Cheap 4tb ssd. From the website
Nice deal! This is by far the cheapest 4tb portable ssd I've seen, and performance wise it's way better than T7 and a bit worse than sandisk extremely pro which is much more money.
Apparently heat management isn't great when transfering a lot of files, but can't complaint at this price.
You will only get better speed if you have a system with USB 3.2 gen 2x2 or Asmedia based USB 4. On Intel Thunderbolt 3/4/ USB 4, you get USB 3.2 gen 2 (10Gbps) speed so I doubt it will beat T7. T7's sustained write is not easy to beat so I am cynical this one beats it.
Thats like saying my 4070ti super duper only has dp 1.4 so unless you have a dp 2+ monitor it wont beat it 🤣
No, I am saying your 4070Ti Super (DP 1.4) is not necessary slower than AMD RX 7600 which supports DisplayPort 2.1. Sure, someone could argue RX 7600 can support multiple monitors at higher resolutions BUT you still need those monitors.
In things which really matter (i.e. Gaming, AI), 4070Ti has the raw performance to be better. This SSD may have higher burst speed if you have the right PCs/Laptops, but its true / consistent mixed performance may not beat T7 in every case.
@netsurfer: You mean 7900xt or.gre champ if 7600xt youre comparing to a 4060 lol but sure keep your dream
@RBZ10: No, I mean RX 7600 (it supports DisplayPort 2.1).
Is a PCIe gen 4 x4 QLC SSD better than Samsung 970 Pro or 970 Evo Plus (PCIe gen 3 x4)? If you are saying ALL PCIe gen 4 x4 SSDs are better, then that's fine with me. I am trying to tell you SSD makers have tricks up their sleeves, but if you don't care and care only about the interface specs, that's totally fine with me.
If you offer to give me a T7 4TB vs this one, I will take T7 4TB for sure (because its write performance is good, far more consistent with good thermal design). Just like I'd rather have your 4070 Ti than RX 7600.
@netsurfer: Try researching before talking shii lol where does it say qlc. And yeah get a samsung gg firmware
@RBZ10: I was comment on this:
it's way better than T7
If you have a Macbook Pro (Apple Silicon) or a PC/laptop that only supports Thunderbolt 3 or 4, using this PNY SSD, it becomes a USB 3.2 gen 2 (10Gbps) SSD. In that mode, T7 Shield will beat this SSD in quite a number of areas. I only have one PC that supports USB 3.2 gen 2x2. On all my other PCs, this is just USB 3.2 gen 2.
@grrrr: Have a look yourself:
USB 3.2 Gen 2x2
USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 external SSD, but connected to USB 3.2/3.1 Gen2 port - If you use a Mac, this is the kind of speed you can expect if you use an USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 device on your Mac.
The slowest Thunderbolt 3 combination I can show on a Macbook Apple Silicon (M1 Pro though so on M1 it would be slower):
Thunderbolt 3, Macbook Pro M1 Pro, el cheapo Kingston NV2 SSD
I do not have this external SSD so I can only show you my USB 3.2 gen 2x2 enclosure results.
Note: I've purposely showed slower than usual results for ALL of them including USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 results so when you test yours, you will be happy (because I am hoping you will get better results). Okay, I'll be honest, I am only willing to do these dumb benchmark tests with SSDs I don't give a damn about hence the subpar results.
And, yes, sorry Mac users, I know there is a faster type of Thunderbolt enclosures and there is also now the new USB4 enclosure. But, let's just keep the Windows users happy for now. Also, strictly speaking, the latest USB4 enclosure runs faster on a supported PC than a supported Mac.
what’s this a half decent deal
not bad if you after a big portable ssd
oh my god this is an amazing deal. what the hell.
Good deal, especially when a 4TB portable hdd cost roughly $150 or more.
What kind of speed would we get plugging this into a TB3/TB4 port?
USB 3.2 gen 2 speed (i.e. 10Gbps). Intel has decided NOT to support USB 3.2 gen 2x2 in Thunderbolt 4. Apple is in the same boat.
Thanks, that's a bummer.
Still faster than using an external 2.5" ssd at least.
I just hope the thermals are good enough for running games on it
Thermal is another problem (see Look Up's comment below).
@netsurfer: I've found that in general, reading generates a lot less heat.
