Western Digital Black SN850X 4TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
Western Digital WD Blue SN5000 4TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
What Buyers Say
Western Digital Black SN850X 4TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
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
Western Digital WD Blue SN5000 4TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
The WD Blue SN5000 is generally well-received, praised for its large SLC cache, good performance, and value, especially as a secondary or game drive. However, one unit arrived dead, and some users note it runs hot and lacks DRAM, which may affect performance in some scenarios. Overall, it's a solid budget NVMe SSD for most users.
Pros
- Large SLC cache
- Good value for money
- Works well as secondary drive
- Easy installation
- Reliable performance
Cons
- Runs hot
- No DRAM cache
- Dead on arrival unit
- Not for heavy workloads
Scores
Specifications
| Western Digital Black SN850X | Western Digital WD Blue SN5000 | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | WD 20-82-20035-B1 | — |
| Reliability | ||
| Endurance (TBW) | ||
| MTBF (hours) | ||
| Warranty (years) | 5 | 5 |
| Features | ||
| Heatsink | ✗ | ✗ |
| Hardware Encryption | ✗ | — |
Pros & Cons
Western Digital Black SN850X 4TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
- Strong random (96th percentile)96th %ile
- Strong social proof (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong user sentiment (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong capacity (93rd percentile)93rd %ile
- Below average affordability (11th percentile)11th %ile
Western Digital WD Blue SN5000 4TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
- Strong capacity (93rd percentile)93rd %ile
- Strong random (92nd percentile)92nd %ile
- Strong speed (77th percentile)
- Strong endurance (76th percentile)
- Below average affordability (18th percentile)18th %ile
- Below average user sentiment (29th percentile)
Pricing
Verdict
Scores 99 overall, wins 6 of 6 usage categories and 6 of 18 specs.
