Western Digital have a brand new NVMe SSD on the block. Dubbed the WD Black 3D NVMe SSD, this super-fast storage stick lastly brings some a lot wanted competitors to Samsung’s 960 Evo and 960 Pro, as will probably be occurring sale later this month with costs ranging from simply $120 within the US.
UK pricing has but to be revealed, however what we do know is that the WD Black 3D NVMe SSD will probably be out there in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities. It additionally makes use of the M.2 2280 kind issue (for more information on what this truly means, try our purchasing information in our Best SSDs 2018 article), so that you’ll must ensure you’ve obtained a motherboard that helps it earlier than you chuck it in your procuring basket.
The 1TB mannequin will probably be notably excellent news for anybody who’s been eyeing up Samsung’s 960 Evo vary however hasn’t but taken the plunge, as WD say the 1TB mannequin can have sequential learn speeds of as much as 3400MB/s and sequential write speeds of as much as 2800MB/s. Samsung’s 1TB 960 Evo sequential speeds, by comparability, are solely rated for 3200MB/s learn and 1900MB/s write.
Sequential speeds fall barely for the 500GB and 250GB fashions of the WD Black 3D NVMe SSD, however you’re nonetheless taking a look at a reasonably zippy 3400MB/s learn and 2500MB/s write for the previous, and 3000MB/s learn and 1600MB/s write for the latter.
WD have additionally together with a tasty five-year guarantee with its Black 3D NVMe SSD, together with an endurance ranking of as much as 600TBW (terabytes written) for the 1TB mannequin. Again, this beats what’s on provide with the 1TB Samsung 960 Evo, as this solely provides you a three-year guarantee and a 400TBW endurance ranking, making WD’s newest higher worth for cash. The remainder of the WD Black 3D NVMe SSD vary, in the meantime, will provide a 300TBW endurance for the 500GB mannequin and 200TBW for the 250GB model.
I’ll have to attend till overview samples can be found earlier than I can put its efficiency claims to the take a look at, after all – in spite of everything, sequential speeds aren’t the very best indicator of what you’ll truly be getting in real-world use – however with the 250GB model costing $120, the 500GB mannequin going for $230 and the 1TB one topping out at $450, it’s actually trying prefer it could possibly be a really tempting different, particularly when the 1TB 960 Evo is presently going for $480.