But it is certainly still cause for concern
@Butt Scratcher: For SSDs, writes generate even more heat so if read is already generating a lot of heat, it is not a good sign.
Thunderbolt 3/4 enclosures do get hot, the new USB4 (AsMedia chipset based) gets even hotter.
@netsurfer: Yes, but I've only seen complaints regarding writes so far
Thunderbolt 3/4 enclosures do get hot, the new USB4 (AsMedia chipset based) gets even hotter.
Ah, I see. I haven't used any TB3/TB4 enclosures yet. But it was such a giant jump in running temp going from 2.5" ssd to nvme
@Butt Scratcher: USB 3.2 gen 2x2, Thunderbolt 3, 4, USB 4 (Gen 3), all require supporting devices to work, otherwise, they will all fallback to operate in USB 3.2 Gen 2 mode (10Gbps).
[Prime] 4TB PNY Elite-X USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Portable Solid State Drive $217.80 Delivered @ Amazon AU
Phison U18, Hynix TLC NAND, no DRAM
And as expected:
Vita85 on 30/10/2023 - 15:10
What a POS this drive is. Gets super hot within minutes of writing data and throttles to pathetic USB2 speeds. Should be illegal to sell such junk.
Yep, can't believe this junk is being peddled again. I bought two, both were returned. Unusable trash. Buy yourself a Portable USB HDD and you'll get better speeds.
Notnsure what youre talking about iv had one of these for 6 months and wrote 172gb to it files ranging vastly in size from kb to 60gb worked flawlessly on wooden tabpe no dorect sunlight usb 3 gen 2x2 from z690 mobo….
It writes files. Congratulations! Mine wrote files too. You know what it couldn't do? Transfer more than a couple of GB without becoming so hot that it dropped to USB2.0 speeds. But whatever helps you sleep at night.
Looks like you have it plugged in to the same USB root hub as your keyboard…
Bought this on an amazon deal october i think..
i had about 2.5TB to transfer squential, was fast at first and gets hot quick.
To keep things from throttling I had to put a fan blowing on it to keep speeds up around 80% of their peak.
I'm considering another for 1-to-1 backup just the hassle of the heat in the bulk transfer has me second guessing and maybe getting a T7 to see if better but the price is so much better cost per TB
Did you use it at USB 3.2 gen 2x2 speed? Is the speed good when not thermal throttling? It does look like PNY just glued the Phison chipset and put it on a tiny little board.
I tried in TB3 and TB4 but didn't seem to get the max performance but did try a laptop at 2x2 3.2 and performed at full speed at first but I filled it out after 10mins or so and the heat/throttle kicked in. it's a good drive but could benefit from a fan if you're doing a big transfer.. small bits and pieces would be fine like i think 20gb-30gb at a time was no prob at full speed.
TB3 / TB4 doesn't support USB 3.2 gen 2x2. Intel had USB organisation made it non mandatory for USB 4 "compatible" chipsets not needing to support USB 3.2 gen 2x2. Part of the reason is that TB3/TB4 does have a 20Gbps mode (except no one bothers with that) and that is different to USB 3.2 gen 2x2 (different encoding scheme).
USB 3.2 gen 2x2 is an annoying standard since it actually required PCIe gen 3 x4 (just like Thunderbolt 3/4). Lack of support and choices is its main problem.
Checking the Amazon reviews after the deal from October, this drive does have serious thermal problems
Overheating on sustained reads is fundamentally poor design:
Leonard Holling
1.0 out of 5 stars
It is "fast" until it gets too hot and then it throttled
Reviewed in Australia on 3 January 2024
Verified PurchaseWas trying to use it to backup my Laptop using Acronis True Image. Starts off quite well performance wise BUT in an air conditioned office it overheated and throttled itself to be slower than a 5400RPM external HDD based on throughput.
Thought that I would try reading from it to a hard drive and it got warm again (read only) maximum speed to Drive was ~130MB/s which dropped to 50-70MB/s when it got too hot (according to Crystal Disk 67-71 centigrade when I held the enclosure to cool it down to ~60c then it went back up to 130).
Have returned (thank goodness for Amazon!)
This is exactly the kind of portable drive that suddenly goes "USB device cannot be detected" because the controller and/or NAND have been smoked from normal usage
I don't think it's neg worthy, it's a good deal overall for basic storage etc.
The heat up issue is only on big transfers I've found, If your intending to use for editing or active use then prob not the best drive for that.
