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Western Digital Unveils WD Blue SN550 M.2 NVMe SSD

btarunr

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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.



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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.
 
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5 year warranty i like :respect:
 
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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.
 
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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...)
 
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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 !
 
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Give me a 4TB option like Sabrent and i am in.
 
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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.
 
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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
 
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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?
 
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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.
 
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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.
 
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kewl, in europe we have a thing called tax...

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