SSD is mainstream: few Dubai gamers will build a new gaming PC that doesn’t contain an SSD drive, at least for bootup and OS storage. But with SSDs becoming cheaper and cheaper lots of people are choosing to buy larger SSDs for comprehensive storage solutions, the speed benefits are just too hard to ignore.

WD SN750

Lots of speed, Lots of storage

WD’s new Black SN750 comes in sizes up to 2TB, at prices which won’t break the bank. The value factor is hard to ignore with the latest WD Black SSD, but performance is perhaps the biggest reason to buy it. In fact, the previous WD Black SSD can be thought of as the drive that finally broke Samsung’s grip on SSD storage thanks to its incredible combination of low price and high speed.

WD SN750 Specs

What's the Specs?

Size makes a difference to the technical specs of SSD drives, including read/write speeds and longevity. Let’s look at the 1TB edition. The 1TB WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD sets out to compete directly with the Samsung 970 Pro but promises to do so at a much lower price point.

Western Digital’s quoted specs say it all. The company promises 3,470 MB/s read speeds and 3,000 MB/s write speeds. In comparison, the Samsung drive promises 3,500 MB/s for reads and 2,700 MB/s for writes. Another drive you could compare the WD drive with is Corsair’s speed-focused Force Series, here the MP510 mode promises 3,480 MB/s for reads and 3,000 MB/s for writes. Again, the Western Digital drive promises a lot given the low asking price.

WD SN750 Heatsink

What’s it like in real life?

Specifications only tell a part of the story, to find out which SSD drive performs the best you really need to run benchmarks. Before we dive into how the SN750 series does in real life, we need to highlight Western Digital’s unique game mode. Install the SSD Dashboard supplied by the company and you get access to a gaming Mode switch which deactivates the drives low power state and which promises to reduce latency.

In benchmarks the SN750 generally beats the Samsun 970 Pro, switching on game mode creates an even bigger gap. Interestingly, despite relatively modest changes from the original WD Black SSD series, the SN750 range is offering a very large performance improvement.

A Value Leader

It looks like Western Digital has really created a top-value SSD drive. It’s priced closer to the Samsung 970 Evo than the 970 Pro, yet manages to solidly beat both drives in benchmarks. Unless you are on a very tight budget for your SSD this appears to be the drive to buy.