WD Black SN7100 2 TB

[BSim500]

It’s just that DRAM-less is always listed in the “Cons” which was understandable previously. But if this drive (and others) is faster than, say, Samsung 990 Pro, it makes you wonder at what point presence or absence of DRAM will simply be something noteworthy, and no longer seen as a pro or con

DRAM-less is still a con for putting a NVMe drive in an external USB caddy (HMB only works on internal drives directly over the NVMe bus). Without that, every single read / write to the Flash Translation Layer has to go to the drive "raw" without being cached into RAM like an old SATA DRAM-less drive.

I've already bought NM790s because WD are unable to supply the capacity people are looking for these days

Same here. Not only 4TB NM790 for very little cost but in a single-sided form factor at that (so it actually fits thin & light laptops too). Speaking of which it looks like WD still haven't fixed that sky high idle power draw even with ASPM on. Laptop / handheld users beware...

 

[W1zzard]

Price is too close to 2TB 990Pro which is $170 at MC.

not sure if 140 vs 170 is close (21%) for 2% perf

fixed the tbw rating in the table

 

[human_error]

Nice review for an excellent drive.

As an SN770 owner I couldn't buy one though - issues with the top slot in MSI Tomahawk X670E motherboards prevents them from recognizing SN770 or SN850X drives with any BIOS newer than summer last year. It's specific to the slot directly connected to the CPU and no one (WD or MSI) seem to be paying any attention to fixing it, despite a large number of reports from lots of users.

Completely destroyed my confidence in both companies at this stage, which is a shame as I love the performance of my WD SSDs. Just can't use them in all the slots in my PC anymore.

 

[THU31]

I would've thought a single nand chip would lower the cost in a meaningful way. But I guess it's manufactured on a newer, more expensive node?

Anyway, I was already impressed by the 1 TB modules, so seeing 2 TB in such a tiny chip is crazy. Seems like the PCB is also kind of a waste. Wouldn't all the components easily fit in the 2230 format?

 

[Sunlight91]

Did you test the SN5000? Apparently it has the same Polaris 3 controller and Western Digital just limits it for different products.
My new laptops SN5000S is a strange OEM only middle variant.

SN5000: 5500/5000MB/s
SN5000S: 6000/5400MB/s
SN7100: 7250/6900MB/s

 

[Balzoro]

Nice review for an excellent drive.

As an SN770 owner I couldn't buy one though - issues with the top slot in MSI Tomahawk X670E motherboards prevents them from recognizing SN770 or SN850X drives with any BIOS newer than summer last year. It's specific to the slot directly connected to the CPU and no one (WD or MSI) seem to be paying any attention to fixing it, despite a large number of reports from lots of users.

Completely destroyed my confidence in both companies at this stage, which is a shame as I love the performance of my WD SSDs. Just can't use them in all the slots in my PC anymore.

What I’ve personally learned from the X870 Tomahawk (that I ended up returning) is that MSI makes great hardware but drops the ball on the BIOS side.
After all of the comments and issues I’ve seen reported on their own forums, plus my own experience- I’m just not going to be their customer anymore.
Funny enough, for all its faults - ASUS came to the rescue and the more expensive ROG Strix MB gave me zero issues so I ended up keeping it. Might be worth a shot for you

So btw, if as a dev my use cases are:
1. unzipping large asset files (50+GB)
2. installing large applications frequently (also work related)

A gen5 SSD should technically be significantly better than a gen4, right?
That’s confusing because I though for unzipping we’re talking about sequential and not random speeds that matter, and gen5 offers a massive increase in that category, but for some reason in this review it seems like the difference between this gen4 SSD to a gen5 SSD is minuscule with <2s difference for these use cases (unzipping and installing large applications). Can someone explain why is that given the massive sequencial speeds difference for gen 5?

 

[notanin]

Price is too close to 2TB 990Pro which is $170 at MC. They do perform similarly though.

