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OWC Mercury Helios 2
Thunderbolt™ 2 Dual Slot Expansion Chassis For PCIe Cards
Thunderbolt 2 / Mac / PC
- Features one x16 PCIe 2.0 double width card slot, and one x8 PCIe 2.0 single width card slot *
- Daisy-chain support for up to five additional Thunderbolt peripherals
- Near-silent operation
- Plug and Play - no drivers needed.**
Use PCIe Expansion Cards with any Thunderbolt Equipped Mac or PC
Helios 2 is the ideal way to access up to two PCIe cards and is perfect for video capturing, video editing, media transcoding, audio
processing, ultra-fast networking, data storage, and more via its Thunderbolt interface. Get empowered with the flexibility to
upgrade the capabilities of almost any workflow and workstation.
Install Two PCIe Cards + Daisy Chain
Helios 2 features one half-length (up to 7.75"), full-height, double-width x16 PCIe 2.0 slot and one half-length (up to 7.75"), full-height, single-width x8 PCIe 2.0 slot to provide a vast array of expansion options.
- Two PCIe card slots + daughter card support
- Two Thunderbolt 2 ports
- Thunderbolt daisy-chain six devices plus a display
Thunderbolt Performance Juggernaut
The Helios 2 is the perfect solution to enhance and expand the computing capabilities of any Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2
equipped Mac Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac laptop, or PC. Utilizing Thunderbolt high-performance technology, Helios 2 is a tour
de force that provides the flexibility to use a multitude of PCIe cards with the bandwidth to support their capabilities.
- Up to 20Gb/s performance
- Perfect for HD/4K video workflows
- Perfect for 10Gb/s networking interfaces
- Perfect for Pro Audio workflows
- Perfect for Ultra-Fast Datasets + Storage
Durable, Cool, and at the Ready
A whisper quiet variable speed fan keeps the inside of the Helios 2's durable aluminum ventilated chassis running cool.
It automatically powers on/off with your computer, so it's at the ready whenever you are.
Lock It Up
Let's face it, you have PCIe cards because they serve an important workflow need. Helios 2 comes with a Thunderbolt
cable lock that prevents accidental cable pulls from stopping your work in progress — ensuring your PCIe
cards and daisy-chained Thunderbolt devices stay connected.
* Thunderbolt limits PCIe x8 and x16 cards to x4 data lanes.
Includes
- OWC Mercury Helios 2 PCIe Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis
- High-Quality, Certified, Double-Shielded 1 Meter Thunderbolt cable
- Helios 2 Thunderbolt cable locking bracket (not compatible with optical Thunderbolt cables)
- External auto-switching 100/240v 50/60Hz power adapter 12V/7A
- Mercury Helios 2 Assembly Manual & User Guide (View PDF 4.04 MB)
- OWC 3 Year Solution Warranty with 48-Hour Turnaround Time
Gallery
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Product Specifications:
System Requirements
- Software
- OS
- OS X 10.9 or later
- Windows 7 SP1 or later
- Note: Boot Camp is not supported
- Driver
- Driver not required
- OS
- Hardware
- Minimum Requirements
- Mac or PC featuring Thunderbolt interface
- Recommended (Best performance)
- Mac or PC featuring Thunderbolt 2 interface
- Minimum Requirements
- Bootability
- OS X (requires installed PCIe card be bootable)
Interface
- (2) Thunderbolt 20Gb/s
Device Interface
- PCIe (PCI Express)
PCIe Card Support
- (1) PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode) half-length (up to 7.75"), full-height, single- or double-width
- (1) PCIe 2.0 x8 (x4 mode) half-length (up to 7.75"), full-height, single-width
- Note: PCIe card must operate with no driver or have a Thunderbolt-aware driver. Please see the OWC PCIe Thunderbolt card compatibility chart for more information.
Performance
- Thunderbolt 2 - 20Gb/sec
- Note: Speeds will vary based on setup, configuration, and other environmental factors
Power
- PCIe card minimum guaranteed power
- 25W (slot)
- Power Supply
- External UL-listed, universal auto-switching
- AC input: 100 ~ 240V, 2.0A, 50-60Hz
- DC output: 12V, 7A
- Adapter plugs for international use sold separately
Product Manual
- Mercury Helios 2 Assembly Manual & User Guide (View PDF 4.04 MB)
Dimensions
- Height: 4.6 in (11.7 cm)
- Width: 6.0 in (15.2 cm)
- Length: 11.0 in (27.9 cm)
Weight
- 3.7 lb. (1.7 kg)
Operating Environment:
Environmental (Operating)
- Temperature (°F) 32° to 95°
- Temperature (°C) 0° to 35°
Environmental (Non-Operating)
- Temperature (°F) -40° to 149°
- Temperature (°C) -40° to 65°
Warranty
3 Year OWC Helios Limited Warranty
The best warranty is one you never have to use, but should the need occur, we're proud to provide a superior level of support and service coverage to our customers. OWC and NewerTech storage solutions come fully backed by an Industry-leading 48-hour turnaround time, for complete peace of mind ownership confidence.
View more information about the 3 Year OWC Helios Limited Warranty
- Windows requires a Thunderbolt 2 interface in the computer and in the expansion chassis to support more than two PCIe controllers. Note that some PCIe cards have a bridge to multiple controllers, so it is possible for a single dual-controller PCIe card to reach the limit if not connected via Thunderbolt 2. Not all Mac-compatible PCIe cards are also compatible with Windows. See the PCIe Card Thunderbolt Compatibility Chart for details.
