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Go to: Specification | Performance | Conclusion

Storage giant Western Digital recently bolstered its premium solid-state drive (SSD) lineup by introducing the WD Black SN850X.

Considered a substantial improvement over the SN850 launched in November 2020, X-suffix models stand out for improving performance in every meaningful metric, while also offering a 4TB version previously unavailable. Without further ado, let’s dig right in.

Specifications:

WD Black SN850X 1TB 2TB 4TB
controller WD Black G2 WD Black G2 WD Black G2
NAND SanDisk TLC SanDisk TLC SanDisk TLC
drama LPDDR4 LPDDR4 LPDDR4
Couple PCIe 4.0 x4 PCIe 4.0 x4 PCIe 4.0 x4
Sequential read speed (MB/s) 7,300 7,300 7,300
Sequential Write Speed ​​(MB/s) 6.300 6.600 6.600
Random Read IOPS (K) 800 1200 1200
Random Write IOPS (K) 1,100 1,100 1,100
form factor M.2 M.2 M.2
Endurance (TBW) 600 1200 2,400
Hardware encryption no no no
Heat sink and RGB version Yes Yes no
MSRP £158 £304 £671

WD is known for being reluctant to reveal fine-grained details about controller and NAND. From what we can gather, the SN850X still uses the powerful, internal G2 controller, further optimized to unlock performance, but this time it joins the faster NAND from subsidiary SanDisk. While still based on triple-level cell (TLC) ubiquitous in the industry, the SN850’s 96-layer ICs have been replaced by 112-layer BiCS 5, offering more intrinsic performance.

The pinnacle of this controller and NAND clutch is WD Black’s fastest consumer drive to date. Running on the established PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, the peak reads sequential inches up to 7,300 MB/s, but it’s sequential writes that deliver the greatest immediate benefit. You may recall that the SN850 maxes out at 5,300 MB/s, which puts it behind the competition, and WD Black gives it right at up to 6,600 MB/s.

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And general improvements, of course, continue up to IOPS, where the previous benchmark of 1,000K/720K read/write is crushed by SN850X’s 1,200/1,100. The two top-performing WD consumer M.2 drives share most of their name, but make no mistake, the company realizes it needs to up the game to stave off Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate FireCuda 530 and Kingston KC3000, all of which have eclipsed the original SN850 levels.

Evaluated on a capacity-to-capacity basis, endurance remains the same as SN850. That’s okay, because 1,200 TBW for the 2TB model equates to about 0.33 writes per day (DWPD) over the five-year warranty period, but keep in mind that competitors like the aforementioned FireCuda deliver more than twice as much. .

High-performance SSDs usually come with built-in cache rather than relying on Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology found on mainstream drives like the SN770. To that end, the DRAM scales with capacity, and our 2TB model has a robust 2GB needed to store card tables that track data movement efficiently.

There’s no hardware encryption — not a huge miss on consumer drives — but WD does have a neat trick up its sleeve.

The latest WD Management Dashboard software offers a Gaming Mode 2.0 setting for enhanced gaming performance. Setting it to Auto, as we did above, will only enable the mode for games selected by adding specific folders to the watchlist. By doing this, WD says, it leaves it out for regular tasks.

Game Mode itself speeds up game loading through ‘intelligent prediction’, but the effect is not significant. Measured against the Final Fantasy Endwalker benchmark, its implementation is only 0.21 sec shorter than its nine second load time.

Dashboard is also useful for updating firmware at the click of a button, monitoring temperature and measuring performance. Definitely one of the better SSD companion software, visual and usable.

The chip density is such that only one side is used for our 2TB rating model. The four-chip solution includes SanDisk’s controller — peeking out to the right — Micron DRAM and two SanDisk NAND chips with 1 TB each. Uncomplicated and no-nonsense.

1 TB and 2 TB models each have an optional version, complete with a pre-fitted heat sink and RGB lighting; they typically cost £20 more and are useful for cases where motherboard cooling isn’t up to par. The 4TB model, on the other hand, is only available as a bare drive. WD recommends using heatsink-clad models for expanding PlayStation 5 storage, though the SN850 remains the only officially licensed option for Sony’s console.

Our trusty AMD Ryzen 9 5950X test platform has been busy running the numbers, so let’s see how the latest WD compares.

Transfer rate

Six of the eight drives shown use a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface for increased transfer bandwidth. The SN850X does not reach the maximum 7,300 MB/s stated by WD, but peak speeds are often determined by the platform. Nevertheless, since all eight have been tested on the same Ryzen 9 5950X machine, the SN850X starts out in the mid-range package.

An important improvement over the regular SN850 is the writing speed. WD Black SN850X offers a linear 6.6 GB/sec and jumps to the higher regions.

Performance in small file sizes is not as robust, according to CrystalDiskMark. It’s not bad, of course, but there are better options if your workload requires constantly moving thousands of files.

Gaming

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Positioning is everything. WD is promoting Black SN850X as a great choice for the gamer and content creator, and we can’t argue with the top-notch performance on display. Note that these results come with Game Mode 2.0 set to automatic, but disabling it had little effect on performance.

Making it a clean run of gaming-focused benchmarks, the SN850X succeeds in its primary goal of being an ultra-fast solution to suit a high-end build.

Professional applications

Tests get stricter as we move further down the page. SPECworkstation is a good indicator of how well drives are suited for demanding workloads used in professional environments. A turnkey solution that is capable in every area so far.

Input/output operations per second

Iometer really lies on the pain and is a fantastic tool to evaluate storage. We chose to run the thousands of ways configurable 4K test with 50 percent read, 50 percent write, and 100 percent random access.

Starting with mid-pack, the SN850X gets better incrementally as queue depth – in other words complexity – increases, leading to best-in-class numbers in the final chart.

Testing Torture

Running the consistency test of 12 hours of driving brings no surprises. A significant step forward from the WD Black SN770 and in a different league from entry-level drives such as the WD Blue SN570.

One drawback of running high throughput applications and the lack of a baked-in heat sink – at least on this model – is high peak temperatures. WD doesn’t bother with graphene stickers and such, and at 73°C on a hot day we don’t worry about the health of the drive, especially as WD has extended the operating range from 70°C to 85°C for the SN850X.

Conclusion

WD has been acutely appreciative of the need for its enthusiastic WD Black line of SSDs to keep abreast of modern advancements by offering class-matched performance and features. As competitors have released faster drives that saturate the PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 interface, WD’s response comes late, but it’s worth the wait.

A trio of WD Black SN850X SSDs improve on their non-X predecessors in ways that matter. Write speed, IOPS and overall application performance increase significantly, there is now a 4TB option and our results show an SN850X 2TB model on average to combine it with the very best available.

The drive’s pedigree shines through in gaming duties, where it wins every benchmark, and we have little qualms about recommending it for enthusiast builds this generation or the next.

Pricing is often a concern during a product’s initial launch, but now available for ~£300, WD’s asking price isn’t a million miles away from premium comparisons like the Samsung 980 Pro and Seagate FireCuda 530. It’s fair to say the rating expected model will drop 10 percent in the coming months, putting it on par for the inevitable onslaught of PCIe 5.0 models.

WD succeeds in its ambition to lure PC gamers and enthusiasts away from other brands that use the premium SSD space for consumers. Want a no-nonsense, big-name SSD that will ridicule most benchmarks? WD Black SN850X 2TB fits well with that.

WD Black SN850X 2TB

verdict: Competing with the best consumer SSDs available, the WD Black SN850X is another good contender.

Club386 Recommended

Pros

Impressive performance
Big name brand
4TB capacity option
PS5 Compatible

To buy

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