Can a PCIe Gen 4 Enclosure Read a Gen 5 NVMe SSD at Full Speed?
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CuriousGadget89
I'm curious if enclosures designed for PCIe Gen 4 can detect and utilize Gen 5 SSDs at their maximum speed of 40 Gbps. For instance, I have a Samsung 9100 Pro SSD and I'm considering using it with either a Graugear 40 Gbps enclosure or an Ugreen 40 Gbps enclosure. Will these work effectively?
Answers
While a 40 Gbps connection can read the drive, it won't give you the full speed benefits of the Gen 5 SSD—since 40 Gbps is only about 5000 MB/s. Still, yes, it will detect and function with the SSD!
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A 40 Gbps enclosure should indeed provide about 40 Gbps with a PCIe 5.0 SSD. The enclosure you're looking at might use the Asmedia ASM2464PD chipset, which can handle that speed over USB 4.0, although it connects internally at PCIe 4.0 x4. You can check out more details about these enclosures and their chipsets for further insights!
CuriousGadget89: Thanks a lot for the link!
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Yes, it can read the Gen 5, but you won't really notice much benefit since a 40 Gbps USB4 connection maxes out at around PCIe Gen 3 speeds. So, unless you have a solid Gen 4 or Gen 3 SSD with DRAM, you might not see a significant speed increase.
CuriousGadget89: Okayy, thank you!
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I opted for a Gen 5 SSD because it was cheaper, but since my MacBook only has Thunderbolt 4 ports, I'm capped at Gen 4 speeds. Therefore, a Gen 4 enclosure seems like a more reliable and cost-effective choice than the newly available Gen 5 options, especially since they’re scarce in India right now.
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CuriousGadget89: Thanks, this is a relief!