Western Digital WD Blue 500GB SATA III 2.5"
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 1TB PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
What Buyers Say
Western Digital WD Blue 500GB SATA III 2.5"
The WD Blue 500GB SSD is widely praised for dramatically speeding up older computers, with users reporting faster boot times and snappier performance after installation. It is considered a reliable, well-priced upgrade, though some note that benchmark speeds don't quite match the advertised figures. One user had a PS4 failure after 8 months but received a warranty replacement, with the caveat that they had to pay shipping.
Pros
- Dramatically faster boot times
- Reliable Western Digital brand
- Good value for money
- Easy installation and cloning
- 5-year warranty
Cons
- Benchmark speeds below advertised
- Warranty shipping costs borne by customer
- PS4 failure reported after 8 months
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 1TB PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
All seven verified reviews are overwhelmingly positive, praising the WD_BLACK SN8100 as the fastest Gen5 NVMe SSD with no issues. Users highlight its sustained speeds, strong performance on PCIe 5.0 motherboards, and good value at the time of purchase. One reviewer notes it outlasts other drives in cache performance, and Q&A confirms M.2 2280 form factor with up to 14,900 MBps read speed.
Pros
- Fastest Gen5 NVMe SSD
- No issues of any kind
- Super fast on PCIe 5.0
- Strong sustained speeds
- Good price at time of purchase
Cons
- Expensive (implied by 'if you can afford it')
Scores
Specifications
| Western Digital WD Blue | Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Drive | ||
| Capacity | ||
| Form Factor | 2.5" | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | SATA III | PCIe 5.0 x4 |
| Protocol | SATA | NVMe |
| PCIe Generation | — | 5★ |
| External | ✗ | ✗ |
| Performance | ||
| Sequential Read (MB/s) | ||
| Sequential Write (MB/s) | ||
| Random Read (IOPS) | ||
| Random Write (IOPS) | ||
| Hardware | ||
| NAND | TLC | TLC |
| DRAM Cache | — | ✓★ |
| Reliability | ||
| Endurance (TBW) | ||
| MTBF (hours) | ||
| Warranty (years) | 5★ | 3 |
| Features | ||
| Heatsink | — | ✓★ |
| Hardware Encryption | — | ✓★ |
Pros & Cons
Western Digital WD Blue 500GB SATA III 2.5"
- Strong endurance (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong social proof (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong user sentiment (79th percentile)
- Below average capacity (27th percentile)
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 1TB PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
- Strong feature (100th percentile)100th %ile
- Strong user sentiment (100th percentile)100th %ile
- Strong random (99th percentile)99th %ile
- Strong speed (98th percentile)98th %ile
Pricing
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 1TB PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280 offers 1.3x better value for money
Verdict
Scores 95 overall, wins 6 of 6 usage categories and 9 of 17 specs.