SN7100 is 20% cheaper and 2% faster, nice deal

> Did you test the SN5000?
Oh wow, missed completely that it exists. Funny enough it does have 4TB option

 

[phints]

Interesting drive, if this was 2 years ago and I still needed a PCIe 4.0 nvme, but why has WD or Samsung not done a PCIe 5.0 drive yet?

 

[Balzoro]

Interesting drive, if this was 2 years ago and I still needed a PCIe 4.0 nvme, but why has WD or Samsung not done a PCIe 5.0 drive yet?

As someone that tried a crucial gen5 SSD (ended up returning it), I think the controllers were just not ready for mainstream. Even in a big dual chamber case with 6 intake fans, it was reaching 70c max temp which funny enough Crucial support said that if you pass that temp you might void warranty .. which is ridiculous because it was difficult NOT to. That’s why I ended up retuning it - I didn’t want any future warranty issues.
If I remember correctly a new more efficient controller was just announced at CES and theoretically a new age of gen5 SSD should begin

 

[Wirko]

DRAM-less is still a con for putting a NVMe drive in an external USB caddy (HMB only works on internal drives directly over the NVMe bus). Without that, every single read / write to the Flash Translation Layer has to go to the drive "raw" without being cached into RAM like an old SATA DRAM-less drive.

True. Apart from external USB enclosures, there may be other platforms where HMB doesn't always work or isn't reliable. I don't know, just guessing: Handhelds? NAS boxes? RAID arrays? Anything connected over a PCIe switch chip?

Speaking of which it looks like WD still haven't fixed that sky high idle power draw even with ASPM on. Laptop / handheld users beware...

The part about notebooks is not necessarily true. WD's implementation of ASPM may just be incompatible with desktop systems, or some of them.

@W1zzard , here's plan W (named after James Watt). Can you take a thermal image of the SN7100 sitting idle in a desktop PC and then the same in a notebook, in similar conditions such as (poor) airflow and Windows version? If it's able to reach a low power state in the notebook, but not in the desktop, there would be a clear difference in the images.

 

[Clawedge]

Regarding temperature, did software monitor match actual measured temp?

Yes? No?

 

[InVasMani]

Good overall and high efficiency, but priced to high relative to other options. It could use some price adjustments. If it were closer in price to the value leader it would be a easier recommendation. It doesn't need to match that price, but should be a good bit closer in parity.

 

[Wirko]

So btw, if as a dev my use cases are:
1. unzipping large asset files (50+GB)
2. installing large applications frequently (also work related)

A gen4 SSD should technically be significantly better than a gen5, right? That’s confusing because I though for unzipping we’re talking about sequential and not random speeds that matter, and gen5 offers a massive increase in that category, but for some reason in this review it seems like the difference between this gen4 SSD to a gen5 SSD is minuscule with <2s difference for these use cases (unzipping and installing large applications). Can someone explain why is that given the massive sequencial speeds difference for gen 5?

Unzipping means writing a lot of small files, which makes the process much slower than any operation with large files only.

Can you run the unzip application, whichever you have, just to test the archive without unzipping? Do you achieve good throughput in GB/s?

 

[Balzoro]

Unzipping means writing a lot of small files, which makes the process much slower than any operation with large files only.

Can you run the unzip application, whichever you have, just to test the archive without unzipping? Do you achieve good throughput in GB/s?

Fwiw the original question had a typo, the question was supposed to be is gen5 is supposed to be better than gen4, not the other way around.

And to reiterate in case the question sounded a bit too naive - I know that technically it is, however gen5 differ than gen4 mostly when it comes to (significantly!) higher sequential speeds which is supposed to be what matters when installing large applications and even unzipping (compared to random which is more for OS operations or video games) - which is why I’m confused regarding the results here - it seems like gen5 offers almost no speed benefits over gen4 when it comes to use cases it’s supposed to excel at compared to gen4 (such as installing large applications as mentioned about). So I’m confused about the results.

and regarding your questions - unfortunately I’m away this week and don’t have access to my setup. But I think the answer is yes..

