News
News Categories

Sonnet Announces Its Quietest and Most Compact Thunderbolt 2-to-PCIe Expansion Chassis

By Joy Hou - on 12 Mar 2014, 3:30pm

Sonnet Announces Its Quietest and Most Compact Thunderbolt 2-to-PCIe Expansion Chassis

Sonnet has introduced the Echo Express SEL, the latest addition to its Echo Express line of Thunderbolt 2-to-PCIe expansion systems.

Image source: Sonnet.

The SEL enables the use of a wide variety of high-performance PCIe cards, originally designed for use in desktop computers, with any Mac computer with a Thunderbolt port. The new model is the smallest and quietest Echo chassis yet, and supports one low-profile PCIe card.

Incorporating ultra-fast Thunderbolt 2 technology that delivers twice the bandwidth of Thunderbolt and provides sufficient throughput to support most high-performing PCIe cards, the new expansion chassis is suitable for use with high-bandwidth networking cards, host bus adapters, and storage interface cards, allowing them to connect with Thunderbolt-enabled iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro computers, as well as Mac Pro computers that lack PCIe expansion slots.

Also, the Echo Express SEL’s dual Thunderbolt 2 ports not only support full-bandwidth connectivity with 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2-equipped host computers, but provide full backward compatibility with 10Gbps Thunderbolt-equipped computers and devices, and support daisy-chaining of other Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt devices.

Encased in a rugged aluminum case, the SEL features an ultra-quiet, temperature-controlled fan to help keep even warm cards cool. When not needed, the fan slows down to a whisper. It ships with an 80W external power adapter, keeping the system’s energy usage low. The SEL also conserves energy by automatically powering on whenever the connected computer powers on or wakes, or powering off when the computer powers off or sleeps. Sonnet includes a cable locking mechanism that secures the Thunderbolt connectors and prevents accidental cable disconnects.

The Echo Express SEL is now available for US$399.

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.