OWC Mercury Helios 3S Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Expansion Chassis

Overview: The OWC Mercury Helios 3S turns a single Thunderbolt port into a flexible external PCIe dock, allowing you to use full-size PCIe cards with your Mac or PC. It features dual 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 (Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt backward compatible) connectivity for high-bandwidth workflows. Use cases and flexibility: Swap PCIe cards in minutes to change the unit’s role — for example, install a PCIe audio card to capture studio-quality sound, then switch to a PCIe SSD card for fast editing and archiving. This lets you consolidate multiple specialized Thunderbolt devices into one versatile chassis. Performance and workflow benefits: The Helios 3S supports data-heavy 4K capture cards to accelerate video workflows such as vlogging, and it can boost your DAW with external DSP acceleration so you can run larger mixes with multiple plug-ins. Stream gameplay live or move large files over a 10GbE or Fibre Channel network without throttling. Thunderbolt 3 advantages: Beyond raw speed, you can daisy-chain up to five additional Thunderbolt peripherals, power a notebook with 85W, and add another 4K monitor via the DisplayPort interface to expand your desktop. Ease of use: No special software or drivers are required — just connect the Mercury Helios 3S to an available Thunderbolt 3 port with the included cable. Tool-free card changes are simple: remove two thumb screws, slide in a card, and you’re ready to work wherever your projects take you.