Building a Lightning-Fast External SSD in Three Easy Steps
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Purchasing a truly fast portable Solid-State Drive (SSD) can be quite challenging. Many budget-friendly USB drives are disappointingly slow, and the maximum speed for standard drives is capped at 20 Gbps with USB 3.2. On the other hand, Thunderbolt 3 SSDs, which reach speeds of 40 Gbps, come with a hefty price tag.
Feeling frustrated with the current market options, I opted to build my own SSD that could achieve speeds closer to internal SSDs without breaking the bank.
While some may hesitate to take on such a project due to perceived complexity, I assure you it's straightforward. With just three easy steps, we can tackle this together.
Initial Assessment
Before investing time and resources into constructing an external storage drive, it’s crucial to evaluate whether your computer supports the necessary hardware.
If your device only has USB 1.x or USB 2.x ports, creating a speedy external SSD would be futile. These ports have painfully slow transfer speeds of 1.5 Mbps and 480 Mbps, making them inadequate by modern standards.
A more economical choice would be to purchase an off-the-shelf USB 2 or, preferably, a USB 3.x portable hard drive (HDD) or SSD, which can handle data flow through the slower interface.
Building a high-speed external SSD is only practical for computers equipped with USB 4 or Thunderbolt 3 ports. While computers with USB 3.2 (Gen 1, 2, or 2 × 2) ports may not fully utilize the SSD’s capabilities, the drive will at least perform adequately for newer systems.
Here’s a brief overview of the various ports and their transfer speeds.
USB 3.x and USB 4 ports are backward compatible with their slower counterparts and all utilize the compact USB Type-C connectors, much like Thunderbolt 3 (refer to figure 1). Although USB 4 and Thunderbolt 3 can coexist in a single port, manufacturers are not required to implement Thunderbolt 3 under the USB specification.
Most PCs made after late 2020 should feature USB 4 ports, and this trend will likely continue as demand rises. It’s wise to check your computer’s specifications to identify which ports it supports.
Since October 2016, Apple’s MacBook Pros and iMacs come with Thunderbolt 3 ports as standard, while the M1 models are among the first to include USB 4 ports.
The labels in figure 2 will assist you in identifying faster USB ports.
Step 1: Gathering Components
This stage involves sourcing the right components, which may take some time since it’s a balancing act between capacity, performance, and cost.
For SSDs, the optimal capacity in terms of cost per terabyte (TB) is 1 TB, which will be my reference point. Currently, 2 TB drives are priced over double that of 1 TB SSDs, making them hard to justify unless you require significant storage.
Purchasing the SSD
A quick search on Amazon will yield a variety of drives, but I recommend exploring multiple retailers to find the best price. Streamlining your search with the term 1TB SSDs PCIe M.2 can help.
The extensive list will need to be filtered to display SSDs with the following specifications:
- Capacity: 1 TB
- Interface: PCIe 4.0 NVMe
- Form factor: M.2 2280
- Read speeds: above 2,000 MB/s
- Write speeds: above 2,000 MB/s
As you navigate through the options, note that pricing is often influenced by:
- The speed of the SSD interface: PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives are generally cheaper, operating at 8 Gbps, which is half the speed of PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives.
- The read and write speeds: Higher speeds typically lead to higher prices.
- Brand reputation and reliability: Well-known brands tend to charge more.
Performance is critical for me, and the Samsung 980 PRO stood out during my research (see figure 3). It met all my basic criteria, boasting impressive read and write speeds of 7,000 and 5,000 MB/s, respectively. Of course, if you find a better option, feel free to choose that.
Acquiring an Enclosure
With the SSD in hand, you’ll need an appropriate enclosure to house the drive and facilitate connections.
The essential enclosure should include:
- Thunderbolt 3/USB 4 interface
- PCIe 4.0 NVMe interface compatible with the SSD
- M.2 2280 form factor
- A heat sink to keep the SSD cool (crucial for optimal performance)
Currently, you can choose between enclosures that only support Thunderbolt 3 or those that accommodate both USB 4 and Thunderbolt 3. I do not recommend opting for a Thunderbolt-only enclosure unless you are certain your PC supports it.
For a list of potential USB enclosures, click here. However, I found only two enclosures that support both USB 4.0 and Thunderbolt: one from Orico and another from Yottamaster. Depending on your location, you may have local suppliers with better options.
Apple users can choose between Thunderbolt-only enclosures or those that support both. Personally, unless I need to connect to a PC, I prefer to stick with Thunderbolt-only options.
After much searching, I ended up purchasing a Wavlink Thunderbolt enclosure that accommodates the Samsung 980 PRO PCIe NVMe M.2 2280 SSD (see figure 4).
Step 2: Assembling the Drive
As seen in figure 4, the enclosure came with all necessary components, including a screwdriver, screws, and a Thunderbolt cable.
Next, carefully unbox the SSD, avoiding contact with the chips or copper edge connectors to prevent static discharge that could harm the circuitry. The best practice is to hold the circuit board by its edges.
Before inserting the SSD into the enclosure, remove the retaining screw (see figure 5). Align the copper edge connector and notch with the enclosure’s socket, then firmly insert the SSD. Replace the retaining screw to secure it (see figure 6).
The final step involves securing the heat sink using the three push-in lugs (see figure 7). The heat sink is crucial for maintaining a cool operating temperature and preventing performance throttling during high use.
It’s important to consider that not all enclosures come with a heat sink.
Lastly, secure the enclosure cover with the provided screws, and you’re ready to connect the drive to your computer.
Step 3: Formatting the Drive
Typically, when you first connect the drive to your computer, it may not be recognized. It needs to be formatted before your system can acknowledge it.
Utilize the disk utility included with your operating system. For macOS, find the Disk Utility in the Applications/Utilities folder. For Windows, right-click the new SSD icon in File Explorer and select Format….
Once formatted, your SSD is ready for action, and you can congratulate yourself on a successful project.
Conclusion
I've been using my new SSD with my Apple MacBook Pro for two weeks now, and it’s incredibly fast! The total cost for the SSD and enclosure was $307. A comparable store-bought Thunderbolt 3 SSD would likely cost about the same, but it might be slower and lack proven reliability.
So, would I build another drive? Absolutely!
If you’ve taken on a similar project or are contemplating it yourself, feel free to leave a comment.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you found this guide useful.
I receive no financial incentives nor am I affiliated with any of the products or companies mentioned in this article.
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