EXPIRED Cheap thunderbolt 3 nvme ssd enclosure $22 + shipping

[nexox]

Ended up grabbing an SFF-8643 M.2 adapter because it was cheap and fast, took the Thunderbolt board out of the housing so I didn't have to snap the end off the adapter in case I want to use it in a 22110 slot in the future, and it worked with a U.2 drive running on an external power brick, in both USB and TB3 modes. Not exactly an arbitrary PCIe device, but it's fun and kinda gets hot swap U.2 to work if you have a bunch of drives to test or something.

 

[nandEater]

it uses the
JHL7440
controller.

 

[mattventura]

Just got mine. Happy to report that it is able to handle the inrush current of PLP-equipped drives just fine. Tested with a Micron 7300 and some Transcend drives.

 

[mattventura]

Also, has anyone figured out what screws are needed? Mine came with two screws for the cover, but there are supposed to be four. I think the M.2 screw is the same thread but should be shorter, since the case screws won't go all the way down before bottoming out in that hole.

 

[nexox]

Also, has anyone figured out what screws are needed? Mine came with two screws for the cover, but there are supposed to be four. I think the M.2 screw is the same thread but should be shorter, since the case screws won't go all the way down before bottoming out in that hole.

For the M.2 drive I tested the longer case screw touched the PCB to secure it just before it bottomed out, but the screws which hold the adapter into the case work too, they're M2.5x3mm, and while I haven't checked, they're almost certainly standard pitch.

 

[nandEater]

For the M.2 drive I tested the longer case screw touched the PCB to secure it just before it bottomed out, but the screws which hold the adapter into the case work too, they're M2.5x3mm, and while I haven't checked, they're almost certainly standard pitch.

Yeah the case screws are t5 head, m2.5 thread, and I measure the length at just under 5m

 

[nexox]

Got my x4 slot adapter - this model doesn't quite fit, but the card is detected at PCIe 3.0 (admittedly only x2 because I mangled a couple pins cutting the back out of the slot lazily.) The fit problems were first the plastic pins under the PCIe slot extending too far, easy to clip off, but the board is a little wider than standard m.2 and it's contacting an inductor, making the entire adapter bend a little bit.

 

[mattventura]

Been playing around with mine a bit.

Ordered this screw kit. Used the M2.5x3mm for the M.2 screw and the M2.5s for the case. As a bonus, these are Phillips rather than Torx, so I'm more likely to have the correct bit on hand. I ended up placing the included rubber pads on the cover, but not in the indentations where you're supposed to put them, since that would cover the screws. I get the feeling this device is meant as more of a "make your own external drive" rather than as a dock where you frequently swap drives.

Can't format NVMe drives to a different block size when using USB, but it will respect and correctly report 512 vs 4k if the drive is already formatted as such.

The cover doesn't seem to want to sit completely flat if the drive has some thicker components like capacitors.

Overall very worth the $20. I was looking for a M.2 dock that isn't cheap flaky crap and this definitely works. All my drives are 2280 so the size is perfect.

 

[autoturk]

Just tested it with an Intel X550 I had laying around and it works in MacOS with the m.2 to PCIe adapter!

now to find a PCIe device I actually want to connect to this thing.. .cart before the horse ordeal...

 

[nandEater]

I don't know what the quality of something like this is but it doesn't put all the stress on the m.2 slot.

$15.49 | M.2 for NVMe to PCIe 16x Riser

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mPCcKB7

I'm going to buy these screws
Just need to get to $10 for the free shipping

I just found this on AliExpress:
$2.33 | 5/50pcs CM M1.6 M2 M2.5 M3 M4 M5 M6 M8 304 A2-70 Stainless Steel Six-Lobe Torx Ultra Thin Super Low Flat Wafer Head Screw Bolt

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqMk2It

 

[nexox]

I don't know what the quality of something like this is but it doesn't put all the stress on the m.2 slot.

$15.49 | M.2 for NVMe to PCIe 16x Riser

Those cables are rather fragile so you still need to attach everything with a 3D printed bracket or whatever, it's cheaper and more compact to do that with the direct adapter, though the card hanging over the USB-C port is not great for packaging.

 

[nandEater]

There's also this but it's expensive

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mML4Ril

 

[nexox]

Yeah I don't know why the OCuLink to full slot adapters are so much more expensive than other combinations, would be nice to get a couple cheap to fit my PCIe switch card and cables, but they're all twice the price of the original thunderbolt enclosure.