Sonnet's new Echo SE III T5 gives Macs three PCIe slots for $799.99, costing less than its larger desktop model, at the cost of no longer supporting full-length cards. The compact enclosure lets Mac mini, Mac Studio, and MacBook Pro users add professional hardware their computers don't have internal slots for. It connects up to three PCIe cards through a single Thunderbolt cable for specialized audio, video, networking, and storage. Sonnet introduced the larger Echo III T5 Desktop on October 14. The $1,199.99 enclosure supports PCIe cards up to 12.28 inches long and includes a 400W power supply, while the new Echo SE III T5 accommodates shorter cards up to 7.75 inches. Both systems have the same advertised aggregate PCIe bandwidth, so the main differences are physical size, supported cards, and power provision.
Each enclosure offers the same advertised 3,400 MB/s of aggregate PCIe bandwidth, but the larger model supports longer cards and has a more powerful internal power supply. The Echo SE III T5 has three PCIe 3.1 x8 slots that accept full-height, half-length+ cards. Users can install three single-width cards or one double-width card alongside a single-width card. Compatible hardware includes video capture and transcoding cards, professional audio processors, 10Gb and 25Gb Ethernet adapters, SSD storage cards, and SAS host bus adapters. The enclosure also accepts compatible PCIe 4.0, 2.0, and 1.1 cards, although its slots operate at PCIe 3.1 speeds. Sonnet rates the Echo SE III T5 at up to 3,400 MB/s of aggregate, bidirectional PCIe bandwidth when connected to a Thunderbolt 5 computer. The installed cards share the available bandwidth, so each slot doesn't get its own 3,400 MB/s. The enclosure also works with supported Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 computers, although peak throughput depends on the host connection. Mac users need macOS 15 or later, and their PCIe cards must have compatible drivers. Sonnet designed the enclosure for non-GPU PCIe cards, and buyers should verify compatibility before purchase.
Source: AppleInsider · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing