Western Digital Releases First Officially Licensed M.2 SSD for the Sony PlayStation 5

[TheLostSwede]

Western Digital Corp. and Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC ("SIE") teamed up to deliver the industry's first official PlayStation -licensed M.2 SSD for PlayStation 5 (PS5) to gamers across the globe. The WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD for PS5 Consoles enables players to expand the high-speed storage capacity of their PS5 console and gives them peace of mind knowing that their new and favorite titles are stored on a drive that's been battletested to take on the most intensive PS5 gameplay.

Optimized for the newest-generation console, Western Digital validated drive performance through multiple scenarios to ensure the drive has been fully tested for the PS5. This process included hundreds of hours spent rigorously testing some of the most graphic-rich titles across various genres to ensure that with games stored on the drive, gameplay is fast, smooth and visually immersive.




"We're excited for this new journey with Sony Interactive Entertainment and the opportunity to bring the officially licensed drive to PS5 gamers," said Susan Park, vice president of Consumer Solutions Product Management, Western Digital. "Western Digital's WD_BLACK brand was created to bring high-performance products to gamers everywhere. Combined with this innovative partnership, we aim to deepen our current commitment to developing storage solutions that enhance the gaming experience for all gamers."

With the WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD for PS5, gamers can store and play both PS5 games and PS4 games directly from the drive. The drive's attached heatsink also makes installation quicker with its all-in-one design. Gamers can cut down on long load times with PCIe Gen4 technology, reaching up to 7000 MB/s read speed to get them in the game fast so they can focus more on gaming.

Availability
The WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD for PS5 retails for $169.99 USD (1 TB) and $279.99 USD (2 TB) and is now available for purchase exclusively at Best Buy (in stores and online) and on the Western Digital online store. It will be available for purchase from other select retailers, etailers and resellers starting mid-August 2022.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Solaris17]

The cynic in me thinks the price of the SN850 is going to jump now that its certified.

 

[maxfly]

That was my thought as well... especially considering they didn't include a current price

 

[ixi]

Not to mention that SN850 is already for some time available . Just marketing, wondering how much WD paid to Sony xD.

 

[trsttte]

The cynic in me thinks the price of the SN850 is going to jump now that its certified.

The "non certified" version is currently on sale on amazon for prime day, no need to wait for certified price

 

[zo0lykas]

iam a bit dafty..
but someone can please tell me what is a difference of the licensed product ?

much i know people already install other brand's ssd to playstation, so what so special about this one ?

 

[trsttte]

iam a bit dafty..
but someone can please tell me what is a difference of the licensed product ?

much i know people already install other brand's ssd to playstation, so what so special about this one ?

The box has Playstation branding and the ssd has the rgb led set to blue. That's about it (they do not list or mention any other difference)

 

[GunShot]

Really?! No one saw the writing on the wall last Summer? That is what surprises me is that Cerny's WD cheers last year for his PS5 weren't the nail in the coffin for the future partnership with WD and Sony to some users and they are acting shocked toward this announcement.

C'mon, folks!

 

[zlobby]

Asking console questions on a PC forum! Pfft!

You may also ask Jen Huang for Radeon drivers...

 

[trsttte]

Really?! No one saw the writing on the wall last Summer? That is what surprises me is that Cerny's WD cheers last year for his PS5 weren't the nail in the coffin for the future partnership with WD and Sony to some users and they are acting shocked toward this announcement.

C'mon, folks!

Honestly this just seems like sony decided they wanted a branded SSD to settle any possible questions (and since they are even doing a monitor now) and the WD looked like the best option when they went shopping for partners. If this partnership was that foretold, it would have happened way sooner when support was rolled out and gen4 ssds started flooding the market because at this point this products answers no questions - there already a lot of gen4 ssds more than validated (including the wd850) and that even include a sticker on the box advertising support for the ps5

 

[Camm]

For a 'licensed' product I would have hoped to have seen an integrated external heatsink, something like the ElecGear to go with it.

Until then, all you are buying is licensing fee's paid to Sony with a markup on the cost of a drive.

 

[chrcoluk]

So certified equals cash bump with some going to Sony probably.

 

[Rhein7]

That's rather lame for official product.
Why not making the heatsink has PS logo on it? Or even paint it black and blue to match PS5 color? (Not that it matters when in usage)

 

[TheLostSwede]

That's rather lame for official product.
Why not making the heatsink has PS logo on it? Or even paint it black and blue to match PS5 color? (Not that it matters when in usage)

But it says Game Drive on it...

 

[trsttte]

But it says Game Drive on it...

So did the original one

 

[TheLostSwede]

So did the original one

I have to admit that I never really looked at the model with the heatsink too carefully before.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

The box has Playstation branding and the ssd has the rgb led set to blue. That's about it (they do not list or mention any other difference)

It's usually a bit more than this. Certified with branding usually means that the products were tested and got a pass. Now there are plenty of products that work perfectly fine that were not, including some that are frankly better, but it removes some worry. A good case in point was SD cards and the Switch. Sandisk makes the official/certified ones which a really good, but not great, SD cards and come with branding and the Nintendo logo. Of course they cost a little extra. But they work.

Now you can get a cheaper product or a better product but there were cases where people had SD cards melt into the Switch SD card slot destroying the unit or making the SD slot useless. This never happened with the official ones.

So the real point of all this is that the device has been tested and Mom and Dad can buy it without worrying and stores can sell it and not worry about people getting angry when it fucks up on them. It's not really for people like us.

 

[medi01]

Man, PS5 was released in Nov 2020.

Nearly 2 years later, still terrible availability, but at last "certified SSD" for it is available...

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Man, PS5 was released in Nov 2020.

Nearly 2 years later, still terrible availability, but at last "certified SSD" for it is available...

This isn't really true. PS5s are easy to get it's just that vendors are price gouging. And that's just capitalism. You charge as much as you possibly can and fuck the consumer. So there are plenty of Playstation 5s, but companies are selling on a market and that means if they can charge 10,000 for one and still get away with it they should do that!

The point of a Playstation is not for you to play games. It's to make money for the shareholders and executives of Sony and the parties that sell them. Period and end of story. If it blew up and burned down your house and it was cheaper to pay off the dead bodies than it was to fix the issue then in capitalism your house should burn down.

And since the prices have gone up and people paid them, the market demands the prices stay up. Anything less is not how things work.

I see them in stock everytime I go to the store but they are being sold at the new market price.

 

[chrcoluk]

Hmm in the UK all official retailers sell at MSRP as its in their contract with Sony, the issue was never pricing but instead availability. In particular they dont let people order unless they get fresh stock in so have tiny order windows, I just googled now Amazon UK PS5 where the product isnt even listed so looks like the availability issue is still here two years after launch.

However of course there was/is scalpers gouging.

Just had a rethink we do get forced bundles which cost more, so there is that form of gouging actually.