ZikeTech Launches the ZikeDrive USB4 Portable SSD

[btarunr]

ZikeTech is a crowd-funded peripherals startup, which claims to have the "world's first and fastest USB4 SSD." The ZikeDrive is a portable SSD that features an extruded aluminium chassis that doubles up as a heatsink for the M.2 NVMe SSD underneath. The drive features a M.2-2280 slot with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 connection, and a bridge chip that converts this to a 40 Gbps USB4, giving it slightly more bandwidth than PCI-Express 3.0 x4 (32 Gbps). This allows a PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD to have sequential transfer speeds of up to 3.8 GB/s. The ZikeDrive starts at $99 for the bare enclosure, or with pre-installed 1 TB, 2 TB, or 4 TB drives that offer sequential speeds of up to 3763 MB/s reads, with up to 3146 MB/s writes; however, it is currently an Indiegogo project. Find more details on how to get one here.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Chaitanya]

Way too big than it needs to be.

 

[Tek-Check]

The question is which bridge chip is inside? Is there anything alongside ASM2464 or something new we have not heard of before?

 

[Iain Saturn]

$100

What the?

 

[Vayra86]

So pronounced in Dutch, this looks like and reads as 'Piss-drive' made by Piss-Tech

 

[Prima.Vera]

100$ for a case?!?!?

 

[TheLostSwede]

The question is which bridge chip is inside? Is there anything alongside ASM2464 or something new we have not heard of before?

ASMedia.

Fastest SSD Enclosure Tested: ZikeDrive Delivers 3,700 MBps via USB 4

This enclosure offers the fastest read speeds we've seen.

www.tomshardware.com

$100

What the?

Early adopter tax.

 

[thehaus]

I checked the ASMedia site for reference to the ASM2464PD and there is nothing listed. The only reference is to the ASM2464 which is a PCIe 3 x4 and not 4x4.

There is some mention by TechPowerUp and Guru3D about an announcement by ASMedia in 2022 of both the ASM2464PD and the ASM4242 which apparently are both PCIe 4x4 chip controllers. PCIe 4x4 should be twice as much data as 3x4

ASMedia to Launch USB4 Host-Controllers This Year

Taiwanese ASMedia appears to become the first peripheral chipset company to launch a USB4 host-controller chipset, based on reports from an event the company held this week. ASMedia is at least the first company to get certified by the USB-IF, as its ASM4242 host-controller is the first of its...

www.techpowerup.com

ASMedia to Launch USB4 Host-Controllers This Year

ASMedia seemsto be the first company to release a USB4 host-controller. The ASM4242 is said to have a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface and support up to 64 Gbps of bandwidth. Backwards compatible with Thunderbol...

www.guru3d.com

Based on different reviewers tests of the ZikeDrive using either the Samsung 990Pro or the WD SN850X NVMe M.2, is might closer to a PCIe 3x4 than a 4x4 controller. In one case Toms Hardware did a large file transfer test and the numbers where very close to each other:

When we copied 25GB worth of files using DiskBench, the ZikeDrive read at a rate of 1,270 MBps while the Orico delivered 1,219 MBps

Fastest SSD Enclosure Tested: ZikeDrive Delivers 3,700 MBps via USB 4

This enclosure offers the fastest read speeds we've seen.

www.tomshardware.com

We know that the Orico and the ACASIS enclosures both use the JHL7440 chip which is TB3

Has anyone visually confirmed that there is a ASMedia ASM2464PD chip in the ZikeDrive? Can anyone comment further whether this is what is claims to be on the funding site?

USB4 40Gbps Enclosure • Max 3.8GB/s Read and 3.1GB/s Write Speed • NVMe PCIe Gen 4X4 SSD

ZikeDrive World's First and Fastest USB4 SSD Drive

USB4 40Gbps Enclosure • Max 3.8GB/s Read and 3.1GB/s Write Speed • NVMe PCIe Gen 4X4 SSD | Check out 'ZikeDrive World's First and Fastest USB4 SSD Drive' on Indiegogo.

www.indiegogo.com

 

[Prima.Vera]

Am I missing something, or who has USB4 ports on their laptops, PCs, even with adapters??
Isn't this actually a Thunderbolt 3 device actually??

 

[thehaus]

Am I missing something, or who has USB4 ports on their laptops, PCs, even with adapters??
Isn't this actually a Thunderbolt 3 device actually??

The Mac mini supports both USB4 and TB4 through the USB-C plugs
Many of these external enclosures have two chipsets for backwards compatibility between TB3/4, USB 4/3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0
As far as what the enclosure has as a PCIe bus is a little unclear as there is no technical data on the ASMedia chipset yet and we are relying on a crowd fund site which states it supports PCIe 4x4. So far there is no easy way to verify the bus speed and chipsets used as everyone who apparently reviewed the unit had to sign an NDA.