WD Black NVMe SSD (2018) 500 GB

[W1zzard]

WD Black NVMe is Western Digital's premium M.2 SSD for demanding gamers and enthusiasts. It uses an 8-channel SSD controller paired with SanDisk 3D TLC flash. Priced at $105 for the reviewed 500 GB version, it comes at reasonable pricing, and offers outstanding performance.

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[kid41212003]

I have this and the 1TB 970Evo. I upgraded from the 500GB 860Evo, and I noticed zero difference in my usages. I feel that most people would be more happy with a regular 2TB sata SSD than an Nvme.

 

[shilka]

I have this and the 1TB 970Evo. I upgraded from the 500GB 860Evo, and I noticed zero difference in my usages. I feel that most people would be more happy with a regular 2TB sata SSD than an Nvme.

NVME drives are not really faster than AHCI drives when it comes to loading times in games

As you said a 2,5 inch SATA with more space is a better idea

 

[bug]

I have this and the 1TB 970Evo. I upgraded from the 500GB 860Evo, and I noticed zero difference in my usages. I feel that most people would be more happy with a regular 2TB sata SSD than an Nvme.

I'm with you. But people see the advertised sequential speeds on NVMe drive and think "hey, even if it's not 5x as fast as advertised, it must at least 2-3x faster". It's not.

Just like people look at the drives throttling and automatically go "deceptive advertising". But never really think "how often do I move GB of data around?" Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's not that often. I mean, this is probably the fastest throttling drive I have seen and it's in the first half of most charts. Hell, it even aces two of the tests.

 

[newtekie1]

Just like people look at the drives throttling and automatically go "deceptive advertising". But never really think "how often do I move GB of data around?" Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's not that often. I mean, this is probably the fastest throttling drive I have seen and it's in the first half of most charts. Hell, it even aces two of the tests.

I'd be more annoyed with the only 6GB of SLC cache than I would with thermal throttling. IMO, 16GB is a better size.

 

[TheLostSwede]

High-end NVMe drives are better for certain things, like working with big images or video files, as well as with large amounts of smaller files (assuming the controller and flash has been optimised for it, as it doesn't apply to all drives).
I keep my OS and key software on my NVMe drive and all my games on a SATA SSD.

 

[bug]

I'd be more annoyed with the only 6GB of SLC cache than I would with thermal throttling. IMO, 16GB is a better size.

That's what I was talking about. But you can't really separate them, you have to account for both - because there are use cases where they can hurt, they're just not common at home.

High-end NVMe drives are better for certain things, like working with big images or video files, as well as with large amounts of smaller files (assuming the controller and flash has been optimised for it, as it doesn't apply to all drives).
I keep my OS and key software on my NVMe drive and all my games on a SATA SSD.

For working with large files, see the above - they can be better, but you have to make sure they don't throttle all the time while doing what you need. For small files, afaik the better NVMe drives can be almost 50% faster than AHCI at 4k QD1 random reads. But there are NVMe drives that aren't much faster at all in this scenario.
So yeah, you're not wrong.

 

[deemon]

price per GB winner in EU market seems to be surprisingly (because it's not even cheap sata drive, but semi-fast NVMe even, although much slower than better drives) Intel 660P 2TB version ( SSDPEKNW020T8X1 ) for ~215€

 

[jabbadap]

price per GB winner in EU market seems to be surprisingly (because it's not even cheap sata drive, but semi-fast NVMe even, although much slower than better drives) Intel 660P 2TB version ( SSDPEKNW020T8X1 ) for ~215€

Yeah that is hands down winner on that category. IMFT has finally getting their QLC yields in order or why are they so cheap?

@W1zzard does WD/Sandisk still make these drives? Current version is Black SN750. Just asking because pricing for this drive is a quite bit cheaper than the current model.

 

[W1zzard]

@W1zzard does WD/Sandisk still make these drives? Current version is Black SN750. Just asking because pricing for this drive is a quite bit cheaper than the current model.

I bought the drive a few weeks ago on Amazon, so yes, it should still be available.

SN750 is the new 2019 version that comes with a heatsink and possibly some changes under the hood

 

[phill]

I'd like to think that I'll be able to upgrade away from spinning drives to SSDs to gain the performance.. Running a 2Tb HD drive, can be a little painful when loading some big games

 

[newtekie1]

I'd like to think that I'll be able to upgrade away from spinning drives to SSDs to gain the performance.. Running a 2Tb HD drive, can be a little painful when loading some big games

This is why I use PrimoCache and an SSD to cache my 3TB HDD that has most of my games on it. It works quite well. it is in now way as good as a SSD, but it is a heck of a lot better than just an HDD.

 

[John Naylor]

I'm almost tempted at this point to buy the fastest one and the slowest one in TPUs charts; then put one in user's box for a month, then swap to the other and see if they notice. A bit too expensive at this point but my youngest (22) is doing a new build in may, just might sneak an extra SSD in there and swap them while he's in class.

This is why I use PrimoCache and an SSD to cache my 3TB HDD that has most of my games on it. It works quite well. it is in now way as good as a SSD, but it is a heck of a lot better than just an HDD.

Yes, THG's charts had the Seagate SSHD 53% faster than the WD Black in their Gaming test, and it's SSD portion is only 8GB. I have oft wondered if the only obstacles to say a 4 TB drive w/ 250 GB SSD built in's only obstabcle was heat and form factor.... but then again I'm still holding out hope looking for cases with bult in backplane for SATA power and data,

 

[phill]

This is why I use PrimoCache and an SSD to cache my 3TB HDD that has most of my games on it. It works quite well. it is in now way as good as a SSD, but it is a heck of a lot better than just an HDD.

