Connect Three Full-height, Half-length+ PCIe Cards to Computers with Thunderbolt 3 Ports
Although thin Mac®, Windows®, and Linux® computers with Thunderbolt™ 3 ports offer processing power to spare, for many (such as pros in the creative fields) onboard processing power alone is not enough. Sonnet’s Echo™ Express SE III is a compact, desktop Thunderbolt™ 3 to PCIe card expansion system that enables you to connect three professional PCIe cards at the same time to any computer with Thunderbolt 3 ports.
This compact desktop expansion system supports three professional PCIe cards (video capture, audio interface, 6Gb or 12Gb SAS or SATA host bus adapter, 8Gb or 16Gb Fibre Channel, 10Gb or 40Gb Ethernet, or RAID controller) and connects it to your computer through a single Thunderbolt 3 cable.
Use multiple high-performance PCIe cards with any computer with a Thunderbolt 3 port.
Supports three full-height, half-length+ (up to 7.75 inches long), single-width cards, or one double-width card plus one single-width card.
Offers 2750 MB/s of PCIe bandwidth, doubling the performance capabilities of Thunderbolt 2.
Takes up little space on the desktop, but large enough to support nearly every Thunderbolt-compatible PCIe card, at full performance.
One port connects to computer; second port supports daisy-chaining of up to five additional Thunderbolt peripheral devices.
Automatically operates slower and quieter with cooler cards; provides better cooling for hotter cards.
Powers on/off automatically with the computer.
Provides robust and secure protection.
Daisy chain port provides up to 15W of power to connected peripherals.
Smaller than the 3-slot Echo Express III-D (Thunderbolt 3 Edition), the Echo Express SE III is still large enough to support nearly every Thunderbolt 3 compatible card available. With its three x8 slots, the SE III supports PCIe 3.0, PCIe 2.0, and PCIe 1.1 cards up to 7.75 inches long. Do you have a card in mind but aren’t sure it’s compatible? We’ve put together a list in our supporting PCIe Card Thunderbolt Compatibility Chart (PDF). There you’ll find cards identified as conforming to Thunderbolt technology requirements, and organized by fit and power compatibility with specific expansion system.
Echo Express SE III’s PCIe 3.0 x8 slots support three half-length+, full-height, single-width PCIe cards, or one single-width card plus one double-width card.
Some specialty cards, such as RME’s HDSPe MADI FX, Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink 4K Extreme, and the Lynx AES16e 50, include a daughter card that mates with and provides additional external connections to the main card.
1. Three PCIe 3.0 x8 slots
Sonnet includes a 0.7-meter Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) cable that supports Thunderbolt 3’s full 2750 MB/s PCIe bandwidth. Sonnet also provides a ThunderLok™ 3 Thunderbolt connector retainer clip(1) that prevents accidental cable disconnections—just slide it over one end of the cable, and then plug in the connector and secure it to the chassis by turning a thumbscrew. Because of its unique design, ThunderLok remains on the cable so it won’t get lost when not in use.
Echo Express SE III features a 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 interface, which offers double the PCIe bandwidth and connectivity of Thunderbolt 2, and yields up to 2750 MB/s of bandwidth, enabling it to support 4K video capture and processing cards at high frame rates, and 16Gb FC cards and dual-port 10GbE cards at full performance.(2)(3)
Echo Express SE III includes two Thunderbolt 3 ports; the first connects it to your computer, while the second supports daisy chaining of up to five additional Thunderbolt peripheral devices to a single port on your computer. The SE III also includes 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 support, meaning you can connect a USB device to the second port using the proper cable or adapter. For connected peripherals requiring extra power, 15 watts is provided to connected bus-powered devices. With the ability to handle multiple demanding, high performance PCIe cards, support for connecting two 4K displays @ 60Hz or one 5K display @ 60Hz(4), and support for a vast array of Thunderbolt(5) and USB(6) devices, Thunderbolt 3 is a leap forward in every way.
BLAZING PERFORMANCE
Up to Twice the Performance of Thunderbolt 2
