- OWC Express 4M2 -Cabinet offers an alternative route to large, fast external storage
- Thunderbolt 3 on Windows Criple’s Performance to well below the advertised maximum speed
- OWC Express 4M2 SSD slots are only PCIE 4.0 x1 so individual drive speeds are limited
In a market saturated with expensive high capacity storage, OWC Express 4m2-cabinet offers an alternative route to large, fast external storage without immediately violating the $ 3000 mark.
For $ 239.99 for the basic configuration, this device is cheaper than Terramaster D4 SSD and offers a flexible foundation to build what can be a 32TB setup when paired with four 8TB NVMe drive.
The company promotes this unit as capable of up to 3200 MB/s flow, but the real world is very variable.
Maximum speed requires raid and careful system configuration
The four M.2 NVME slots only support PCIe 4.0 X1, which limits individual driving performance to approx. 1600 MB/s.
Reaching peak speeds therefore requires RAID configurations and optimal conditions, factors that introduce complexity.
It provides support for RAID 0, 1, 4, 5 and 10, but again depends on these benefits of software license, drift quality and user knowledge.
Users can be drawn at the speed of the enclosure, but should be aware that performance gains require effort and understanding.
Compatibility with USB4 and Thunderbolt standards across macOS and Windows gives the cabinet wide appeal, although the actual speed will be divided by the host unit.
For example, systems running on older Thunderbolt 3 ports under windows are limited well under full bandwidth.
While macOS users get extra features, such as starting from RAID -ARRAYS, this is limited to systems running at least macOS 11.3.
Express 4M2 delivers in terms of construction and thermal control.
Its air-quality aluminum chasshas is paired with a double-fan system that is only activated under high thermal load, ensuring quiet operation in most scenarios.
SOFTRAID on some models, OWC’s recording of some models introduces functionality that is typically reserved for more expensive storage systems.
For those who try to gather a portable SSD setup or replace their external HDD with something faster, this fencing makes financial sense, but only.
However, the cost of filling all four bays of quality 8TB SSDs still pushes the total amount against $ 3000, which makes this option only convenient for those who can deliver their own drives or already have SSDs available.
