So far this has been working fabulously for me. Yes the fan is too loud but overall performance of the enclosure itself with the way I have it configured as been perfect for me.
I am using this as my primary RAID for video production. Mainly editing 4k and 6k .BRAW 8:1 footage - usually @ 23.97fps, but sometimes 60fps as well. I’m currently on the 2023 version of Premiere with Mac OS Ventura. This things screams. Tested with the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test app I’m getting just over 2900 MB/s.
I’ve loaded it up with 4x 2tb Samsung 970 EVO Plus’s and built as a RAID 0 using Mac OS Ventura’s Disk Utility and formatted as GUID APFS. I did not want to be bound to OWC’s SoftRAID software because I need this to occasionally move to different Macs and I don’t want to rely on a 3rd party piece of software to access my data.
Getting 4 fast M.2’s and doing a RAID 0 is the key to getting the enclosure’s advertised speed. I see many people make the mistake of only putting one or two drives in, or doing a RAID 1 on 4 drives. I knew this going into it and already had most of the M.2’s on hand so it wasn’t an issue for me, but something for everyone to keep in mind.
I’ve tested the daisy chaining ability out by connecting a USB-C monitor that has a keyboard and mouse KVM’d to it and the Mac sees everything and I cannot detect any r/w performance hits when using it. I have not tested the display port on this yet.
Power-wise the enclosure automatically powers down overall, once my Mac has turned off. I say “overall” because the fan and front LED turns off and the M.2’s do not generate any more heat so I assume they are off. But the blue LEDs inside are still lit.
Speaking of heat. The M.2’s generate a ton of heat. And as many of you probably know by now, the fan is pretty loud. To that end, I decided to take the advice of other users online and purchased low profile copper heat sinks for them. I also changed out the very loud 12v 60mmx15mm fan with a 24v one. Because the enclosures is only providing 12 V to that fan, it spins at half speed. That has cut down the sound issues considerably and seems to keep air moving well. The unit feels cooler than it was before the fan and heatsink upgrade.
For those of you who would like to do the same.
This is the fan (its a tad smaller at 10mm thick”:
https://a.co/d/8IbOUmL
The fan needs a 2-3 pin adapter:
https://a.co/d/gzv6xqD
And the heat sinks:
https://a.co/d/7fW4Whh
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Product Description
Infinitely configurable. Infinitely reconfigurable.
Customize your Express 4M2 with up to four NVMe SSDs, RAID them however you wish and connect it all with Thunderbolt 3 — the fastest and most flexible interface around. The sheer performance of the Express 4M2 helps you meet deadlines faster, giving you more time to explore your creativity and push your projects further.
GAME-CHANGING NVME SSD PERFORMANCE
NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is a hyper-efficient communications interface protocol built from the ground up to properly take advantage of SSD technology and high-performance connection buses like PCIe. The result is exponentially faster and efficient SSD storage, and the OWC Express 4M2 has room for four NVMe SSDs.
DisplayPort
Display connection flexibility is yours with a convenient DisplayPort located right on the rear of the OWC Express 4M2. There's no need to worry about adapters or extra long cables. Just plug your display directly into the Express 4M2 and you're all set.
Connect to Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 Systems with Ease
The OWC Express 4M2 is fully backward compatible with Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2. Utilize Thunderbolt 3 performance to work at full speed, and step back to Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2 whenever connectivity compatibility is needed for your workflow. Add a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter along with the appropriate Thunderbolt cable, and you're all set.
Compare with similar items
This Item  OWC Express 4M2 4-Slot M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure w/ Thunderbolt3 Ports with SoftRaid XT |  | |  |  |  | |
| Price | — | $564.99 | $79.99 | $199.00 | $449.99 | -21% $109.99 List: $139.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 1 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 1 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 1 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 1 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 1 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Tech Support | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Quality of material | ||||||
| Easy to install | ||||||
| Sold By | — | OWC (Other World Computing) | OWC (Other World Computing) | TREBLEET | OWC (Other World Computing) | ACASIS Direct US |
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OWC Express 4M2 Quad M.2 Enclosure Review
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Introducing the OWC Express 4M2
OWC (Other World Computing)
Reviews with images
Works well but need RAID 0
In order to get the advertised speeds, you will need to run 4 drives at RAID 0. I chose to not get SoftRaid and just use apple disk utility to set up the Raid as it's more reliable imo.I'm using 4x Samsung 990 Pro 2 TBs, overkill for this for sure, but again I wanted something reliable and they weren't too much more expensive than 980 pros.My real complaint is the fan, it's noisy. If you're working in a noise-sensitive environment you'll hear it and you'll hate it. Since I planned to put low profile 2mm heatsinks on all 4 drives, I decided to use a 92mmx15 slim noctua fan I had laying around. The size is perfect to cover all 4 drives so that they would be cooled equally, I used a low-noise adapter since the fan basically runs at full speed. I used some rubber mounts that came with my noctua and just position it so that the fan doesn't touch any surface and it wouldn't move about when using the enclosure vertically or horizontally.This is an expensive piece of kit, but compared to others on the market, this has the best build quality. Just wish they include a quieter, bigger fan and allow more space for larger nvme heatsinks.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2023
Size: EnclosureVerified Purchase
So far this has been working fabulously for me. Yes the fan is too loud but overall performance of the enclosure itself with the way I have it configured as been perfect for me.
