Roughly two weeks after Samsung took the wraps off its new 980 PRO solid-state lineup, Western Digital is showcasing its own head-to-head competitor. The new WD SN850 solid-state drive actually matches Samsung’s read speeds and manages to beat in write performance. Numbers shared by Western Digital work out to 7,000MB/s read and 5,300MB/s write. This leap in speed is made possible by PCIe 4, an upgrade that continues to give PC gaming a significant boost. WD has also unveiled a new Thunderbolt 3 dock and a PCIe 3 add-in card. Keep reading to learn more.
WD SN850 solid-state drive
The latest solid-state drive from Western Digital serves as an upgrade to SN750. When it comes to read speeds, the new WD SN850 doubles performance with up to 7,000MB/s transfers. Write speeds also see a remarkable 80% improvement, jumping from 3,000MB/s to 5400MB/s.
Western Digital’s new solid-state drive lineup will be available in three capacities: 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB. Much like Samsung 980 PRO, exact pricing is yet to be determined, but cost will start at $149.99. Samsung is able to undercut Western Digital in this department by shipping a 250GB model, but apparently WD hasn’t deemed that size worth manufacturing. Select models of WD SN850 solid-state drives will be available for purchase by the end of October.
“As game developers move towards creating immersive titles that require higher performance, consumers need to equip themselves with the best tools to stay up-to-speed,” said Jim Welsh, senior vice president, Consumer Solutions, Western Digital.
WD AN1500 NVMe SSD Add-in-Card
The SN850 is not the only new product Western Digital has up its sleeve. There’s also a anew AN1500 NVMe SSD Add-in-Card. It’s touted as “one of the fastest PCIe Gen3 x8 solutions on the market.” The unit is powered by two internal solid-state drives in RAID 0, allowing it to hit up to 6500MB/s read and 4100MB/s write speeds.
Three models are available with 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities. According to Western Digital, pricing starts at $299.99 and goes up from there. Amazon already has these listed, but each capacity shows as temporarily out of stock.
WD D50 Game Dock
Last on the list we have WD D50 Game Dock. This Thunderbolt 3-ready hub can be outfitted with a 1TB or 2TB NVMe SSD. It can also ship without an SSD. I/O solutions include two Thunderbolt 3 ports, DisplayPort 1.4, dual USB-C 10Gb/s inputs, three USB-A 10Gb/s slots, and audio in/out alongside Gigabit Ethernet. Official pricing starts at $319.99.
9to5Toys’ Take
Having recently began dabbling in the PC gaming space, I have been nothing short of amazed by just how much more powerful of an experience it can be compared to consoles. Sure, I still haven’t gotten my hands on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S/X, but recent releases from NVIDIA, Samsung, and now Western Digital paint a clear picture that PCs will continue to stay far ahead of what Sony, Microsoft, and certainly Nintendo can crank out.
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