Yes. The Plugable Thunderbolt 3 NVMe SSD can perform differently depending on whether the host computer provides a PCIe x2 or PCIe x4 connection through its Thunderbolt 3 port. Systems using a PCIe x2 implementation have less available bandwidth and may reduce the drive's maximum performance.
How Does the Host PCIe Configuration Affect Performance?
Some Thunderbolt 3 host systems provide a 2-lane PCI Express connection, or PCIe x2, while others provide a 4-lane connection, or PCIe x4.
The Plugable Thunderbolt 3 NVMe SSD is capable of higher performance when connected to a host with sufficient PCIe bandwidth. On a PCIe x2 host, the available bandwidth is lower, which can reduce maximum read and write speeds.
In our testing, a PCIe x2 host reached approximately:
- 1400 MB/s sequential read
- 1200 MB/s sequential write
Actual performance will still vary depending on the operating system, file system, application, workload, and other system factors.
Applicable To
- TBT3-NVME480, TBT3-NVME512, TBT3-NVME1TB, TBT3-NVME2TB