But for photo, video and general file storage or backup it's pretty solid.
Agreed that it is not neg worthy (if people purchased these get them delivered (i.e. legit deal, not pricing error)). Yes, with 4TB, majority of users will do a big write (transfer) right away and experience both thermal throttle and (I reckon) SSD foldback write. Let's be honest, 4TB at this price, if it pushes for a huge SLC dynamic cache, it will eventually have to face the music in foldback write. PNY did cheap out though. The use of Phison integrated chipset with such a small enclosure with lack of proper thermal design means the SSD can thermal throttle in writes.
At this price, can't expect a super duper 4TB external storage solution.
Yep, this is a joke drive. But if anyone wants to ignore the advice and get hosed, by all means go for it. Those who are good at convincing themselves the lemon they bought is not a lemon, will especially benefit. I guess that's who PNY is targeting with their drive that should be illegal to sell. It's simple really. Does the drive do what it claims? It does not. False advertising.
Lol checking out of 3 reviews of which 1 is mine the other is a retard that has it attached to a usb 2 and the other person that generalies. Having used this in both a bmpcc4 and to transfer files off old comp 172gb total was fine, as stated in a post above mix of kb files to big video files 60gb+. Yes the case gets warm no shizz but worked fine. Acutal user here with the speed to take advantage of it. Its a good price dont like the case grab another cheapy off aliexpress still cheaper than other stuff lol
I see, now it all makes sense. So you own one of these. Just don't take it out of context. I get USB 3.2 gen 2x2 is much better than USB 3.2 gen 2. However, the SSD NAND flash inside and the enclosure design aren't top notch. 172GB total write isn't sufficient for a 4TB SSD (that's less than 5% write). I've done full drive writes before to test SSDs before. A lot of SSDs get really ugly after 80% write.
The USB 3.2 gen 2x2 standard is somewhat annoying. The upcoming USB 4 also causes a problem. My USB 4 enclosure can do USB 3.2 gen 2x2 as well.
To objectively evaluate this SSD, we need to find its SLC dynamic cache size, and its speed after the cache depleted. Ideally, we want to know its true speed in forced foldback write mode as well (in a not thermal throttled state). I am not going to ask you to do a full drive (or not even a half drive) fill test because it is your SSD and that does eat into the SSD's TBW. Also, it is known that this uses Phison integrated chipset, which is technically not the best USB 3.2 gen 2x2 setup (it is more cost effective). No doubt it is still faster than USB 3.2 gen 2 (assuming you use it on a USB 3.2 gen 2x2 port), but that's why PNY doesn't dare quoting 2000MB/s. I also have a USB 3.2 gen 2x2 that's rated 2000MB/s (not Phison integrated chipset based).
I am going to turn on my PC that supports USB 3.2 gen 2x2 to run a test. I suspect USB 3.2 gen 2x2 has a setting just like Thunderbolt 3/4 on PC. If you didn't set it write, you will get subpar write performance because Windows does it in such a way that it assumes you can just yank the cable out).
Having used this in both a bmpcc4 and to transfer files off old comp 172gb total was fine
Your glowing recommendation based on using 4% of the drive capacity doesn't have much pull
…dont like the case grab another cheapy off aliexpress still cheaper than other stuff lol
So for fellow OzBargainers, your recommendation is:
Have you thought this through?
I mean I had a usb fan just blowing air over the case it was enough to avoid a big chunk of thermal throttling during a 2tb transfer.
Even still you can buy a sata and enclosure for prob the same as this. For most typical users it would be fine with either
Weird people get butthurt when devices take care of themselves and slow down rather than explode and stop working etc like my car speedo goes 220km but if I hit that non stop for 2hrs no doubt gonna not be a fun time. Sure some devices and cars could prob do that or built better for it, but let’s not kid around for 200 bucks vs the T7 Samsung posted for 415 earlier is no doubt likely to prob handle it better.
@xdivino: it’s almost like they’re desperate or something
I sometimes get disappointed too when I buy a small Mac meal and the drink just isn’t quite big enough to cool me down
@xdivino: Is it just the Maccas near me, or do Maccas soft drinks taste more like diluted cordial nowadays?
@abctoz: Both views are valid and a truly objective view on these things is impossible.
