Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware, Installation
The SilverStone TS16 is a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C NVMe / SATA M.2 SSD external docking station. The TS16 is generally small in size with dimensions of 107.9mm in width, 17.48mm in height, and 42mm in depth like other external M.2 solutions from SilverStone. When it comes to appearance, the SilverStone TS16 is clean looking with a sleek black aluminum finish. You do not have to worry about leaving fingerprints on this device because of the aluminum build. The SilverStone logo can be seen on the side along with the product name and some certifications. A white sticker is also attached inside, listing the product number and code.
As this is a docking station, the TS16 does not take heat dissipation into account. Rather, the open area around the drive ensures anything that has a cooling solution will still fit here. The TS16 does account for different NVMe sizes though, being capable of fitting M.2 drives with lengths of 80mm, 60mm, or 42mm. There are labels beside each mounting slot to help indicate where the rubber stopper should be placed based on the size of the drive. The TS16 has a transfer rate of 10Gbps or 1250MB/s, which is slower than the MS12. I am a bit surprised we do not see the faster USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface here, as that supports double the transfer rates at up to 20Gbps. We will see how this translates into our performance tests when we benchmark this docking station later on in our review. The SilverStone TS16 is compatible with both NVMe M.2 and SATA M.2 drives.
Installing an SSD into the SilverStone TS16 was a simple and straightforward process. For testing, I decided to go with the previously reviewed Patriot P400 1TB. Installation is a two-step process, where you first slot your drive into the M.2 slot. The second and final step is to use one of the provided rubber cylindrical bumpers to hold the SSD in place. With the rubber stop, the drive will be very snug when installed, so users need not worry about the drive falling out.
There is a power switch that must be pressed in order to allow data to be transferred between the drive and your external device. The LED beside the power switch will indicate three modes: A solid white light will indicate the SilverStone TS16 is on and a connection between your drive and the computer has been established, solid red light will indicate the docking station is turned off and there is no connection, and a blinking white light means that data is being accessed from the drive. I like the addition of this LED, as it gives visual status indication.
Our test configuration is as follows:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
CPU Cooling: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB
Motherboard: MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk
RAM: Thermaltake TOUGHRAM XG RGB DDR4-4000 2x8GB
Graphics: EVGA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 TI
Chassis: Corsair 5000D
Power: SilverStone Decathlon DA850 Gold 850W
Storage: Patriot P400 1TB, Samsung EVO 970 1TB, Lexar NQ100 480GB
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware, Installation
3. Benchmark: ATTO Disk Benchmark
4. Benchmark: Crystal Disk Mark 8.0
5. Conclusion
