- Helios 5S brings full PCIe enlargement to small Apple desktop methods
- The enlargement chassis helps full-height PCIe 4.0 x4 playing cards effectively
- Customers can join three 8K shows for high-end artistic workflows
The transfer to Thunderbolt 5 has pushed OWC to rethink how exterior enlargement ought to work for customers who rely on small Apple desktops.
In response, OWC has launched the Helios 5S, a brand new enlargement chassis constructed to deliver true PCI-E performance to Thunderbolt 5 Macs.
The earlier mannequin relied on Thunderbolt 3 and supplied solely a single PCIe 3.0 slot, which restricted how far customers may push high-speed playing cards.
Improved PCIe efficiency and show assist
The Helios 5S doubles the interface pace and provides new connectivity that goals to fulfill the wants of artistic groups who depend on quick storage and demanding peripherals.
The brand new chassis connects by an 80 Gb/s Thunderbolt 5 hyperlink and affords three further Thunderbolt 5 ports for daisy chaining.
OWC claims it might probably ship as much as 6,000 MB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient to run PCIe 4.0 x4 playing cards at full pace.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t assist GPUs or playing cards that require energy draw past 75 watts, which limits the sorts of upgrades attainable.
The inner PCIe 4.0 x4 slot helps full-height playing cards and goals to ship throughput ranges nearer to trendy workstations.
Customers can now run skilled seize units or exterior NVMe RAID {hardware} playing cards with out the bottlenecks that appeared on Thunderbolt 3 setups.
The expanded show assist of Thunderbolt 5 means the enclosure additionally permits as much as three 8K shows, relying on the host system’s graphics {hardware}.
The Helios 5S replaces OWC’s Mercury Helios 3S, shifting from Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 5 over USB-C, doubling the bandwidth from 40 Gb/s to 80 Gb/s.
The older mannequin had a single PCIe 3.0 slot, which was ample for average enlargement however restricted for high-performance duties.
The Helios 5S helps PCIe 4.0 x4 playing cards at full pace and provides three further Thunderbolt 5 USB-C ports, growing connectivity and exterior enlargement choices for customers of Apple’s compact desktops.
It helps three Thunderbolt 5 ports, every with 15 W energy supply, permitting as much as 120 Gb/s bandwidth for display-heavy duties.
With this connectivity, the gadget can deal with as much as three 8K displays or two at 120 Hz.
For extra connectivity choices, it helps NVMe RAID controllers, 8K seize playing cards, high-speed community adapters, and audio DSP {hardware} externally.
It additionally maintains compatibility with older Thunderbolt 4 and three Macs, in addition to USB4 PCs, providing plug-and-play operation as soon as macOS 15.3 or later is put in.
Customers working with Apple’s smaller desktops could discover the Helios 5S helpful in the event that they want card-based capabilities that macOS helps natively.
The Helios 5S is out there for $329.99 and features a Thunderbolt 5 cable and energy provide.
OWC has additionally launched the StudioStack, which brings stackable hybrid storage to Mac Studio and Mac mini methods.
The unit helps quick NVMe SSDs, massive exhausting drives, and further Thunderbolt 5 connectivity in a compact aluminum physique.
“OWC continues to set the tempo for Thunderbolt innovation,” stated Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO, Different World Computing (OWC).
“With StudioStack and Mercury Helios 5S, we’re giving creatives, enterprise professionals, and even hobbyists the instruments to not solely push efficiency additional, but in addition increase what’s attainable.”
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