The Ultimate External NVME Housing Comparison: ACASIS vs ORICO vs Yottamaster vs ICY BOX

[@davidtalaga332]

Maybe some real world tests would be nice? Test actual speeds with a computer that supports Thunderbolt 3 or higher? Maybe tell us which cases dissipate heat better? Maybe tell us something that we couldn't get from the manufacturers' claims?

[@fantv525]

I agree.

[@JC-XL]

The last enclosure, the Yottamaster, is actually a great design - nearly the entire box is used as a radiator, compared to the other enclosures, that only use a single plate for cooling. Normal users don't need to replace the NVMe drive very often. Also second one, Icy Box, has 2 silicone pads just because SSD drives are different thickness so you use the thicker or the thinner one. You can't use both because you will not be able to slide the drive in, the pads are sticky.

[@telelaci2]

6:20 I don't understand that sliding thing at the Icy Box. The termal pad is a rubber-like tacky piece. How will you slide it, if it touches both the NVMe and the case inner surface? It should stick to both sides, but then how will you slide it ?

[@ryutenmen]

@@telelaci2 I think the thermal pad should sit firstly on the SSD and then on top of that that copper plate which in turn should allow the external case to slide without problem. Still, the sliding isnt better than top cover, like in Orico's case, not because of the friction, but if there's a friction it isnt the best contact, the best contact is on top cover, where you press and tighten the screw to the best contact. However, I've seen another video review between Icy box, Orico and Axagon(if I remember correctly) and Icy BOx had clearly the best temps of all three, by around 10 degrees Celsius.

[@telelaci2]

@@ryutenmenOK, but this is still a huge design error. The purpose of thermal pad and thermal paste to eliminate the micro imperfections of the surfaces and improve heat transfer when 2 pure metal surfaces touching each others. Increasing the heat transfer coefficient, but seriously. If you follow the above example, you don't need thermal paste at all when you assemble your CPU's heatsink. You can dry-touch the metal surfaces, can't you. People would start to hiccough loudly if I'd recommend that. But right here a right now they simply accept the "metal on metal" method. Not mentioning the huge hype around the quality and brand of thermal pastes. Sometimes it's the "most important" factor and you pay a lot of money for the "best" brand. Other times you don't care at all? This is a bad cheap Chinese design error if the goal is the lowest temperature, it could be much better.

[@ryutenmen]

@@telelaci2 At least in theory you are 100% correct. I just have my eyes on an Icy Box IB-1916M-C32, thats the higher and version. The reason: its much cheaper(almost 50$) and have better temps than higher branded ones and good enough speed(about 2.5GB/s). I still prefer the Icy box despite its design flaw. I dont want to pay much more on a bigger brand one but have higher temps.

[@heythere6983]

I was looking into Samsung t7 and other drives in that range . Are these types of setups an improvement on say, durability? I know premade drives are known to predictably fail after a couple of years , how about these types of drives? Any better? Another thing I was wondering was if these drives are easier with compatibility and retrieving data(if there is a failed drive eventually) I just wonder if these drives and cases are picky to what they are compatible with , like what laptops , cpus , OS ETC . Any advice?

[@BrianSFischer]

I'm getting 2795 MB/s Wright and 2639 MB/s Read with the Orico and a 2Tb Samsung 970 Evo Plus. Tested on an M2 MacBook Air.

[@jayyeo3270]

Hi! Which model of orico enclosure is yours?

[@BrianSFischer]

@@jayyeo3270 ORICO-M2V01-C4 I suspect any of the USB4 enclosure rated at 40mbps will use the same chip.

[@Cujobob]

There’s a newer one out that was on sale on Amazon as of yesterday. It gets over 3100 read and write. Small difference, but thought I’d mention it.

[@bassyey]

Still working? I'm really skeptical of these new companies.

[@Cujobob]

@@bassyey Orico has been around for a bit. There are reviews going back years. The bigger issue is just making sure you know which version you’re getting because they come up with so many different models using different parts.

[@_bhllhb_]

can any of these enclosures house nvme ssd’s that come with heatsink?

[@gregsonberlin3782]

Did you compare the important aspect of heat dissipation of the cases and I missed that?