There are more people than you think that have a minimum set of expectations from devices. It's fair to assume certain expectations from USB 3.2 gen 2x2 devices. There was the WD USB 3.2 gen 2x2 deal (which looks like it had SN750 inside). I also put in a better quality SSD in my USB 3.2 gen 2x2 enclosure vs my USB 3.2 gen 2 enclosures (which I tend to just put in cheap stuff since they are PCIe gen 3 x2).
I totally understand $/GB, this is really good right now. However, once you own something, it can affect your view on it. I was on the receiving end on a component swap so I ended up getting a QLC SSD (instead of TLC). I've been more open minded about QLC since then. I am quite interested to know this particular external SSD's full drive write (or at least a half drive write) in one go behaviour. Is the 130MB/s reported the last 20% or it happens as soon as the SLC cache is depleted. If it is the latter, then it feels more like a QLC SSD than TLC SSD.
@netsurfer: you’re right maybe they paid 400 that’s and it didn’t live up to expectations
it’s a portable drive tho I never expect much, if you want speed just build your own with enclosure way easier
@abctoz: If we take a crude view and evaluate it as 4TB PCIe gen 3 x4 SSD which has a subpar sustained write performance and (for the moment) assume the reported 130MB/s write speed (when the SSD is not throttled) is not a mistake, and that drops to 50-70MB/s when thermal throttled, I cannot help but evaluate this TLC SSD more like a QLC SSD. While at $200, 4TB SSD, even if it is QLC, is a worthwhile deal, I can understand why some people won't like that.
I totally understand xdivino and RBZ10 have positive experience of this device, but the results from someone who checked Crystal DiskInfo for the SSD temperature (while that isn't the best way, it is the simplest way for someone just don't want to spend so much time investigating) cannot be ignored. The best excuse I can come up with is that there are 2 levels of thermal throttle, but at 60 degrees, most SSDs wouldn't thermal throttle (so honestly, that's a dodgy, made up excuse).
Weird people get butthurt when devices take care of themselves and slow down rather than explode and stop working etc
Happens on a lot of compact usb posts too. There's always going to be some sort of trade off when it comes to writing onto compact storage, the faster it gets the faster it throttles. The smaller it is, the faster it throttles.
It's a bit a stretch to say that it's defective because it throttles.
I'd be impressed if something like this doesn't throttle
generalies
New word unlocked!
generalies: verb. To lie about something without being specific. eg. "I wish people wouldn't always generalies about SSDs."
Mad lad i dont use autocorrect generalise and type on the outside screen of a fold os fun. Whats your point?
If you generalise or the new word unlocked as you call it generalies the fact remains the same it isnt an accurate description of the truth.
$/GB is attractive, but there is that saying: you get what you paid for. To summarise:
For:
- OZBers owning these so far have a favourable view on this. However, thermal throttle issue is unpleasant (confirmed by one owner).
- Yes, there are ways around it. Either keep it cool or use it in situations where you don't need to write heaps of data in one go.
Against:
- Up to 4TB of data, you don't want to worry about too many things.
- Heat (building up) is generally not good for electronics.
- 130MB/s, if it is foldback write speed, is really subpar for a true USB 3.2 gen 2x2 SSD. In fact, if a USB 3.2 gen 2 SSD gets to this type of foldback write speed, it would also be considered subpar (it is in the QLC range or the el cheapo TLC range).
Be aware of its known issues quirks if you do get it and try to avoid having usages which expose those issues. No doubt, if you use it properly to avoid its weaknesses, you will likely still be able to get a pleasant experience.
Was just about to buy another 4TB portable HDD for my backup set (got 8 of them) … would seem to make sense to buy this instead. Seems like I’ll need to run a fan on it for the initial backup but after that should be sweet.
How much is one (4TB portable HDD) nowadays? I miss when they were ~$100 each. You have 8…. damn, I didn't buy enough.
Around 140-150 mark on sale.
Is 299$ now, wonder if it was a price error lol
Nah was around this price before on Amazon
This could be a storage to back up phone videos and photos that can save lots of money for those who pay full price of cloud subscription like icloud
Can i shuck a 4 TB nvme out of it? Just like what we did to a WD mybook/elements.
Think even with qlc and thermal issue and nvme 3.0, it should still good for pc usage with a heat sink, and just os and bulk storage?
Oh, wait, the deal expired… $199 saved!
wow lots of p0rn on the go