OWC Envoy Express Thunderbolt NVMe Enclosure vs Samsung 990 PRO Heatsink SSD 4TB NVMe M.2

Both have 0 GB memory, so bandwidth decides. Samsung 990 PRO Heatsink SSD 4TB NVMe M.2's 0 GB/s vs 0 GB/s translates directly to more tokens per second at equivalent model sizes.

Neither is optimised for image generation, but Samsung 990 PRO Heatsink SSD 4TB NVMe M.2's 0 GB/s bandwidth makes generation faster. Both run SDXL via Metal (macOS) or ROCm (Linux). Expect slower generation times than a discrete GPU.

Both draw around 999W at peak load.

Both products are closely matched. Your choice should come down to price, ecosystem preference, and the specific models you plan to run.

Q1Which runs Ollama faster — OWC Envoy Express Thunderbolt NVMe Enclosure or Samsung 990 PRO Heatsink SSD 4TB NVMe M.2?

OWC Envoy Express Thunderbolt NVMe Enclosure runs Ollama faster. Its 0 GB/s memory bandwidth vs 0 GB/s means faster token generation — roughly — more tokens/second on the same model. On Llama 3.1 8B, expect around 0 tok/s vs 0 tok/s.

Q2Can either mini PC run Llama 3 70B?

Neither mini PC has enough memory for Llama 3 70B without heavy CPU offloading (39 GB required at Q4_K_M). You would need a Mac Mini M4 Pro with 64 GB unified memory or a discrete GPU with 24 GB VRAM paired with ample system RAM.

Q3Which is better value for local AI in 2026?

OWC Envoy Express Thunderbolt NVMe Enclosure offers better performance-per-dollar for AI workloads due to its 0 GB/s bandwidth advantage. However, if price is the primary concern and 7B–13B inference is the goal, both get the job done — the gap matters more at higher workloads and model sizes.

Q4Which has better software support for local AI?

Both run Ollama well. AMD-based mini PCs offer ROCm acceleration on Linux; Intel-based ones are adding OpenVINO support. macOS Apple Silicon has the most polished Ollama experience.