OWC Mercury Helios 3S
Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Expansion Solution
Mfr P/N: HELIOS3S OWC SKU: OWCHELIOS3S
Maximize Your PCIe Card Investment with An External PCIe Slot
- Lightning-fast 40Gbps transfer speeds: (2) Thunderbolt 3 ports
- Play your card: (1) PCIe (x16) slot for half-length, full-height, single or double-width cards
- See more: DisplayPort 1.4 for connecting up to an 8K display
- Easy card installs: No tools required
- Charge while working: 85W of notebook charging
- 3 Year OWC Limited Warranty
A New World of Expansion Flexibility
Retask Without Limits
Capture, Stream, and Share in Seconds
Pro-Level Performance Cards for Every Need
- Video capture
- Digital audio
- Solid State Drive (SSD)
- 40GbE/10GbE network adapters
- SAS controllers
- Firewire, USB, or eSATA host adapters
Add New Capabilities to Your Workflow
Plug and Play
- Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt compatibility requires a certified Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (not included). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.
Includes
- (1) OWC Mercury Helios 3S PCIe Expansion Solution
- (1) Thunderbolt Cable
- (1) External Power Supply
- (1) Power Cable
- (1) Quick Start Guide for OWC Mercury Helios 3S
- (1) Assembly Manual & User Guide for OWC Mercury Helios 3S
- 3 Year OWC Limited Warranty
Need an additional power supply? Secondary/replacement power supplies are also available.
Specs
Expansion Slots
- PCIe 3.0 interface (x4) with x16 physical slot
Device Ports
- (1) Host Port - Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) up to 40Gb/s (5000MB/s)
- (1) Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) Port
- (1) DisplayPort Port
Power Delivery
- One Thunderbolt 3 port with 85W power delivery
- One Thunderbolt 3 port with 15W power delivery
Chipset / Controller
- Thunderbolt 3: Titan Ridge (JHL7440)
Host Interface Requirements
- Thunderbolt (USB-C) port (backward compatible with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt1)
Mac OS Compatibility
- macOS 10.13 High Sierra
- macOS 10.14 Mojave
- macOS 10.15 Catalina
- macOS 11.x Big Sur
- macOS 12.x Monterey
- macOS 13.x Ventura
- macOS 14.x Sonoma
- macOS 15.x Sequoia
PC OS Compatibility
- Windows 10 64-bit Edition
- Windows Server 2016
- Windows 11
Supported PCIe Cards
- Mechanical: x16 slot and enclosure support cards up to half-length, full-height, and double-width
- Bandwidth: PCIe 3.0 x4. Cards that require a minimum of x8 or more PCIe lanes are not supported.
- GPUs not supported
- If the card requires a driver it must be Thunderbolt-aware.
- Cards that require more than 75W are not supported.
External Power Adapter
- Yes
Power Supply
- External power supply
- Need an additional power supply? Secondary/replacement power supplies are also available.
AC Input
- 100-240V, 50-60 Hz, 2.2A
DC Output
- +12V, 12.5A
Wattage
- 150W
Housing Color
- Black
Housing Material
- Aluminum
Dimensions
- Height: 8.2 cm (3.2 in)
- Length: 23.3 cm (9.2 in)
- Width: 14.3 cm (5.6 in)
Weight
- 1.6 kg (3.64 lbs)
Certifications
- CE, FCC, VCCI, RCM, BSMI
RoHS Compliant
- Yes
Reach Certification
- Yes
Country of Origin
- Taiwan
TAA Compliance
- Yes
- Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt compatibility requires a certified Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (not included). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.
- OWC Mercury Helios 3S can deliver up to 85W of power for charging via host port.
- If the PCIe card installed uses more than 25W of power, plug in the power adapter to your host.
- Full DisplayPort 1.4 capabilities including 8K resolution depends on host computer support of DisplayPort 1.4 specification through its Thunderbolt 3 connection, host computer GPU capabilities, and connecting cable capabilities.
Compatibility & Installation Videos
MacBook Pro


































Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.
MacBook Air










Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.










Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.

Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.
Mac Pro








Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.
Mac Studio



Mac mini





Requires Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) Adapter and Thunderbolt 2 cable.
PC Compatible

PC must have a compatible Thunderbolt port
Products
Videos
Learn More
Customer Reviews
Provided a unique solution to issues caused by planned obsolescence in critical system applications for Audio Interfaces and DAWs and Apple Systems and OSX versions.
I would recommend this product to a friend!
- Reviewer:claudehill-62487
Thank you for the amazing 5-star review! We're thrilled to hear that our solution helped you with your audio interface and DAW issues on Apple systems. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to assisting you with any future needs. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions, comments, or concerns. https://eshop.macsales.com/Service/
This was the most cost effective solution I could find to run my Universal Audio accelerator card. So far, there have been zero issues, and I'm very satisfied with the purchase. The Helios is attractive, well-built, and economically priced. 5 stars!
I would recommend this product to a friend!
- Reviewer:TonyC-2023
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your review. We're glad to hear that your Helios S3 has met all your expectations. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions, comments, or concerns. https://eshop.macsales.com/Service/
Very well built in Taiwan. It's quiet and works great.
I would recommend this product to a friend!
- Reviewer:garyv52
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your review. We are so glad to hear garyv52 that you are please with your OWC Mercury Helios 3S. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions, comments, or concerns. https://eshop.macsales.com/Service/