The WD Black SN850X 8TB SSD stands out as a high-performance NVMe drive offering impressive speeds and a vast storage capacity. This review dives into its features, performance benchmarks, and overall value, helping you decide if it’s the right SSD for your needs.
Features and Specifications
The WD Black SN850X boasts the standard 2280 (22x80mm) M.2 form factor and utilizes the PCIe 4 x4 NVMe interface. It features 162-layer BiCS6 TLC (Triple-Level Cell/3-bit) NAND flash memory with a Western Digital-designed controller. Notably, the 8TB model differs from other capacities, which use older 112-layer BiCS5 TLC NAND. The SN850X includes 2GB of DRAM for efficient primary caching.
WD SN850X Back
WD’s extensive SSD expertise stems from its acquisition of SanDisk, a name you might recognize on the controller. The drive comes with a five-year warranty and a 600TBW (Terabytes Written) rating per 1TB of capacity.
Pricing and Availability
The WD Black SN850X, while not a budget option, offers competitive pricing for its performance tier. The 1TB model is available for around $84, the 2TB for $160, the 4TB for $310, and the 8TB reviewed here for approximately $650 (prices may vary). While the 8TB model commands a premium, the cost per gigabyte remains reasonable, especially considering its performance advantages. A heatsink version is also available for an additional $10 to $30, though many modern motherboards include their own.
Performance Analysis
The 8TB SN850X significantly outperforms the 2TB version in nearly all benchmarks, securing its position among the top NVMe SSDs.
Sequential Read/Write Speeds
In random read/write tests, the 8TB model excels, particularly with multiple queues. This highlights its efficiency in handling numerous I/O requests simultaneously.
Random Read/Write Performance
The 8TB SN850X also shines in large file transfers, completing a 48GB transfer significantly faster than the 2TB version.
48GB Transfer Performance
Furthermore, the 8TB drive achieved one of the fastest 450GB write speeds recorded.
450GB Write Speed
These results suggest improvements beyond just increased capacity, likely due to the newer NAND and potentially an updated controller. While these specific benchmarks focus on the 8TB model, performance may vary for other capacities using the older BiCS5 112-layer NAND.
Should You Buy the WD Black SN850X 8TB?
The WD Black SN850X 8TB is a compelling choice for users seeking high performance and massive storage in a single drive. However, purchasing two 4TB models might offer cost savings if your system supports multiple NVMe drives. Ultimately, the 8TB SN850X delivers an excellent balance of speed, capacity, and value for demanding workloads and storage-intensive applications.
