The Sundarban
Published Feb 13, 2026, 5:30 PM EST
Monica J. White is a journalist with over a decade of skills in covering technology. She built her first PC nearly 20 years ago, and he or she has since built and examined dozens of PCs.
PC hardware is her main beat, and graphics cards and the GPU market at mammoth are her main location of interest, however she has written thousands of articles covering everything related to PCs, laptops, handhelds, and peripherals. From GPUs and CPUs to headsets and application, Monica’s continuously willing to geek out over all things related to computing.
Outside of her work with How-To Geek, Monica contributes to TechRadar, PC Gamer, Tom’s Information, Laptop Magazine, SlashGear, Whop, and Digital Inclinations, amongst others. Her final intention is to gain PC gaming and computing approachable and fun to any target market.
Monica spends slightly plenty of time elbow-deep in her PC case, as she’s continuously making upgrades, testing something, or plotting out her next gain. She’s the hotfoot-to tech strengthen individual in her quick circle, so she’s in no way out of things to gain. At any time when she has spare time, you will find her gaming till the early hours and hanging out alongside with her canine.
SSD speeds are removed from the handiest thing that issues. In fact, many will verbalize that they are nearly beside the point, and buying an costly SSD is a wreck of money.
But while you doubtlessly can also personal already obtained one such SSD—one with excessive read/write speeds—please don’t build it in an enclosure. It’ll work, however in fact, what even is the point?
SSD enclosures are huge, however they are no longer for everything
They wouldn’t must be the hotfoot-to for an older SSD.
Credit rating: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek
At any time when the time comes for me to replace an SSD, putting it in an enclosure and turning it into a transportable drive appears adore an glaring replacement. But I know that this selection, while convenient, comes with downsides, a few of them fairly major.
Enclosures are huge for turning a spare drive into a backup drive. Whereas using SSDs for cold storage would possibly per chance well well even be terrible, using them as portable storage is a factual manner to maintain quick gain admission to to your recordsdata. They’re no longer a region-it-and-neglect-it gain of backup, however they are a backup on the other hand, and a valuable greater one than HDDs can ever hope to be.
But the moment you build an SSD behind a USB port and connector (which is what occurs in an enclosure), you doubtlessly is also no longer playing by the identical principles. Your SSD is faced with an enormous bottleneck: the USB traditional.
So, what’s the subject with that? For starters, USB ports are huge confusing, and that would possibly per chance well gain it arduous to determine their upright capabilities. Ports would possibly per chance well well even be 5Gbps, 10Gbps, 20Gbps, or 40Gbps, depending on the applying. USB 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 4, USB-C, Thunderbolt, and so on: all of these ports personal diverse most speeds, and or no longer it’s no longer continuously attainable to expose at a sight which one you doubtlessly is also connecting to. That, on its maintain, makes it complicated to gain the most of an SSD by means of an enclosure.
It’s no longer honest confusing, either. Having a pair of ports typically capacity that they search identical, however one would possibly per chance well be rotund-featured while but any other is supposed for traditional charging or a slower mode. Using entrance panel ports, hubs, or low designate adapters throws but any other wrench into the combine.
Then there is the reliability and consolation snort. Enclosures add but any other point of failure, and you doubtlessly is also likelier to flee into uncommon points adore random disconnects during colossal transfers than while you honest employ your SSD inside the PC.
I had that particular subject no longer too manner support: an SSD that behaved perfectly inside the PC saved disconnecting while in an enclosure. That doesn’t in fact feel adore a accurate bellow to support up your recordsdata.
Sooner drives wouldn’t personal any business going into enclosures
You is also leaving money on the table.
Credit rating: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek
The subject with putting SSDs inside enclosures starts when the SSDs in examine are quick, excessive-terminate NVMe drives.
These drives are built for a PCIe slot, no longer a USB port. You paid slightly plenty of further money for the capabilities of that slot, and this day, you doubtlessly is also doubtlessly paying quite a lot of more, what with the ongoing SSD market catastrophe. PCIe Gen 5.0 SSDs can attain as much as 14,900MB/s in read speeds, and while outdated generations cap out at valuable less, all three of the most modern client PCIe gens can max out an SSD enclosure—certain, even a dear, excessive-terminate one.
Enclosures themselves personal knowledge transfer rate limits, and there would possibly be a colossal hole between what an enclosure can offer and what an costly NVMe drive can present. At greatest, costly 40Gbps enclosures can attain most speeds of around 3,600MB/s, which is around what Gen 3 NVMe SSDs max out at. Newer generations can blow these speeds upright out of the water, however when positioned in an enclosure, that doesn’t matter. They’re restricted by the enclosure itself earlier than anything else even comes into play.
And, as talked about, other components gain play a portion. A entire lot of gadgets silent don’t offer quick USB ports, and Thunderbolt strengthen is no longer universal either. Even a handy guide a rough enclosure with an even sooner SSD would possibly per chance well no longer be ample except all of the celebrities are perfectly aligned.
What to gain while you wish a handy guide a rough portable drive
There are alternate choices, however furthermore things to maintain in mind.
Credit rating: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek
“Fast” and “portable” would possibly per chance well well also no longer perfectly hotfoot hand in hand, however it with out a doubt furthermore is dependent on your wants. What’s quick for one individual would possibly per chance well well also in fact feel unhurried for but any other.
