Thunderbolt 5 SSD Teardown and Drive Swap!
Thunderbolt 5: The Next Generation of Blazing-Fast External Storage
The world of external storage has entered a new era with the arrival of Thunderbolt 5 technology. This cutting-edge interface promises unprecedented data transfer speeds, revolutionizing the way we handle large files, power intensive workflows, and the overall performance of our digital ecosystems. At the forefront of this revolution is the OWC Envoy Ultra, the first Thunderbolt 5 SSD to hit the market.
In this in-depth blog post, we'll put the OWC Envoy Ultra through its paces, comparing it to a DIY setup featuring the renowned Samsung 990 Pro SSD. We'll dive deep into the performance metrics, explore the benefits and limitations of this new Thunderbolt 5 technology, and ultimately determine whether the Envoy Ultra's blazing speeds are truly a game-changer or simply overkill for most users.
Thunderbolt 5 vs. Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4: A Quantum Leap in Speed
The key advantage of Thunderbolt 5 lies in its staggering data transfer speeds. While Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 top out at 40 Gbps, Thunderbolt 5 can reach up to 80 Gbps for SSD performance, and an impressive 120 Gbps for display connectivity. This quantum leap in speed opens up new possibilities for professionals working with large media files, complex 3D models, and data-intensive applications.
To put this into perspective, the OWC Envoy Ultra is capable of delivering read and write speeds of over 6,000 MB/s, leaving even the fastest Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 drives in the dust. This level of performance can significantly reduce the time required for tasks such as video editing, 3D rendering, and large file transfers, ultimately boosting productivity and streamlining workflows.
Introducing the OWC Envoy Ultra: The First Thunderbolt 5 SSD
The OWC Envoy Ultra is the first Thunderbolt 5 SSD to hit the market, and it's a true marvel of engineering. Encased in a sleek, aluminum body that doubles as a heat sink, this drive promises to deliver unparalleled performance. One of the key features of the Envoy Ultra is its built-in Thunderbolt 5 cable, which OWC claims is for water and dust proofing, as well as power delivery.
Under the hood, the Envoy Ultra houses an OWC Aura Pro X4 SSD, which is capable of reaching up to 7,300 MB/s read and 6,300 MB/s write speeds when used as an internal drive. However, the Thunderbolt 5 interface does introduce some performance limitations, as we'll soon discover.
Benchmarking the OWC Envoy Ultra and a DIY Thunderbolt 5 Setup
To truly understand the capabilities of the OWC Envoy Ultra, we need to put it through a series of rigorous benchmarks. For comparison, we'll also be testing a DIY Thunderbolt 5 setup featuring the renowned Samsung 990 Pro SSD, which is widely regarded as one of the fastest consumer-grade SSDs on the market.
Initial Benchmark Showdown
Starting with the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, a popular tool among Mac users, the OWC Envoy Ultra immediately impresses with read and write speeds exceeding 5,100 MB/s. In comparison, the Sabrent Rocket SSD in the USB 4 enclosure manages a respectable 2,100 MB/s read and 2,600 MB/s write, which is in line with the performance of top-tier Thunderbolt 4 drives.
Delving deeper into the performance metrics, we turn to the Anvil Storage Utilities benchmark. Here, the OWC Envoy Ultra shines, delivering an astounding 6,300 MB/s read and 5,100 MB/s write speeds. The Sabrent Rocket SSD, on the other hand, achieves around 3,000 MB/s read and 2,100 MB/s write, a testament to the capabilities of the Thunderbolt 5 interface.
Caching and Sequential Writes: The Whole Story
While the initial benchmark results are undoubtedly impressive, they don't tell the whole story, especially when it comes to sequential writes and the role of caching. To better understand the real-world performance of these drives, we need to dive deeper into their behavior under sustained, high-intensity workloads.
To simulate this, we'll be using the AJA System Test to perform a continuous write test, monitoring the performance over an extended period using the iostat utility. This will allow us to observe how the drives handle the transition from their high-speed caches to the underlying storage media.
The Cache Conundrum
The OWC Envoy Ultra's cache is relatively small, around 50 GB, allowing it to maintain blazing-fast write speeds for only the first 10 seconds or so.