[@PauloParreira]

Mine Orico w/ Fan gets extremely hot even on idle mode.

[@deivytrajan]

Thank you so much for testing all of them! If you added temperature readings or had a temp meter to check how well they all dissipate heat (if the case is cold, it means it's not even making contact with the nvme so nvme will be fried).

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I have since used the ACASIS housing with the 2TB Samsung EVO Pro for about 2 years at this point. I put the heat padding thing into it and have yet to have any problems. Even with high data 4k and 8k raw multi cam footage editing for hours. Sadly, I did not (and still don't) have a heat metering device that I could use for this.

[@anon1div0]

My concern is cooling efficiency & thermal throttling. e.g How good is the contact between the SSD and the cooling surface. Are there gaps between the SSD and cooling surface? . A high speed drive will soon throttle if not kept cool.

[@kriszhli]

Exactly

[@dorythomas1816]

i have the Acasis enclosure , and once you put the thermal pad and put the cover on, the cover will make contact with the thermal pad and act as a passive cooler and transfer heat all across the case since its all aluminum .

[@Andrew-en4px]

Good afternoon. Tell me, with which ssd do you use the Acasis box? On Pc or iMac? Not very hot, not trotting? How are the speeds? I just want to buy the same one. I am interested in your opinion. Thanks.

[@ythoj1]

@@Andrew-en4px I use the Acasis enclosure with the Crucial 4TB P3 Plus ssd, works very good. The Blackmagic speed test are: 2500MB/s write and 2200 MB/s read. I use it on the Macbook pro M1.

[@Andrew-en4px]

Hi, thank you for the answer.

[@MrPir84free]

I think the chart at 8:25 is a disservice to the crux of building your own; it suggests that one chassis is faster than the others, but is it really ? The test speeds that are shown as part of the "specifications" are just an example of actual test speeds from a specific drive, connected to a test system with the drive configured in a certain manner. There are really several different factors involved: the quality of the cable, the chipset used, the NVME drive used, the interface used, the benchmark software used for testing and the settings used on the host computer. I personally like the design of the Orico, but the "details" listed show that the Orico has a rating of 2700 MB/s read and 1405 MB/s write. Well, I put in a 4 TB QLC Crucial nvme drive that has no cache, apparently, configured windows with the write cache enabled, and it reports about 3055 MB/s read and 2267 MB/s write which is far above the "rating" . If you don't enable the write cache within Windows, the write speed is about 500 MB/s . Part of the lower reported numbers is the fact that the drive is QLC with no apparent cache. Its purpose however was for long term storage; not repeated use at high speed. My line of thought: If a drive takes a long time to back up stuff; one is going to back up less often; a drive that backs up quickly, well, the time spent backing up is going to be less of a concern and holdback. With USB 3.2, at best, I was seeing 1000 MB/s ... In my example, I'm getting 13% faster reads than "spec" but 60 % faster writes than "spec" The point here is not to say that the Orico is better than the others ; it's that what you are testing, in what, using what, etc all matters . Personally, I think the manufacturers lowballed the numbers so that customers don't return enclosures just because the drives don't "measure up" . The ratings - are JUST AN EXAMPLE, and are not an indicator of the real world use or that of limits on the hardware itself. I like the Orico for the ease of installation, using screws instead of rubber plugs, and straight forward installation. I also like the handle for storage.. Personally I'm not onboard with a design that slides in and out... The design with no screw holding the case together- also a non-starter, but bags can be far rougher on equipment than I am normally otherwise. I do like the yottamaster, but the more complicated assembly, to a degree is a turn-off although the design does have merits from a "larger" heatsink. Pick a design that works for you..

[@nmac.]

Why did you not compare the heat? It's really important.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Because I do not have a laser thermometer.

[@nickloss2377]

they're like $20 dude. not much of an excuse to omit such an important metric.. your opinion on that "stupid" design of the last enclosure might have never made it in this video because you would have realized that it essentially turns the entire case into a heatsink. a clever design, whereas the others that focused on ease of access did so only by sacrificing efficiency of thermal dissipation.

