WD Black SN7100 2 TB

[W1zzard]

The WD Black SN7100 2 TB SSD sets a new standard as the fastest Gen 4 SSD we've ever tested. It's also priced well and highly energy-efficient, which helps keep temperatures down. Fast, efficient, and affordable—the WD Black SN7100 hits all the marks.

Show full review

 

[bug]

Nice and everything. And back in HDD days WD was my go-to solution.
Now? https://www.techpowerup.com/312512/western-digital-in-trouble-over-failing-portable-ssds

 

[Axaion]

Sure wish that youd consider buying some Gen4 optanes like the p580xx versions, theres so much focus on high queue depth sequential performance on SSD's these days but most consumer workloads arent using that at all afaik

 

[Bwaze]

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.

 

[Readlight]

I want easy replaceable NAND chips.

 

[adilazimdegilx]

If this had 4TB model, I'd seriously consider it...

 

[Balzoro]

Great review as always. I’d be happy to see more gen5 SSDs in the chart though, as I was quite surprised to not find the crucial t700 there. In the file copy test the WD was almost 50% slower than the gen5 SSD from Corsair (27 vs 37s)

 

[R0H1T]

Rare, I agree, but little did they know that the prices would actually triple in short while, and are now still way above.

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.

 

[Chrispy_]

Another banger from WD that offers amazing value and fantastic real-world performance whilst lacking DRAM and failing to hit impressive sequential speeds. If it wasn't for confirmation of the new NAND and new controller, I'd have just thought it was an SN580/SN770 relabelled.

The switch to BiCS8 with more layers makes the absence of a 4TB model even more confusing. I've already bought NM790s because WD are unable to supply the capacity people are looking for these days. 2TB is absolutely fine for a lot of situations, but ignoring 4TB is probably going to be a bad business decision before too long...

 

[notanin]

That’s a rather odd name considering the current product line-up. I wonder how it compares to the SN850X. It’s quite puzzling that there’s no 4TB option available. I could understand that for the SN580, but for this?

 

[Chrispy_]

That’s a rather odd name considering the current product line-up. I wonder how it compares to the SN850X. It’s quite puzzling that there’s no 4TB option available. I could understand that for the SN580, but for this?

850X has DRAM, this appears to be a product change that is driven by the supply of BiCS5 drying up, nothing more. I'm glad WD changed the name, lesser brands like ADATA and Kingston have been caught just swapping out the parts without a change in model name.

Realistically, a 2TB SN770 looks pretty similar to a 2TB SN7100. I'm not sure why they've changed to a 4-digit number either, but as long as the price/performance is right I don't really care what they call it.

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.

Yeah, NAND pricing is volatile and has been for a while. Right now, as in this week, $140 for 2TB of TLC is a good deal.
Had my eye on another NM790 4TB but the price just shot up by £35 in the last couple of weeks for no obvious reason. This is the stupid world we live in, so I've just made peace with it.

 

[bonehead123]

The switch to BiCS8 with more layers makes the absence of a 4TB model even more confusing. I've already bought NM790s because WD are unable to supply the capacity people are looking for these days. 2TB is absolutely fine for a lot of situations, but ignoring 4TB is probably going to be a bad business decision before too long...

^^THIS^^

But OTOH, look how long it took them to release an 8TB model of the highly praised SN850x...which they did well after the other ssd mfgr's, but that doesn't take away from the fact that they STILL make fast, reliable, long-lasting & quality drives, even if they aren't always the cheapest, unless you catch them on sale, like I did back at the end of '24, when I bought a huge number of their 2 & 4TB models for upcoming client builds...enough to last me until June/July or so

And whenever the 8TB models drop in price, I will grabbing a bunch of them too !

#WD4Me4Eva#

 

[notanin]

850X has DRAM, this appears to be a product change that is driven by the supply of BiCS5 drying up, nothing more. I'm glad WD changed the name, lesser brands like ADATA and Kingston have been caught just swapping out the parts without a change in model name.

Realistically, a 2TB SN770 looks pretty similar to a 2TB SN7100. I'm not sure why they've changed to a 4-digit number either, but as long as the price/performance is right I don't really care what they call it.

Now (previously?) tiers were clearly defined: SN580, SN770, and SN850X. Now we have the SN7100. Is WD restarting the whole line, should we expect an SN5700, for example?
TechPowerUp doesn’t have an SN850X review. And I’m just curious whether WD’s latest DRAMless variants have overtaken the SN850X in performance (which is already quite old).

 

[W1zzard]

And I’m just curious whether WD’s latest DRAMless variants have overtaken the SN850X in performance

I think so

TechPowerUp doesn’t have an SN850X review

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

 

[notanin]

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

 

[kapone32]

WD Black 850X 8TB is less than $100 per TB on Newegg.ca right now. I have no where to put it but I am thinking of replacing my WD AN1500 with 2 5.0 drives in RAID 0. PNY CS2150 would do but they are eternally out of stock.

 

[W1zzard]

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

That's a great question, some people still swear by DRAM drives (even though most of them don't need it). This list is also used to "inform" readers (lots of people skip to the last page)

I've been using several DRAM-less drives in my work machine and really can't tell any difference between them

 

[wait_wot]

WD Black 850X 8TB is less than $100 per TB on Newegg.ca right now. I have no where to put it but I am thinking of replacing my WD AN1500 with 2 5.0 drives in RAID 0. PNY CS2150 would do but they are eternally out of stock.

Yeah I don't know why the 850X isn't in the alternatives section, it may be a little slower but it has double the tbw endurance (for the same 2tb size)

 

[kapone32]

Yeah I don't know why the 850X isn't in the alternatives section, it may be a little slower but it has double the tbw endurance (for the same 2tb size)

Wizz said they did not buy one. It is what it is.

 

[docnorth]

That's a great question, some people still swear by DRAM drives (even though most of them don't need it). This list is also used to "inform" readers (lots of people skip to the last page)

I've been using several DRAM-less drives in my work machine and really can't tell any difference between them

It’s clearly noticeable on my sata SSDs (2,5”), but on such blazing fast drives…

 

[kapone32]

I wish they would make a refresh of the WD AN 1500. That is one fast drive and it is great as you can add any NVME to it since it has a Marvell controller on the PCB.