WD_Black SN7100: M.2 SSD supposedly twice as powerful as its predecessor 63 comments
Image: Western Digital
With new models, Western Digital is gradually increasing the performance level of its own SSD fleet. The WD_Black SN7100 is to be seen as the successor to the SN770 and now almost fully exploits the PCIe 4.0 interface.
WD_Black SN7100 as the successor to the SN770
The product numbers now reach four digits and just as the WD Blue SN5000 (test) gradually inherits the SN580 (test), so will the WD_Black SN770 (test), which now overtakes the faster SN7100.
While the SN770 with its 5,150 MB/s read and 4,850 MB/s write is gradually being downgraded to the entry-level class, the new WD_Black SN7100 operates almost at the limit of PCIe 4.0 x4 with 7,250 MB/s and 6,900 MB/s. . Nevertheless, there is still a small gap to the flagship WD_Black SN850X (test). In addition, the SN7100 does not have its own DRAM cache. This only leads to performance losses in very rare cases, but increases energy efficiency. Incidentally, this figure is said to be twice as high as that of the SN770, announces Western Digital. The performance increase is 35 percent. WD_Black SN7100
The WD-Black SN7100 is offered in the usual M.2 2280 format with storage capacities of 500 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB. A 4 TB option, which is increasingly in demand, is not available here at the moment. The performance values mentioned apply to the 1 TB and 2 TB models. The 500 GB version is a little slower and should read data at a maximum of 6,800 MB/s and write at up to 5,800 MB/s.
No information has yet been given about the controller, but an internal 4-channel chip is likely. As for the memory, there is only talk of “the next generation TLC 3D NAND from Western Digital”. At least that’s what the latest generation suggests in the form of the BiCS8 flash developed in collaboration with Kioxia. The editorial team has already been able to examine the BiCS8-TLC-NAND with 218 layers, 1 Tbit per die and the fastest NAND interface to date of 3,600 MT/s on the Corsair MP700 Elite (test).
Price, specifications and availability
The WD_Black SN7100 is launched with recommended retail prices of around 66 euros (500 GB), 96 euros (1 TB) and 161 euros (2 TB). With widespread availability expected in just a few weeks, prices should drop in the face of competition from online retailers.
In a nutshell: Western Digital also introduced the WD_BLACK C50 expansion card for Xbox with 2TB, which will be available for around $200. The editorial team published its own report on the new SanDisk Extreme Pro external SSDs with USB4 and SanDisk Extreme Portable with 8TB.
Topics: M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 Flash Memory Western Digital SSD Storage Source: Western Digital
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