[@СашаАлександров-ш3ц]

Thank you! But no tests! All cases are heated. I have been looking for a case that has cooling for a long time. My experience with Orico is negative!

[@h663rst]

The reason why the Yottamaster is inverted is to that the nvme can dissipate heat to a larger SINGLE piece of aluminum.

[@KTT_-vw2ur]

"Thanks for the review. I was considering getting the Acasis enclosure, and your review helped confirm my choice."

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Glad I could help!

[@hamishthecat4370]

I think the Yottamaster is in contact with the larger side of the enclosure which would transfer more heat.

[@tytan9139]

Great review. I plan to get one of these and your review has helped.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Glad I could help

[@jhuneclarino]

you did not mentioned what controller chipset was used like asmedia 2464 as an example...

[@rednroll1]

Nobody cares about the packaging but do care about the thermal dissipation. The case you criticized the most likely has the best thermal dissipation. If you can do those kind of thermal comparison tests, that would be really great.

[@jmssun]

The last one is great! It is reversed to have NVME to get rid of heat

[@stacksmasher]

Can you post an update to this video? Whats the new speed king?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I would like to do this; however, I'd have to collaborate with some more companies to put this together, as it's quite cost intense to purchase and test all these drives and enclosures. Rest assured: I am still incredibly happy with the ACASIS USB 4 housing with the Samsung 980 Pro! I just speed tested it again after working on video files stored on the drive for about 3 hours (drive reached 54 degree Celsius based on S.M.A.R.T Monitoring and speed tested as if it was just plugged in).

[@justonbrazda3846]

Where was the comparison? I just saw a bunch of specs.

[@davidvalens3337]

so which one offers the fasted read and write speeds for Mac?

[@jakesmith5278]

Jesus Christ!!! Most of these cases are more expansive than most 2t Nvme SSDs. WTF?!

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Guess that depends what kind of speed you'd like.

[@22plepte.ltd.96]

These are Thunderbolt housing running at 40Gbps. If you can accept 10Gbps speed then you can get them pretty cheap ($15~$30) Blame Intel, not the enclosure makers

[@saadkabirprottoy1501]

Hello there, great video. I was planning on getting a enclosure. I use pc. Which enclosure should I get? I don't think I have thunderbolt port? Is 10 gbps enclosure enough for me?

[@abolit]

link to Yottamaster USB 4.0 M.2 to Amazon does not work. BTW Yottamaster design in terms of heat dissipation is the best (IMHO)

[@normaljim738]

Does thermal pads in these housings make contact with external wall of the enclosures?

[@dorythomas1816]

yes it does and the whole enclosure acts like a passive cooler

[@txwt5109]

I wanted to add to the comment left by "J" I agree that the Yottamaster is actually the best and most intelligent design of all the units. As before mention, the entire box is a heatsink. I plan on installing and leaving the SSD in place, permanently connected to my computer. More efficient cooling, much better design. After watching this review I purchased the Yottamaster.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

If you "permanently connected to my computer"…why not just build it into the computer? And, it also may be important to note that the price from what I see has changed, the Yottamaster is more affordable now. Personally, I am still very happy with the Acasis and would get it again. I am doing 4k video editing with multiple tracks all the time and it's working perfectly.

[@telelaci2]

Something is fishy. 4:45 Why would I buy an 40 Gbps USB 4.0 housing if a 20 Gbps solution gives about the same speed at 1/3rd of the price?

[@keemosaby3]

This from Amazon in North America on the ACASIS enclosure: The enclosure does not support Samsung 970 Evo plus SSD

[@ChrisSpiegl]

The strange thing is that it worked for me anyways. And very well indeed.

[@chrishaylett9084]

Or the 980pro or the WD Black SN850 what’s up with that?

[@joonajks]

Would it make sense in your opinion to just purchase a GEN 3 NVME SSD for most enclosures since it would not exceed over 3000 read 3000 write? Good job!!!!

[@flipflinstone6494]

Hi, i have a M1 macbook pro, a macmini and a mac studio. After seeing your video i decided to buy the Acasis together with a 4TB sabrent SSD. Only to find out that none of my macs regonised a drive. So i tought it must be the Sabrent, so i tried a 2 TB samsung pro SSD. Same result, not regonised. So i send everything back.

