CamelCamelCamel.
totally lost in what you said
for an external housing to have a bootable mac operating system which would you recommend?
Given Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 currently only supports PCIe gen 3 x4, there is no real benefit on getting PCIe gen 4 x4 SSDs, unless sustained write after SLC is depleted above 1000MB/s is important to you (i.e. this is for proper work and you have the budget). In general usage (reading files), you get ZERO benefit with PCIe gen 4 x4 SSDs in an enclosure. Future revision of USB 4 may change that, but for now, it is PCIe gen 3 x4.
Apple Silicon M1/M2 Pro/Max/Ultra:
Assuming Thunderbolt enclosure, my suggestion is look elsewhere (get a better SSD), unless you are really on a tight budget. The chance of you getting a Thunderbolt enclosure below this price ($84) nowadays is low. You probably want to consider an SSD with DRAM because at that price range, you want an SSD that won't degrade in performance with writing lots of small files over a long period of time. SN570 does well as a DRAMless SSD, but it is still DRAMless. If you only care about large files, DRAMless SSDs' sustained write isn't top notch either.
Apple Silicon M1/M2 (cost effective):
Cost is a factor so I am guessing USB 3.2 gen 2 enclosure, the ideal device is T7 Shield (note: T7 Shield and T7 are different). A bit pricey though. We are talking about PCIe gen 3 x2 for USB 3.2 gen 2, with SN570 being below this price and 5 years warranty, why go NV2 right now?
If you must go NV2, and if you know your stuff, try to get the Phison E21 version of NV2 (from my test, it does better than the SMI version). With Amazon AU, you probably cannot choose. Local retailer, look for ones where you can see silver bit underneath the sticker. Don't forget the TLC, QLC lottery (you want the TLC version).
wow you know your stuff.
Thanks a heap for the reply, really appreciated
@slipperypete: One more thing, for Macs, make sure you format the external SSD to one of the Apple native formats, avoid leaving the SSD in FAT32 format. While it is tempting to keep it as FAT32 (so it will also work on a Windows machine), you will not get the best performance, especially in thread count > 1. It's actually the same for Windows, use NTFS instead of FAT32. However, given it is going to be used as a bootable Mac SSD, you cannot format the SSD as FAT32 anyway.
Thunderbolt enclosure performance on an Apple M1 Pro laptop.
I cannot recommend Samsung 970 Evo Plus at the moment due to people reporting some issues with it. Also, if you get a Samsung SSD, please ensure you have access to a PC and can upgrade the firmware to the latest version. Upgrade Samsung SSD firmware as soon as possible (before putting it into the enclosure).
Notice the protocol conversion performance penalty in the result image I posted above. That's the limit of USB4/Thunderbolt 3/4. That's why Apple can still charge us a lot for extra storage space for the internal SSD.
@netsurfer: thanks, it really is useful info for me
I'm guessing this is your work and not just a hobby??
@slipperypete: The Mac M1 Pro is a loan laptop from work so yes, it is for work.
NV2 1TB Phison E21 Thunderbolt M1 Pro Result
Have a look at the RND4K results to 970 Evo Plus, especially the writes (basically the last 2 rows). In general usage, random read/write results are the ones to look at. Sequential, NV2 does cheat at the beginning so for writing large amount of data, 970 Evo Plus will certainly beat it.
Now, the worrying bit, USB 3.2 gen 2 enclosure NV2 1TB results for Apple M1 Pro:
NV2 1TB TLC Phison E21, USB 3.2 gen 2 enclosure, Realtek chipset, M1 Pro
NV2 1TB TLC SMI SM2267XT, USB 3.2 gen 2 enclosure, Realtek chipset, M1 Pro
On PC, same enclosure, the SEQ 1MQD1 read result is 921.56MB/s for Phison E21, Mac is 368MB/s. I actually did the test twice on the Mac. Just to make sure, I tested NV2 SMI SM2267XT version as well and it has the same issue.
TL;DR: Cannot recommend NV2 1TB for Mac Apple Silicon if you want to use it with a USB 3.2 gen 2 enclosure (not until I figure out why SEQ1M QD1 has such a big drop).
Also, notice further drop in RND4K performance (especially at very high queue depth - 85% drop in random 4K read at queue depth of 64, though it is probably something most people don't need to worry about). The SEQ1MQD1 read (Row 2 read result) is an issue. I don't have access to M2 (no chance work will get me one), but the USB 3.2 gen 2 performance on Mac Apple Silicon is known to disappoint. I doubt Apple cares about fixing that since Apple wants you to use Thunderbolt.
I have a SN570 1TB also. But, it is being used in a PC so I am not keen to take it out and format it as Apple native to test. I have an ASMedia USB 3.2 gen 2 enclosure and a JMicron one as well. Too lazy to test them. Generally, people prefer the Realtek chipset ones, that's why I used that one to test.
