I'm looking to offload a bunch of files from my laptops internal drive to make it easier to manage files and release some storage space from the main drive. Has anybody had any experience in External SSD's either USB or Thunderbolt? I've been tempted by the new Asus ROG Strix Arion with an 500GB M.2 drive as I will need the access speed from time to time.
Yeah - I 've had a few external SSDs. The best performer was a USB 3.0C WD Passport 1TB SSD. Read/write speeds were 400/300MB/s+ when connected via USB C. I also have a boggo no name 500GB USB 3 SSD, that I bought at the Maplin closing down sale, which performs similarly for a short period of time; before the transfer speed halves. I'm guessing this a caching thing and the WD has more/better cache, because the WD's performance didn't tail off. You get what you pay for. I also have a 500GB Patriot Burst 2.5" SSD in a cheap IcyBox USB 3.0 enclosure, which performs pretty well - upwards of 200MB/s typically.
I bought a USB to M2 NVME caddy and USB to M2 SATA to use some of my old NVMe/SATA drives as fast USB sticks, they are awesome, be aware though some do not support trim, it costs bugger all extra to get ones that do support trim, so get those as a priority. Caddys were between £10 and £20. don't think I have seen more than 1Gb/s transfer so some way off what my NVMe SSDs can handle but to be honest I haven't a clue what spec my machines USB is , still bloody fast. The SSDs were doing 440Mb vs 533Mb native, so there is some loss there but still responsive. It is fair to say that a more expensive enclosure might have a better chipset and net more speed but it is fine for me. Another thing I have is a USB3.2 HDD dock, it will take 2.5 and 3.5 HDDs and it runs almost native speeds out of my usbC port and is very handy.