[@DarkDragon312]

you need to format the drive first...

[@isaatalay5320]

hi i bought acasis 4.0 and start using with my lap top.. But there are problem in using with my M1 ipad pro.İ can take file fromm acasis but can not send (or write) files to it. What should İ do ?

[@gaetanobruno5889]

The speed is important, but I am looking for the most reliable enclosure in terms of heating and durability. Can someone recommend an enclosure that you have been using for some time without any problems? Thanks.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I have been using the ACASIS USB 4.0 since I made that video. Never had any issues, slowdown, etc. However, it does get hot and I often put it on a coaster.

[@gaetanobruno5889]

@@ChrisSpiegl thats great! I will buy one then. Thanks a lot! 🙏

[@steffdia7080]

Will the seagate firecuda 530 with cooling fits in Acasis?

[@mojito6629]

In my country market, the most expensive one in your test, Yotta, is the cheapest one, it's the fastest too in your test, right? so even if I agree that the design is not good, but I will choose it. Thanks for the test & review

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Thanks for sharing. That sounds like it's the right choice for you.

[@Davethreshold]

EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you. And we all thought Yoda was intelligent! I wonder what some of these designers are thinking, and how that get an o.k. from the people in charge!

[@ExillNetworks]

Heat dissipation.

[@kaziannova]

To help prevent overheating, does it make sense to leave the cover off while using it?

[@dorythomas1816]

No, the cover is aluminum and it makes contact with the heat pad to the Nvme and acts like a passive cooler

[@richardbriscoe8563]

I think not. With the thermal plates properly installed and the “top” closed the entire enclosure serves to disperse heat.

[@nickloss2377]

yes. the best cooling is to leave the cover off. although this will leave the electronics exposed to damage and dust buildup (which will affect the cooling after a while). the suggestions that the aluminum plate will dissipate the heat better than it would without the metal cover is asinine. the metal cover doesn't add additional cooling simply by putting it in contact with the drive. all it's doing it serving as a medium for heat transfer to the surrounding air. obviously, with the cover installed but not in contact with the drive, it creates an internal airspace that will heat up.. the aluminum coverage just transfers that heat to the outside atmosphere. leaving that cover off essentially cuts the middleman out and exposes the drive to the outside atmosphere. that would be 100% effective passive cooling. don't listen to people that say the aluminum plates somehow magically improve heat dissipation. no. just use common sense. but also make sure that the exposed components arent going to get damaged...and dust particles building up will eventually act like an insulator and will negate any benefits that leaving it exposed provided. (compressed air is your friend and best defense against dust)

[@FarazAhmed-ph3vj]

My laptop suports thunderbolt 3 and i have model tb3-t3 but when i pluged in laptop does not show plz help

[@ChrisSpiegl]

This is not something I can help with. Too detailed and impossible to tell what exactly is going on. Please consult a tech shop or something.

[@joet4774]

My man Cousin Greg finally found his calling

[@dylanandres8125]

Muy buen video. Una pregunta Proto HW &Tec por favor ayuda. ¿Dónde puedo conseguir, un Case, que sea compatible con SSD Kingston KC3000 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2? Para que ese SSD sea externo. ¿En dónde puedo encontrar un Case o que modelo, para este tipo de SSD?, Por favor, ayuda Proto HW. Gracias por su respuesta de antemano.

[@dylanandres8125]

Nunca respondió a mi pregunta 😊

[@terrysucrana1318]

@@dylanandres8125 escribele en inglés...

[@dylanandres8125]

@@terrysucrana1318 Very good video. A question Proto HW &Tec please help. Where can I get a Case that supports Kingston KC3000 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD? So that SSD is external. Where can I find a Case or what model, for this type of SSD? Please help Proto HW. Thanks for your answer in advance.

[@LeicaM11]

Sorry, but: Acasis is NOT Thunderbolt 4, it is just Thunderbolt 3 and it is NOT USB 4.0, but fantastic „USB 4“, nobody knows. A speed comparison would have been great to see, as ICY box is very poor and Acasis great with Thunderbolt 3 and good with USB 3.2.

