Using ASMedia USB4 chip design, OWC Express 1M2 solid state drive external box unboxing

OWC, which is familiar to content creators, not only launches various Thunderbolt interface solution products, but also gets on the first train of USB4.

Express 1M2 uses the USB4 v1.0 device chip launched by ASMedia. The real-world transmission speed can reach ≥3.7GB/s. Let’s take a look at the design of Express 1M2, which is a bit like a fishbone shape.

OWC has divided its Express 1M2 product line plan into two. In addition to providing package combinations with preloaded 1 to 8TB solid-state drive modules, there is also a DIY external box version that we are going to introduce. The market reference price of the DIY external box version is about 3,960 yuan. Compared with competing products, its price, size, and weight are all slightly higher.

Express 1M2 is a passive cooling design. The shell is made of aviation-grade aluminum alloy. Its dimensions are 132 x 70 x 23mm and it weighs about 260g. In response to the heat dissipation efficiency required by the USB4 solution, OWC made the upper cover into a heat dissipation fin style, which looks like a fish bone and has a good eye-catching effect.

The external structure and configuration are quite simple. In addition to the OWC brand and Express 1M2 logo, there is only one status indicator LED on the front panel, and there is a USB4 Type-C port on the back. Simple and clean lines, coupled with the original color of aluminum alloy to show texture, retain the MAC style design that OWC is good at.

There are inevitably rubber pad elements at the bottom. As for the 2 screws right in front of you, you can open the upper and lower aluminum alloy covers by turning them and removing them. The edge on the other side of the bottom cover has a latch-like mechanism, so the assembly is tight and convenient. However, the aforementioned screws are also where the foot pads are attached. If they are frequently disassembled and assembled, the foot pads will lose their stickiness sooner or later. .

In terms of the printed circuit board design and configuration, as well as the aluminum alloy upper and lower cover structures, Express 1M2 uses the ASMedia model ASM2464PD device-side chip to direct the heat generated by the operation of the PCIe M.2 solid-state drive module to a larger And it has a thick aluminum alloy upper cover, and there are thermal pads attached to the relative positions of the two heat sources.

The ASM2464PD chip design is also compatible with Thunderbolt 3 (including Thunderbolt 4). The core architecture has a transmission encoding rate of 40Gbps. The support is extended downward to USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 / Gen 2 / Gen 1 and other old USB standards. When operating on USB The mode can use BOT or UASP transmission protocol, and the device compatibility can be said to be higher than Thunderbolt 4/3.

Express 1M2 can be equipped with M.2 Type 2280 / 2242 / 2230 solid-state drive modules. The printed circuit board has reserved corresponding holes, and the position of the copper pillars can be adjusted as needed. There is no convenient design for fixing the module, and you still have to use a screwdriver to turn the screws. However, the overall assembly is still fast and intuitive.

When choosing a solid-state drive module, please note that ASMedia’s USB4 solution supports the PCIe 4.0 x4 interface specification. Only by using the corresponding module can the transfer speed approach 3,800MB/s. On the contrary, the upper limit with PCIe 3.0 x4 module is about 3,300MB/s, which is similar to Thunderbolt 4 / 3.

For the actual performance measurement experience of Express 1M2, we paired it with ASUS USB4 PCIe Gen4 Card and compiled it together in other chapters.

Here we only talk about the heat dissipation effect of Express 1M2. It is actually used with Western Digital WD_BLACK SN850 1TB module and observed through IOMeter for 10 minutes of continuous writing. During the test, the module temperature increased from 37°C to 61°C (ambient room temperature is about 27°C), and the writing speed remained stable above 3,500MB/s. It seems that the anti-heating effect of Express 1M2 is reassuring.

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