will help ironing issues out significantly (see above forum thread).

  • garetz on 05/05/2020 - 05:30

    I bought a SilverStone SST-MS11C NVMe PCIe M Key M.2 SSD USB-C Enclosure

  • Diji1 on 05/05/2020 - 10:16

    Don't buy an enclosure, they're shit as in half of them don't work.

  • xuqi on 05/05/2020 - 10:47

    I use the Icybox and have had no issues with drivers or heat:

    https://www.pccasegear.com/products/48826/icy-box-usb3-1-typ…

    Keep in-mind that your speed will be limited to the USB-C interface speed of ~950MB/s, so no point in buying a high performance NVMe drive for use in one.

    The Asus is hyped up RGB rubbish.

  • mudkipz on 06/05/2020 - 02:18

    Thanks everyone for their helpful replies. I've got a few more points of reference now and will research a bit more, but looks like there's some really viable choices here.

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