[@JC-XL]

Exactly. Without a speed comparison, this review was not very useful.

[@JC-XL]

He could have just plugged them in a computer and copied a large file back and forth.

[@jonnyboy973]

Well they state Thunderbolt 4 in their product description and it comes with a Thunderbolt 4 cable so why are you saying it's not Thunderbolt 4?

[@VASY460]

hello who is the best now adaptop nvme ?

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I'd still buy the ACASIS housing. It's phenomenal (even after a 1.5 years of use and buying more).

[@spx2338]

I got the Acasis with a Samsung 980 pro but i t gets very hot, the nvme got about 60 degrees celcius!

[@richardbriscoe8563]

Does it throttle at that temperature?

[@jonnyboy973]

I have the Acasis with 2TB SN770 and getting 2700GBps for both read and write on an M1 MacBook Air. You don't need to spend more on a faster drive as anything above 5000GBps is then limited by the speed of the enclosure.

[@pak6198]

Wich Acasis enclosure do you use? TBU401 or TBU405?

[@Cdbd4]

Interesting video Image focus could be better

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Thanks for the feedback.

[@jub8891]

they would be faster with RGB lighting

[@ChrisSpiegl]

If that floats your boat. Sure. I don't particularly care for RGB lights so I am fine without.

[@Bo_Hazem]

I prefer Sabrent waterproof + shock resistant enclosure. Sadly, only 10Gbps model for now but pretty cheap at $60 so you can change when the newer version hits. Also supports up to 8TB while some of those cap at around 2-4TB.

[@borr33tube]

I have the Sabrent waterproof tool free enclosure too and got it on sale for $47. I really like the ease of replacing the NVMe SSD and it runs at a good speed. The heavy duty aluminum casing keeps it cool as long as you use the thermal pads. Just make sure they are in contact with the removable cover when it is closed.

[@Bo_Hazem]

@@borr33tube Thanks for thr tip! I also prefer it as it comes from a good named brand that also makes brilliant SSD's compared to most unknown enclosures.

[@ماجدالعوفي-ج7ص]

good job

[@dondamon443]

One other problem with Acasis box. The rubber "screw" for holding the down the m.2 This is a big mistake. How many of these rubber screw grommets come with it only 2 total. Where as if it were metal screws, there would be less chance of damage when replacing the M.2 into the slot. Not sold on that one. Also, all of these enclosures are way to much money for just being an enclosure. I have an Orico ssd enclosure 3.0 USB that was only 30.00 US Dollars. Spend the money if you have it but not me.

[@ChrisSpiegl]

I guess you are looking for something else then if the 30$ USB 3.0 housing is good enough for you. you're not going to get the speed you'll get with the USB 4.0 housing and those are going to be more expensive. In terms of the rubber piece: I have not had any problems with it thus far.

[@dorythomas1816]

this is a set it and forget it thing . once you put your drive in and close the enclosure you will not open it so often. plus the cover holds everything together. and who loses a rubber screw can loose a metal one as well

[@dorythomas1816]

@@jerryinsc it does get pretty hot actually But I haven’t had any issues with it so far I have been using it every day for the past year for video editing and flipping data on and off. no issues with disconnecting or slowing down. It is running solid and I hope it keeps on doing so for years to come. But at the end of the day it’s an electronic piece and everything is subject to fail. That’s my whole experience with it

[@gadgetdeca]

素晴らしい😃

[@bassyey]

Do these things last? Seems like the cheap garbage from Amazon that will stop working after 10 months.

[@johnathanbeats]

I only get 600 on my Mac mini m1 on icy box

[@ChrisSpiegl]

Interesting, maybe the M1 Mac mini has some throttling going on? I think I once read a headline about that.

[@johnathanbeats]

even hoooked up through a thunderbolt 4 dock to the mini. it has to be a certain chipset is what icebox told me. so do research or get a thunderbolt 3 or 4 enclosure

[@visionary4787]

No way u wasted my time, where are the actual tests dude come on

[@ChrisSpiegl]

What kind of tests would you be looking for. I think I presented pretty good information and test results right here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aoLOc6Wtqrajia8 (timestamped).