Compatability:
Compatible with the following Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 equipped computers:
Learn how to find your Mac's model ID
Learn how to find your Mac's model ID
Mac Pro
(December, 2013)
Model ID: MacPro6,1
2.7GHz 3.0GHz, 3.5GHz, 3.7GHz
iMac w/Retina 5K display
(27-inch Mid 2015)
(27-inch Mid 2015)
(May 2015)
Model ID: iMac15,1
3.3GHz i5, 3.5GHz i5, 4.0GHz i7
iMac with Retina 5K display (27-inch Late 2014)
(October 2014)
Model ID: iMac15,1
3.5GHz i5, 4.0GHz i7
iMac (27-inch Late 2013)
(September, 2013)
Model ID: iMac14,2
3.2GHz i5, 3.4GHz i5, 3.5GHz i7
iMac (21.5-inch Late 2013)
(September, 2013)
Model ID: iMac14,1; iMac14,3
2.7GHz i5, 2.9GHz i5, 3.1GHz i7
iMac (27-inch Late 2012)
(November, 2012)
Model ID: iMac13,2
2.9GHz i5, 3.2GHz i5, 3.4GHz i7
iMac (21.5-inch Late 2012)
(November, 2012)
Model ID: iMac13,1
2.7GHz i5, 2.9GHz i5, 3.1GHz i7
iMac (21.5-inch Late 2011)
(August, 2011)
Model ID: iMac12,1
3.1GHz i3
iMac (27-inch Mid 2011)
(May, 2011)
Model ID: iMac12,2
2.7GHz i5, 3.1GHz i5, 3.4GHz i7
iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011)
(May, 2011)
Model ID: iMac12,1
2.5GHz i5, 2.7GHz i5, 2.8GHz i7
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina Display 2013)
(October, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookPro11,2
2.0GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch Retina Display 2013)
(October, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookPro11,1
2.4GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.9GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina Display 2013)
(January, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,1
2.4GHz, 2.7GHz, 2.8GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch Retina Display 2013)
(January, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,2
2.5GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.9GHz, 3.0GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch Retina Display 2012-2013)
(October, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,2
2.5GHz, 2.9GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina Display 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,1
2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.7GHz
MacBook Pro (17-inch Early 2011)
(February, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookPro8,3
2.2GHz, 2.3GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookPro9,1
2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.7GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch 2011)
(October, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookPro8,2
2.2GHz, 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011)
(February, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookPro8,2
2.0GHz, 2.2GHz, 2.3GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch 2011)
(October, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookPro8,1
2.4GHz, 2.8GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011)
(February, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookPro8,1
2.3GHz, 2.7GHz
MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2013)
(June, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookAir6,2
1.3GHz, 1.7GHz
MacBook Air (11-inch Mid 2013)
(June, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookAir6,1
1.3GHz, 1.7GHz
MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookAir5,2
1.8GHz, 2.0GHz
MacBook Air (11-inch Mid 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookAir5,1
1.7GHz, 2.0GHz
MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2011)
(July, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookAir4,2
1.7GHz, 1.8GHz
MacBook Air (11-inch Mid 2011)
(July, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookAir4,1
1.6GHz, 1.8GHz
Mac mini (Late 2014)
(October, 2014)
Model ID: Macmini7,1
1.4GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.8GHz, 3.0GHz
Mac mini (Late 2012)
(October, 2012)
Model ID: Macmini6,1 & Macmini6,2
2.3GHz, 2.5GHz, 2.6GHz
Mac mini (Mid 2011)
(July, 2011)
Model ID: Macmini5,1 & Macmini5,2
2.3GHz, 2.5GHz, 2.7GHz
PC Desktops
Compatible with Intel / AMD Process based PCs capable with
the specifications listed above.
-
"...the OWC Helios + Mercury Accelsior combination handily outperforms the internal Apple 512GB SSD by a very large margin..."
— Lloyd Chambers, DigLloyd Mac Performance Guide
-
"...we were very impressed with the speeds... ...Helios and Thunderbolt come together like fish in water. ...deserving of our Innovation Award!"
— Les Tokar, The SSD Review
-
"The combo of the Helios and the Accelsior was "lethal." It matched the speed of the fastest Thunderbolt storage devices we've tested."
— Rob Art Morgan, Bare Feats - 120GB
-
"The Best of Thunderbolt's Potential ...the benefit of the unit is priceless."
— Jim Tanous, The Mac Observer
-
"...very impressive... robust... enabled us to achieve data transfer rates as fast as an internally-mounted SSD..."
— Justin King, MacNN
-
"...brought our MacBook Pro to performance levels we've never seen before. ...well constructed... well designed..."
— Tom Nelson, About.com
-
"With a Thunderbolt 2.0 Expansion Chassis like the Mercury Helios 2 coupled with fast flash storage cards like the OWC Mercury Accelsiors_E2s, the improved real world performance of the Thunderbolt 2.0 interface can be clearly demonstrated."
— Rob-Art Morgan, Bare Feats
Customer Ratings
OWC
Mercury Helios 2
Mfr P/N: HELIOS2TB2
OWC SKU: OWCHELIOS2TB2
Thunderbolt™ 2 Dual Slot Expansion Chassis For PCIe Cards with Dual Thunderbolt™ 2 Ports. 1M High Quality Thunderbolt™ 2 Cable Included.
3 Year OWC Limited Warranty
