- The OWC Express 4M2 speaker offers another route to large fast external storage
- Thunderbolt 3 on Windows paralyzes the performance of the maximum speed announced
- The SSD OWC Express 4M2 locations are only PCIe 4.0 x1, so individual driving speeds are limited
In an costly high -capacity -free storage market, the OWC Express 4M2 speaker offers an alternative track to large fast external storage without immediately raping the $ 3000 bar.
At $ 239.99 for the base configuration, this device cheaper than the SSD Terramaster and offers a flexible base to build what could equip with a configuration of 32 TB when associated with four NVME discs of 8 TB.
The company promotes this device as a flow of up to 3200 MB / s, but the performance of the real world is very variable.
Maximum speed requires a meticulous system and configuration of the system
The four NVME M.2 locations only support PCIe 4.0 X1, which limits the performance of the individual player to around 1600 MB / s.
Reaching advanced speeds, therefore, requires raid configurations and optimal conditions, factors that introduce complexity.
It supports the RAID 0, 1, 4, 5 and 10, but again, the realization of these advantages depends on the software license, the quality of the reader and the knowledge of the users.
Users can be drawn by the speed of the speaker, but must be aware that performance gains require efforts and understanding.
Compatibility with USB4 and Thunderbolt standards through macOS and windows gives the general speaker, although the real speed is integrated by the host device.
For example, the systems operating on the old Thunderbolt 3 ports under Windows are well capped below the complete bandwidth.
Although macOS users obtain additional features such as starting from RAID tables, this is limited to the systems running at least MacOS 11.3.
L’Express 4M2 delivers in terms of construction and thermal management.
Its aeronautical quality aluminum chassis is associated with a two fans system which only activates under a high thermal load, which ensures silent operation in most scenarios.
Softraid OWC inclusion on certain models introduces the features generally reserved for more expensive storage systems.
For those who try to assemble a portable SSD configuration or replace their external hard drive with something faster, this enclosure has an economical sense, but only.
However, the cost of filling the four bays with quality SSDs of quality always pushes the total to $ 3000, which makes this option practical only for those which can provide their own records or which already have SSDs at hand.