 

[oiawshboiwsahnoidaws]

shame about the high idle power consumption

 

[mechtech]

Oh wow, a whole 2 TB.

What year is it?

Also, $140 for a 2 TB - a year ago people were drawing these kinds of charts, when discounted 2 TB drives could be had for $76... Rare, I agree, but little did they know that the prices would actually triple in short while, and are now still way above.

View attachment 384516

More like no 4TB or 6TB or 8TB

 

[DaveBSC]

I think so


Yeah, this fell through the cracks, not sure if it's worth buying one just to have it in the comparisons. OTOH it would be there for quite a while, probably several years

Another review that tested both drives showed SN7100 losing in a few areas to 850X, particularly when SLC cache was exhausted where 850X was almost twice as fast as 7100.

Considering the fact that with price reductions 850X is now LESS expensive than 7100 is, its existence is kind of a problem for 7100, or at least doesn't make the choice immediately obvious. That reviewe said they'd use 7100 in applications where power draw was very important like laptops or portable gaming systems, but for desktop use they would pick 850X over 7100.

 

[AleXXX666]

They haven't tripled & the prices you quoted were generally on sale only. But yes overall prices are way up, courtesy "AI" then price gouging by NAND makers & of course no pressure from HDD or any alternate storage media like Optane or Blu-ray in the past.

the Blue Writer itself cost a good HDD price back days LMFAO
And disks could be scratched...

 

[W1zzard]

unzipping

My unzip workload is using small files.

You mention "unzipping large asset files", I think those compress badly, so in your case the zip is really just a container to transport multiple files conveniently? (which is perfectly reasonable of course)

This workload should scale better with sequential perf, but it will probably be limited by read/write both happening at QD1 (so my QD1 sequential mixed in synthetic applies), and possibly CPU decompression performance

Good suggestion for a new test in next round of retesting

particularly when SLC cache was exhausted where 850X was almost twice as fast as 7100.

Which is extremely rare

 

[Clawedge]

Thermal camera reported controller temperature at 110 degrees Celsius, software readings were at 73 degrees Celsius.

 

[_roman_]

I prefer when the title would be more like - WD .... - budget PCIE 4.0 drive.
Is it a new drive? Yes it is. Is that special? No it is not.
Is it the best? Definitely not. Is it average? Yes it is.

First graph gave me the impression, okay a little bit better or equal like my KC3000 2TB.

But than - just disappointing - mega fail. The KC3000 2TB is hard to beat in PCIE 4.0 scenarios

Okay next. DRAM Cache? Nope.
edit: The problem is. Less DRAM because of CPU graphics, less DRAM for NVMe, and so on. DRAM is expensive - I need it for software - i need it for tmpfs. It is an instantly do not buy drive without DRAM CACHE. Without DRAM on the nvme cache, I assume / think there are more traffic over the PCIE BUS. I want to avoid additional traffic over the PCIE bus. That is a limited resource with e.g. the second I/O chip on e.g. X670 mainboards. That makes the hole computer slower in my point of view. That would be acceptable when a 2TB dram less drive costs not more than 25€ in total, which is the costs of 3x the current "reduced price" of the AOC gaming mouse I use. For over 100€ it is unacceptable to buy a 2 TB PCIE 4.0 nvme M2 drive without DRAM Cache.

For a "best drive - PCIE 4.0" I expect 5% better performance in any field as the KC3000 with more or equal dedicated DRAM Cache as the KC3000 2TB version - initial review version. (Limitations apply for maxium reached burst write or read rates and such. I think some other parameters still could be better.)

Proper drive with afaik DRAM Cache.

