• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Western Digital Unveils WD Blue SN550 M.2 NVMe SSD

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,387 (7.67/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Western Digital unveiled the WD Blue SN550 line of M.2 NVMe SSDs. A successor to the WD Blue SN500, the SN550 is updated with a new controller that utilizes PCI-Express 3.0 x4 (compared to just x2 on the SN500). Designed in-house by WD and SanDisk, the controller is based on the same architecture as the one that drives the WD Black SN750, but is DRAM-less, and has fewer flash channels. Speaking of which, WD deployed 96-layer 3D TLC NAND flash, and wants the drive to compete in pricing with QLC NAND-based drives such as the Crucial P1. The 250 GB variant is priced at USD $54, the 500 GB variant $65, and the 1 TB variant $99.

All three variants take advantage of the increased PCIe bandwidth to offer sequential read speeds of up to 2,400 MB/s (the SN500 capped out at 1,700 MB/s). Write speeds vary, with the 250 GB variant offering up to 950 MB/s, the 500 GB variant up to 1,750 MB/s, and the 1 TB variant up to 1,950 MB/s. Endurance figures (TBW) of the three variants are rated at 150 TB for the 250 GB variant, 300 TB for the 500 GB variant, and 600 TB for the 1 TB variant. An interesting design choice with these drives is pushing the NAND flash chip and the controller as far apart on the PCB as possible, for less concentration of heat. All three models are backed by 5-year warranties.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Oct 30, 2008
Messages
1,758 (0.31/day)
System Name Lailalo
Processor Ryzen 9 5900X Boosts to 4.95Ghz
Motherboard Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus (WIFI
Cooling Noctua
Memory 32GB DDR4 3200 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s) XFX 7900XT 20GB
Storage Samsung 970 Pro Plus 1TB, Crucial 1TB MX500 SSD, Segate 3TB
Display(s) LG Ultrawide 29in @ 2560x1080
Case Coolermaster Storm Sniper
Power Supply XPG 1000W
Mouse G602
Keyboard G510s
Software Windows 10 Pro / Windows 10 Home
Dramless or not, TLC trying to compete with QLC in pricing is good for all. Now if only capacities over 1TB would get decent prices.
 
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
8,118 (2.27/day)
Location
SE Michigan
System Name Dumbass
Processor AMD Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF gaming B650
Cooling Artic Liquid Freezer 2 - 420mm
Memory G.Skill Sniper 32gb DDR5 6000
Video Card(s) GreenTeam 4070 ti super 16gb
Storage Samsung EVO 500gb & 1Tb, 2tb HDD, 500gb WD Black
Display(s) 1x Nixeus NX_EDG27, 2x Dell S2440L (16:9)
Case Phanteks Enthoo Primo w/8 140mm SP Fans
Audio Device(s) onboard (realtek?) - SPKRS:Logitech Z623 200w 2.1
Power Supply Corsair HX1000i
Mouse Steeseries Esports Wireless
Keyboard Corsair K100
Software windows 10 H
Benchmark Scores https://i.imgur.com/aoz3vWY.jpg?2
5 year warranty i like :respect:
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2013
Messages
2,180 (0.53/day)
Location
Deez Nutz, bozo!
System Name Rainbow Puke Machine :D
Processor Intel Core i5-11400 (MCE enabled, PL removed)
Motherboard ASUS STRIX B560-G GAMING WIFI mATX
Cooling Corsair H60i RGB PRO XT AIO + HD120 RGB (x3) + SP120 RGB PRO (x3) + Commander PRO
Memory Corsair Vengeance RGB RT 2 x 8GB 3200MHz DDR4 C16
Video Card(s) Zotac RTX2060 Twin Fan 6GB GDDR6 (Stock)
Storage Corsair MP600 PRO 1TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD
Display(s) LG 29WK600-W Ultrawide 1080p IPS Monitor (primary display)
Case Corsair iCUE 220T RGB Airflow (White) w/Lighting Node CORE + Lighting Node PRO RGB LED Strips (x4).
Audio Device(s) ASUS ROG Supreme FX S1220A w/ Savitech SV3H712 AMP + Sonic Studio 3 suite
Power Supply Corsair RM750x 80 Plus Gold Fully Modular
Mouse Corsair M65 RGB FPS Gaming (White)
Keyboard Corsair K60 PRO RGB Mechanical w/ Cherry VIOLA Switches
Software Windows 11 Professional x64 (Update 23H2)
1TB for $99 is quite competitive. The 5-year warranty & 600TBW endurance makes it very compelling to get it as both boot drive & game drive.
 
Joined
Nov 20, 2012
Messages
422 (0.10/day)
Location
Hungary
System Name masina
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard ASUS TUF B550M
Cooling Scythe Kabuto 3 + Arctic BioniX P120 fan
Memory 16GB (2x8) DDR4-3200 CL16 Crucial Ballistix
Video Card(s) Radeon Pro WX 2100 2GB
Storage 500GB Crucial MX500, 640GB WD Black
Display(s) AOC C24G1
Case SilentiumPC AT6V
Power Supply Seasonic Focus GX 650W
Mouse Logitech G203
Keyboard Cooler Master MasterKeys L PBT
Software Win 10 Pro
Dramless or not, TLC trying to compete with QLC in pricing is good for all. Now if only capacities over 1TB would get decent prices.

You are only paying for that WD badge here to be honest.

Kingston A2000 is TLC, with DRAM cache.

250GB - $39.99
500GB - $59.99
1TB - $109.99 (whenever its in stock...)
 