It's a nice idea and a bit cheaper but I wonder if putting the SSD cost onto a bigger SSD might benefit a little more? I think unless you require the massive 4Tb+ drives for storage, I'd like to hope/think that 1Tb SSDs would be a good option to go to (still pricey if you need a few..) They are a little more expensive granted but the performance is a lot more. I'd love to test out a newer HD drive and see how it performs. I've a few older Samsung 2Tb drives and some Seagate 3Tb drives I've had for a long time but they aren't the fastest by far..

 

[bug]

It's a nice idea and a bit cheaper but I wonder if putting the SSD cost onto a bigger SSD might benefit a little more? I think unless you require the massive 4Tb+ drives for storage, I'd like to hope/think that 1Tb SSDs would be a good option to go to (still pricey if you need a few..) They are a little more expensive granted but the performance is a lot more. I'd love to test out a newer HD drive and see how it performs. I've a few older Samsung 2Tb drives and some Seagate 3Tb drives I've had for a long time but they aren't the fastest by far..

HDDs have terrible access times (~8ms) and can't access two files at once without killing transfer speeds. SSDs make a night and day difference.

SSDs have access times measured in microseconds.

 

[phill]

HDDs have terrible access times (~8ms) and can't access two files at once without killing transfer speeds. SSDs make a night and day difference.

SSDs have access times measured in microseconds.

I think some are worse than 8ms, if I remember rightly my WD Reds are closer to 15ms or maybe even worse. I believe some of my Crucial or Sandisk SSDs are about the 0.1 to 0.2ms for access times They really are like night and day, I agree I'd like to hope any PC I build now I can afford just SSD storage and use the server for big stuff.. We'll see I don't think the M.2/NVME drives are worth the extra for day to day performance

 

[newtekie1]

It's a nice idea and a bit cheaper but I wonder if putting the SSD cost onto a bigger SSD might benefit a little more? I think unless you require the massive 4Tb+ drives for storage, I'd like to hope/think that 1Tb SSDs would be a good option to go to (still pricey if you need a few..) They are a little more expensive granted but the performance is a lot more. I'd love to test out a newer HD drive and see how it performs. I've a few older Samsung 2Tb drives and some Seagate 3Tb drives I've had for a long time but they aren't the fastest by far..

3TB HDD + 250GB SSD + PrimoCache = $150

2TB SSD = $260

Using the PrimoCache saves me $100, gives me the performance I need in games, and some extra space for storage of things like my pictures. Plus, I can cheaply upgrade the storage capacity in the future.

I think some are worse than 8ms, if I remember rightly my WD Reds are closer to 15ms or maybe even worse. I believe some of my Crucial or Sandisk SSDs are about the 0.1 to 0.2ms for access times They really are like night and day, I agree I'd like to hope any PC I build now I can afford just SSD storage and use the server for big stuff.. We'll see I don't think the M.2/NVME drives are worth the extra for day to day performance

When you have a game library that is nearing 2TB in size, all SSD storage becomes pretty expensive.

 

[phill]

3TB HDD + 250GB SSD + PrimoCache = $150

2TB SSD = $260

Using the PrimoCache saves me $100, gives me the performance I need in games, and some extra space for storage of things like my pictures. Plus, I can cheaply upgrade the storage capacity in the future.

When you have a game library that is nearing 2TB in size, all SSD storage becomes pretty expensive.

I didn't realise it was such a different in price But for everything else there is Mastercard... Apologises, couldn't resist

Yeah my Steam library is over the 2Tb in size plus all of the extra standalone games I have.. Disk space at the moment is very tight at home
I suppose though, if you can find some 1Tb SSDs, you could always raid them together and get double the performance (I wish...)...

 

[bug]

I think some are worse than 8ms, if I remember rightly my WD Reds are closer to 15ms or maybe even worse. I believe some of my Crucial or Sandisk SSDs are about the 0.1 to 0.2ms for access times They really are like night and day, I agree I'd like to hope any PC I build now I can afford just SSD storage and use the server for big stuff.. We'll see I don't think the M.2/NVME drives are worth the extra for day to day performance

Yeah, unfortunately SSD larger than 1TB are still too expensive. The best you can do if you need a lot of storage is another server like you suggested or a NAS solution (still not cheap). It's a 3TB HDD still lingers in my PC.

 

[Vlada011]

This is better than 970 EVO?
I think on 1TB vs 1TB?

 

[W1zzard]

This is better than 970 EVO?
I think on 1TB vs 1TB?

yes

 

[biffzinker]

When you have a game library that is nearing 2TB in size, all SSD storage becomes pretty expensive.

Who needs to have immediate access too 2TB worth of installed games though? All games I'm not playing get backed up to a 3TB Toshiba 3.5"

 

[Basard]

I've been looking to upgrade my capacity lately..... So, sorry for necro posting--I'm digging through reviews an a lot of sites.

@W1zzard I'm curious how this is the "Fastest SSD we ever reviewed." I only saw it on the top of a few charts, and the margin on those charts was not too great. Which performance metric has the biggest impact on the relative performance chart?

 

[W1zzard]

Which performance metric has the biggest impact on the relative performance chart?

They all have the same weights. Yes, margins are small and barely matter for many scenarios

I've retested all drives recently with new tests etc: https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Western_Digital/WD_Blue_NVMe_SN500/14.html

 

[Basard]

They all have the same weights. Yes, margins are small and barely matter for many scenarios

I've retested all drives recently with new tests etc: https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Western_Digital/WD_Blue_NVMe_SN500/14.html

Thanks, w1z. I pulled the trigger, just before you replied, on a SX8200 Pro 1TB. $160 on amazon right now. Giving it to the wife, now maybe I can get one for myself in a few weeks.

I gotta new w1zzard hat in rocket league that made me think of you, black though. Still waiting to score a purple one so I can be just like you. You're a gentleman and a scholar!