Kingston KC3000 2 TB Specs

2 TB, TLC, PCIe 4.0 x4, M.2 2280

www.techpowerup.com

Kingston KC3000 2 TB Review - Faster Than Samsung 980 Pro

The Kingston KC3000 is built using the Phison E18 controller and Micron's best 176-layer TLC NAND flash. In our performance testing, the drive can beat the Samsung 980 Pro and is the fastest SSD we ever tested. It shares that performance throne with the WD Black SN850.

www.techpowerup.com

Of course, always buy the initial batches of a nvme drive close to the initial review of that nvme drive. Before the manufacturer makes it worse or changes components for the nvme drive.

edit: WD = Sandisk, is questionable, like SAMSUNG in regards of firmware quality for past drives over the years

edit: only WD drive I would buy is the 850X - assuming they did not made the components worse.

 

[Wirko]

Fwiw the original question had a typo, the question was supposed to be is gen5 is supposed to be better than gen4, not the other way around.

And to reiterate in case the question sounded a bit too naive - I know that technically it is, however gen5 differ than gen4 mostly when it comes to (significantly!) higher sequential speeds which is supposed to be what matters when installing large applications and even unzipping (compared to random which is more for OS operations or video games) - which is why I’m confused regarding the results here - it seems like gen5 offers almost no speed benefits over gen4 when it comes to use cases it’s supposed to excel at compared to gen4 (such as installing large applications as mentioned about). So I’m confused about the results.

and regarding your questions - unfortunately I’m away this week and don’t have access to my setup. But I think the answer is yes..

Yes I noticed the typo but it matters almost nothing in this case. What matters more is the difference between random read and write speeds between older (Gen 3) and newer (Gen 5) SSDs. You can see in the graphs here that even a Gen 3 SSD (Adata SX8200 Pro) is not very far behind a Gen 5 SSD (Corsair MP700 Pro). Installing things involves unzipping, and unzipping involves writing a lot of small files - actually, file fragments (the file system may end up heavily fragmented after this kind of operations).

 

[Broken Processor]

Was in the market for a new nvme last week I could have got 2tb sn7100 for 140 but ended up getting the 850x 4tb for 260. The price is decent for the performance but 2tb isn't enough. The 4tb will allow me to remove 2 1tb 850x and leave the 2tb 850x as a short term backup. I've been looking at gen 5 but yeah this is a gaming machine and I don't need it.

 

[W1zzard]

graph

It's a 4-channel, DRAM-less drive that uses TLC over PCIe 4.0

Where's the next-fastest DRAM-less drive (that's not WD and not MAP1602) ?

https://imgur.com/28DZasn

 

[_roman_]

DRAM-less is still a con for putting a NVMe drive in an external USB caddy

I'm glad I could sell that WD junk drive. It seems DRAM less.
I replaced it with my previous used Crucial P5 Plus 1TB system drive. The performance improved by a lot. You would expect the 10Gbps USB bridge case would limit it. When I remember correctly the backup times changed from 6 to 5 minutes. A hole minute less by just replaying the nvme 3.0 dram less drive with a nvme 4.0 drive with dram cache. The backup data is similar.

This was my first purchase for my external backup drive. NVME were very expensive around Feb 2022 (german language)

WD Blue SN570 1TB High-Performance M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD, mit bis zu 3500MB/s Lesegeschwindigkeit
Sold by: Amazon EU S.a.r.L.

ICY BOX SSD M.2 NVMe Gehäuse, USB 3.1 (Gen2, 10 Gbit/s), Kühlsystem, USB-C, USB-A, PCIe M-Key, Aluminium, grau

I came to the conclusion to not buy any DRAM less drives again.

As an SN770 owner I couldn't buy one though - issues with the top slot in MSI Tomahawk X670E motherboards prevents them from recognizing SN770 or SN850X

Well known issue. People should reflect on such issues which WD = SANDISK and Samsung have "sometimes" on "some" particular drives in "certain" scenarios.
I would more blame WD. I think what I remember X670E have some particular issues with certain mainboards and certain hardware. Which X670 for some reason do not have. AFAIK what I remember X670E is problematic with certain hardware. I would WD ask why other NVME work on those mainboards. NVME have "microcontrollers" with software "firmware" which most likely is the root cause. I do not have the source code and schematics for those WD drives. So it is speculations on my side