@netsurfer: A quick update, I tested SN570 1TB on the same Mac (same USB 3.2 gen 2 enclosure), it too has the same issue with SEQ1M QD1 slow read.
Also at CentreCom
https://www.centrecom.com.au/kingston-snv2s1000g-1tb-pcie-40…
Agree with netsurfer's comments above about quality gen 3 ssds vs this one.
It's this the best SSD to get for the ps5?
It's the worst.
You and me both buddy, I'm waiting for a 5000+, PCIe4, 2TB under $220 AUD to my door. It'll come but it's taking time for the high end ones to drop.
It's the cheapest.
Like Yuri pointed out, it is the worst SSD for your PS5. It is also the cheapest.
It works on PS5 due to a loophole (Sony not enforcing the 5500MB/s min read requirement).
Which tbh is an insane requirement. Games don't need to load THAT fast
buy now, think later, tired of waiting and doing research.
Edit: ordered.
Would this be suitable to increase storage of my Lenovo Thinkcentre M90q? bought from this deal.
Specs say nvme and m2 so should be fine.
The random 4k read/write speed on this was about 30MB/s for me. YMMV
Bloody annoying that I bought this a couple of weeks ago @ $96 and it's dropped again before it even arrives.
What heat sink are people using on this for PS5?
Won’t be good for PS5 mate. Need 5500MB/a minimum so you want to buy one rated 6-6500/MB/s
Won’t be good for PS5 mate. Need 5500MB/a minimum so you want to buy one rated 6-6500/MB/s
PS5 will work with any Gen 4 drive. The read speed is just a recommendation rather than a requirement.
"Sequential read speed: 5500 MB/s or faster is recommended"
Below is a test done with a drive that's even slower than the Kingston NV2.
https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2021-the-worst-and-…
While the SSD works (for now and likely for foreseeable future), it does have its minor issues compared to SSDs which match Sony's official requirements.
Also, due to Kingston mucking around with component swaps, the official quoted figures for NV2 are inferior to SN750SE. NV2's official endurance rating is also inferior (for 2 reasons, leave the door open for QLC and only 3 years warranty (honestly, I reckon it has less spare cells (cost cutting))).
The issue Richard @ DigitalFoundry/EuroGamer found with SN750SE is applicable to NV2 as well. It might not be as bad due to NV2 doing late SLC recovery (assuming you have the TLC version, but if you hit the eventual forced recovery phase, NV2 does tank to 350MB/s write at that phase). If you have the SM2267XT version of NV2, I doubt you can state it is faster than SN750SE.
You do know this SSD is one of the cheapest hacks to have a NVMe SSD in a PS5 right?
As this is the slowest, below Sony's recommended specs NVMe SSD, you would get the cheapest heatsink you can get for it. Don't overspend.
Would this be good as additional storage for a M2 Mac Mini?
Another OZBer asked a similar question. I've provided some links to my quick tests on M1 Pro with Thunderbolt enclosure and USB 3.2 gen 2 enclosure above. It's not M2, but I doubt M2 will get you much better result. I am hoping Apple fixed the USB 3.2 performance issue in M2, but I doubt that since Apple generally prefers Thunderbolt.
No matter how much you try to fix USB 3.2 gen 2, Thunderbolt still beats it. My Thunderbolt enclosure costed me more than this SSD by the way.
Can you please share the links with me too? Thanks in advance!!
Refer to this comment. Scroll up further if you want a bit more context.
In short, I found an issue when using NV2 with USB 3.2 gen 2 enclosure: subpar sequential read, single queue depth for Mac M1 Pro. I don't have access to an M2.
I've been assembling my own computers for over 20 years and the price drops on memory never cease to impress…paid over $200 dollars 3 years ago for similar memory!
Hopefully you don't try and install this in your SDRAM slots.
20 years of building and you call this memory?
lol
Gonna have to agree with this one.
It's gone up a dollar.
And now it's $87.12.
Back to $85.
Now it's $81.91.
Unless you really need PCIe gen 4 x4, currently, WD's promotion on SN570 ($20 cashback, and feeBay discount) makes the SN570 cheaper than this overall (and SN570 has 5 years warranty).
It's hard to tell whether you will get Phison E21 version or SMI SM2267XT version. Each version has its pros and cons. The E21 version is probably better in general (though Kingston seems to somehow cripple the E21 version so it doesn't perform anywhere like other E21 based SSDs). There is also NAND lottery (TLC vs QLC) on NV2 at the moment.
It's probably going to hold the spot for cheapest 1TB NVMe SSD for PS5 for the time being.