After that, the drive's performance plummets to around 1,700 MB/s, a significant drop from the initial burst.
In contrast, the Sabrent Rocket SSD in the USB 4 enclosure has a much larger cache, around 900 GB, allowing it to sustain write speeds of 2,100 MB/s for over 7 minutes before tapering off.
Over the course of the 15-minute test, the OWC Envoy Ultra managed to write around 1.5 TB of data, while the Sabrent Rocket SSD wrote 1.1 TB.
Upgrading the OWC Envoy Ultra: The Samsung 990 Pro Advantage
Intrigued by the performance potential of the Thunderbolt 5 interface, we decided to take the OWC Envoy Ultra a step further by swapping out the internal SSD with the mighty Samsung 990 Pro. This high-end NVMe SSD is capable of reaching read speeds up to 7,400 MB/s and write speeds up to 6,900 MB/s when used as an internal drive.
The results were nothing short of astounding. With the 990 Pro installed, the modified OWC Envoy Ultra delivered read speeds of 5,800 MB/s and write speeds of 6,200 MB/s, a significant improvement over the stock OWC Aura Pro X4 SSD. Diving deeper into the Anvil Storage Utilities benchmark, we recorded an even more impressive 7,000 MB/s read and 6,600 MB/s write speeds.
Putting the modified Envoy Ultra through the same AJA System Test, we observed an even more impressive performance. The drive maintained write speeds around 5,800 MB/s for the first 31 seconds, before gradually tapering off to around 1,800 MB/s. Over the course of the 15-minute test, the Envoy Ultra with the 990 Pro managed to write a staggering 1.8 TB of data.
Does Thunderbolt 5 Speed Really Matter for Most Users?
Now that we've seen the raw performance capabilities of the OWC Envoy Ultra and the DIY Thunderbolt 5 setup, the question remains: do most users really need this level of speed? The answer, as it often is, is a bit nuanced.
Workflows That Benefit from Thunderbolt 5 Speed
Databases: Large, enterprise-level databases with high I/O demands could potentially benefit from the blazing-fast Thunderbolt 5 speeds.
Virtual Machines: Running multiple virtual machines, whether Windows, Linux, or other operating systems, can take advantage of the Thunderbolt 5's superior random read and write performance.
Large Media Projects: Users working with massive video files, high-resolution 3D models, or other data-intensive creative projects may see tangible benefits from the Thunderbolt 5 SSD's cache size and sustained write speeds.
When Thunderbolt 5 Speed Becomes Overkill
General File Transfers: For most users, the speed difference between Thunderbolt 5 and Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 drives won't be noticeable for one-time file transfers or backups.
Code Compilation: Even intensive tasks like Xcode benchmarks and local AI image generation didn't stress the storage enough to warrant the need for Thunderbolt 5 speeds.
Video Editing: While Thunderbolt 5 speeds can be beneficial, most video editing workflows, including 4K multi-cam projects, can be handled just fine by Thunderbolt 4 or USB 4 drives.
In the end, the decision to invest in a Thunderbolt 5 SSD like the OWC Envoy Ultra or the DIY 990 Pro setup comes down to your specific needs and workflows. For the majority of users, a high-quality Thunderbolt 4 or USB 4 drive with a large cache size may provide a more balanced and cost-effective solution, offering consistent performance without the premium price tag of Thunderbolt 5.
Conclusion: The Future is Thunderbolt 5, but Choose Wisely
The OWC Envoy Ultra and the DIY Thunderbolt 5 setup featuring the Samsung 990 Pro have undoubtedly pushed the boundaries of external storage performance. With their blazing-fast read and write speeds, these drives represent the cutting edge of Thunderbolt 5 technology.
However, as we've discovered, the real-world benefits of this level of performance may be limited for many users. Unless you're working with highly demanding, data-intensive applications or large media projects, the premium price tag of a Thunderbolt 5 SSD may not be justified.
That said, Thunderbolt 5 is the future, and as the technology matures and becomes more widely adopted, the performance advantages may become more tangible for a broader range of users. For now, those with specialized needs or a desire to future-proof their setups may find the OWC Envoy Ultra or a DIY Thunderbolt 5 solution worth the investment.