Joined
Sep 20, 2018
Messages
1,444 (0.71/day)
Dramless or not, TLC trying to compete with QLC in pricing is good for all. Now if only capacities over 1TB would get decent prices.
1TB for $99 is quite competitive. The 5-year warranty & 600TBW endurance makes it very compelling to get it as both boot drive & game drive.
Not only that, but its also a 96 layer TLC nand which currently only being used on expensive PCIe gen 4 NVMe drives. Cool stuff !
 
Joined
May 2, 2005
Messages
94 (0.01/day)
System Name Dell Precison 7720 Mobile Workstation
Processor Xeon E3-1535M v6
Motherboard Dell
Memory 48GB ECC
Video Card(s) Quadro P5000
Storage 2+2+4TB SSD
Display(s) 4k IPS
Software Win10 Pro
Give me a 4TB option like Sabrent and i am in.
 
Joined
Feb 20, 2019
Messages
7,305 (3.86/day)
System Name Bragging Rights
Processor Atom Z3735F 1.33GHz
Motherboard It has no markings but it's green
Cooling No, it's a 2.2W processor
Memory 2GB DDR3L-1333
Video Card(s) Gen7 Intel HD (4EU @ 311MHz)
Storage 32GB eMMC and 128GB Sandisk Extreme U3
Display(s) 10" IPS 1280x800 60Hz
Case Veddha T2
Audio Device(s) Apparently, yes
Power Supply Samsung 18W 5V fast-charger
Mouse MX Anywhere 2
Keyboard Logitech MX Keys (not Cherry MX at all)
VR HMD Samsung Oddyssey, not that I'd plug it into this though....
Software W10 21H1, barely
Benchmark Scores I once clocked a Celeron-300A to 564MHz on an Abit BE6 and it scored over 9000.
Gah, they've taken a perfect design for high-density M.2 2242 and wasted it on 2280 design "for heat"

There are plenty of laptops crying out for high-density, single-sided M.2 2242 but currently limited to 500GB because of the form-factor.
 
Joined
Nov 6, 2016
Messages
1,575 (0.58/day)
Location
NH, USA
System Name Lightbringer
Processor Ryzen 7 2700X
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X470-F Gaming
Cooling Enermax Liqmax Iii 360mm AIO
Memory G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32GB (8GBx4) 3200Mhz CL 14
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX 5700XT Nitro+
Storage Hp EX950 2TB NVMe M.2, HP EX950 1TB NVMe M.2, Samsung 860 EVO 2TB
Display(s) LG 34BK95U-W 34" 5120 x 2160
Case Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic (White)
Power Supply BeQuiet Straight Power 11 850w Gold Rated PSU
Mouse Glorious Model O (Matte White)
Keyboard Royal Kludge RK71
Software Windows 10
1TB for $99 is quite competitive. The 5-year warranty & 600TBW endurance makes it very compelling to get it as both boot drive & game drive.

Not as much as you would think, I just bought the HP EX950 1TB for $118, and it's sequential r/w are 3,500/2900...and it's random are basically on par with the Sx8200 Pro.... So for $18 more than this WD drive, you can buy one that blows it out of the water at the same capacity... I feel like most people who do just a bit of research would think the $18 worth it
 
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
98 (0.02/day)
Not as much as you would think, I just bought the HP EX950 1TB for $118, and it's sequential r/w are 3,500/2900...and it's random are basically on par with the Sx8200 Pro.... So for $18 more than this WD drive, you can buy one that blows it out of the water at the same capacity... I feel like most people who do just a bit of research would think the $18 worth it

link?
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2019
Messages
393 (0.24/day)
Location
NYC, NY
I can't personally desire anything less than 2TB nowadays.

But considering Saumsung has put two 4TB SSDs on the market, I'd prefer if these manufacturers target 1TB, 2TB and 4TB.
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2013
Messages
2,180 (0.53/day)
Location
Deez Nutz, bozo!
System Name Rainbow Puke Machine :D
Processor Intel Core i5-11400 (MCE enabled, PL removed)
Motherboard ASUS STRIX B560-G GAMING WIFI mATX
Cooling Corsair H60i RGB PRO XT AIO + HD120 RGB (x3) + SP120 RGB PRO (x3) + Commander PRO
Memory Corsair Vengeance RGB RT 2 x 8GB 3200MHz DDR4 C16
Video Card(s) Zotac RTX2060 Twin Fan 6GB GDDR6 (Stock)
Storage Corsair MP600 PRO 1TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD
Display(s) LG 29WK600-W Ultrawide 1080p IPS Monitor (primary display)
Case Corsair iCUE 220T RGB Airflow (White) w/Lighting Node CORE + Lighting Node PRO RGB LED Strips (x4).
Audio Device(s) ASUS ROG Supreme FX S1220A w/ Savitech SV3H712 AMP + Sonic Studio 3 suite
Power Supply Corsair RM750x 80 Plus Gold Fully Modular
Mouse Corsair M65 RGB FPS Gaming (White)
Keyboard Corsair K60 PRO RGB Mechanical w/ Cherry VIOLA Switches
Software Windows 11 Professional x64 (Update 23H2)
all options will be put into consideration. HP ones? Unlikely coz it's gonna be a hunt for their drives unless I can source them. So, WD ones would do the job.
 
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
98 (0.02/day)
kewl, in europe we have a thing called tax...

cheapest here is around 150€ which is in adata sx8200 pro range.
 
Top