Question Is it worth getting a T5 or a DIY external M.2

[Tomhueb]

I can buy a T5 for $149 (500GB)
https://www.umart.com.au/Samsung-500GB-T5-External-SSD---Metallic-Red_50921G.html

Or i can buy a crucial M.2 (500GB) for $100 and an enclosure for $30.

Is it worth going with a DIY external m.2 or a samsung T5 SSD?

 

[RayOfDark]

I bought a WD Blue 1TB M.2 SATA SSD and USB 3.0 UASP enclosure a few weeks ago for under £100 here in the UK. Putting your own DIY version together will nearly always be cheaper.

UASP support by the enclosure is quite important as it allows any compatible PC (which is most nowadays) to see the SSD as a SCSI-attached device giving much better transfer rates than standard USB 3.0 mode.

I'm getting around 450MB/s reads and 350MB/s writes, so not quite as fast as the T5 but at a fraction of the cost per GB. If it's talking to an HDD, it's the HDD that'll be the bottleneck by far anyway.

Shop around. I'm sure you can do 500GB for way less than $130 and still come close to the performance of the T5.

 

[Tomhueb]

Yeah i live in Australia so its hard. $100 is the best price I can find for a M.2 crucial 500gb. Also how long do a DIY M.2 and the T5 last for