Samsung 980 PRO
Western Digital WD Black SN850X
What Buyers Say
Samsung 980 PRO
The Samsung 980 Pro is overwhelmingly praised for its blazing-fast speeds, especially in gaming and heavy workloads like compiling code, with users noting dramatic improvements. While it's considered pricey, most agree it delivers on its promises and is a solid investment for those with PCIe 4.0 support. Some caution about installation nuances, like needing a heatsink and ensuring the correct slot, but these are seen as minor hurdles.
Pros
- Blazing fast load times
- Excellent for gaming
- Huge compile speed boost
- Easy installation
- Great value for performance
Cons
- Expensive
- Requires PCIe 4.0 for full speed
- May need extra thermal pad
- Heatsink often necessary
- Not worth upgrading from 970
Western Digital WD Black SN850X
The WD Black SN850X is highly praised for its blazing speed, reliability, and value, often compared favorably to pricier alternatives like Samsung and Solidigm. Users report excellent performance in gaming (especially PS5) and general use, with a few concerns about potential issues mitigated by firmware updates. Overall, it's seen as a top-tier NVMe drive, especially when on sale.
Pros
- Blazing fast speeds
- Excellent value for money
- Reliable high-capacity storage
- Great for PS5
- Easy installation
Cons
- Potential firmware issues
- No heatsink included
- Pricey when not on sale
Scores
Specifications
| Samsung 980 PRO | Western Digital WD Black SN850X | |
|---|---|---|
| Drive | ||
| Capacity | ||
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| Protocol | NVMe | NVMe |
| PCIe Generation | 4 | 4 |
| External | ✗ | ✗ |
| Performance | ||
| Sequential Read (MB/s) | ||
| Sequential Write (MB/s) | ||
| Random Read (IOPS) | ||
| Random Write (IOPS) | ||
| Hardware | ||
| NAND | TLC | TLC |
| DRAM Cache | ✓ | ✓ |
| Controller | Samsung | — |
| Reliability | ||
| Endurance (TBW) | ||
| MTBF (hours) | ||
| Warranty (years) | 1 | 3★ |
| Features | ||
| Heatsink | ✗ | ✓★ |
| Hardware Encryption | ✓★ | — |
Pros & Cons
Samsung 980 PRO
- Strong feature (94th percentile)94th %ile
- Strong random (94th percentile)94th %ile
- Strong user sentiment (79th percentile)
- Strong social proof (79th percentile)
Western Digital WD Black SN850X
- Strong social proof (96th percentile)96th %ile
- Strong random (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong user sentiment (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong feature (94th percentile)94th %ile
Verdict
Scores 99 overall, wins 6 of 6 usage categories and 9 of 18 specs.