I am using this as my primary RAID for video production. Mainly editing 4k and 6k .BRAW 8:1 footage - usually @ 23.97fps, but sometimes 60fps as well. I’m currently on the 2023 version of Premiere with Mac OS Ventura. This things screams. Tested with the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test app I’m getting just over 2900 MB/s.
I’ve loaded it up with 4x 2tb Samsung 970 EVO Plus’s and built as a RAID 0 using Mac OS Ventura’s Disk Utility and formatted as GUID APFS. I did not want to be bound to OWC’s SoftRAID software because I need this to occasionally move to different Macs and I don’t want to rely on a 3rd party piece of software to access my data.
Getting 4 fast M.2’s and doing a RAID 0 is the key to getting the enclosure’s advertised speed. I see many people make the mistake of only putting one or two drives in, or doing a RAID 1 on 4 drives. I knew this going into it and already had most of the M.2’s on hand so it wasn’t an issue for me, but something for everyone to keep in mind.
I’ve tested the daisy chaining ability out by connecting a USB-C monitor that has a keyboard and mouse KVM’d to it and the Mac sees everything and I cannot detect any r/w performance hits when using it. I have not tested the display port on this yet.
Power-wise the enclosure automatically powers down overall, once my Mac has turned off. I say “overall” because the fan and front LED turns off and the M.2’s do not generate any more heat so I assume they are off. But the blue LEDs inside are still lit.
Speaking of heat. The M.2’s generate a ton of heat. And as many of you probably know by now, the fan is pretty loud. To that end, I decided to take the advice of other users online and purchased low profile copper heat sinks for them. I also changed out the very loud 12v 60mmx15mm fan with a 24v one. Because the enclosures is only providing 12 V to that fan, it spins at half speed. That has cut down the sound issues considerably and seems to keep air moving well. The unit feels cooler than it was before the fan and heatsink upgrade.
For those of you who would like to do the same.
This is the fan (its a tad smaller at 10mm thick”:
https://a.co/d/8IbOUmL
The fan needs a 2-3 pin adapter:
https://a.co/d/gzv6xqD
And the heat sinks:
https://a.co/d/7fW4Whh
I am using this as my primary RAID for video production. Mainly editing 4k and 6k .BRAW 8:1 footage - usually @ 23.97fps, but sometimes 60fps as well. I’m currently on the 2023 version of Premiere with Mac OS Ventura. This things screams. Tested with the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test app I’m getting just over 2900 MB/s.
I’ve loaded it up with 4x 2tb Samsung 970 EVO Plus’s and built as a RAID 0 using Mac OS Ventura’s Disk Utility and formatted as GUID APFS. I did not want to be bound to OWC’s SoftRAID software because I need this to occasionally move to different Macs and I don’t want to rely on a 3rd party piece of software to access my data.
Getting 4 fast M.2’s and doing a RAID 0 is the key to getting the enclosure’s advertised speed. I see many people make the mistake of only putting one or two drives in, or doing a RAID 1 on 4 drives. I knew this going into it and already had most of the M.2’s on hand so it wasn’t an issue for me, but something for everyone to keep in mind.
I’ve tested the daisy chaining ability out by connecting a USB-C monitor that has a keyboard and mouse KVM’d to it and the Mac sees everything and I cannot detect any r/w performance hits when using it. I have not tested the display port on this yet.
Power-wise the enclosure automatically powers down overall, once my Mac has turned off. I say “overall” because the fan and front LED turns off and the M.2’s do not generate any more heat so I assume they are off. But the blue LEDs inside are still lit.
Speaking of heat. The M.2’s generate a ton of heat. And as many of you probably know by now, the fan is pretty loud. To that end, I decided to take the advice of other users online and purchased low profile copper heat sinks for them. I also changed out the very loud 12v 60mmx15mm fan with a 24v one. Because the enclosures is only providing 12 V to that fan, it spins at half speed. That has cut down the sound issues considerably and seems to keep air moving well. The unit feels cooler than it was before the fan and heatsink upgrade.
For those of you who would like to do the same.
This is the fan (its a tad smaller at 10mm thick”:
https://a.co/d/8IbOUmL
The fan needs a 2-3 pin adapter:
https://a.co/d/gzv6xqD
And the heat sinks:
https://a.co/d/7fW4Whh
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Mr N.
I would not buy this product from Amazon !!!!!! they are unable to give you an invoice.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2023Size: EnclosureVerified Purchase
PEDRO MARSIÑACH
que puedes operar en raid o no discos M.2
Reviewed in Spain on January 21, 2021Size: 0TB RAIDVerified Purchase
