WD Black SN8100 review – beats Samsung to become the fastest ever gaming SSD

The massive weapons are lastly popping out to hitch the PCIe 5.0 SSD celebration, first with the Samsung 9100 Professional, and now with the brand new WD Black SN8100, and each drives are aiming their banks of high-speed flash reminiscence squarely on the ‘quickest ever gaming SSD’ title. In actual fact, in most of our checks, the WD Black SN8100 has the brand new Samsung drive squarely overwhelmed, which isn’t any imply feat.

It is not low-cost, after all, however if you would like the perfect SSD obtainable, the WD Black SN8100 has just about nailed the temporary in relation to efficiency. Cunningly, WD has additionally undercut the value of the Samsung 9100 Professional throughout the board, by simply sufficient to make it appear to be a no brainer. So what makes this new drive tick? Let’s have a look inside.

Specs

The brand new WD Black SN8100 is offered in a spread of capacities, beginning with 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB drives, with the promise that 8TB drives will likely be arriving in Fall 2025. Sandisk (which owns the WD Black model for SSDs) may also be releasing heatsink-equipped variations of the drives later this yr, and whereas it hasn’t revealed a launch date for them but, the corporate did inform me to anticipate them to reach sooner quite than later this yr, so there hopefully will not be too lengthy to attend.

WD has proven us the brand new heatsink design, although, which, just like the Samsung 9100 Professional, is way shorter and sleeker than among the weird contraptions we have seen strapped to PCIe 5.0 SSDs currently. It has a single RGB LED on it, and is made with anodized aluminum with double thermal interface materials (TIM) pads.

The design has additionally been tweaked, so the airflow channels are lower horizontally, quite than vertically, into the heatsink, so it is higher optimized for the standard greatest PC case designs, which have front-to-back airflow configurations. Within the meantime, although, solely the usual heatsink-less variations can be found, and the drive will get scorching, so you are going to want to suit it to the chunkiest heatsink obtainable in your motherboard.

WD has additionally been curiously cagey about among the inner specs of the drive. Earlier WD Black SN8100 controller leaks had pointed to the drive having a brand new super-fast Silicon Movement SM2508 controller, however Sandisk is barely formally saying that the drive has a customized 8-channel controller with proprietary Sandisk firmware. Speculatively, I would guess that it does certainly use a tweaked SM2508 controller with Sandisk firmware, however solely WD might assure that for certain.

The kind of cache used within the drive has additionally been saved below wraps, and we’ve got to hope that this secretive method to specs is not all the way down to Sandisk doubtlessly wanting the liberty to swap out among the elements for others at a later date, doubtlessly altering the efficiency of the drive whereas maintaining the identical model.

The place Sandisk has been extra forthcoming is with the kind of flash reminiscence used within the drive, with the drive making use of Kioxia BiCs8 TLC 3D CBA NAND. Sandisk is making some daring claims about this {hardware} combo too, saying its 2TB and 4TB SN8100 drives can learn at as much as 14,900MB/s and write at 14,000MB/s at peak sequential efficiency, beating the Samsung 9100 Professional (14,800MB/s and 13,400MB/s respectively) on each counts.

Lastly, as with most SSDs as of late, the endurance ranking, measured in terabytes written (TBW), scales as you add extra capability to the drive. The WD Black SN8100 matches the Samsung 9100 Professional with its endurance figures of 600TBW for the 1TB drive, 1,200TBW for the 2TB mannequin, and a pair of,400TBW for the 4TB drive.

Software program

The WD software program package deal has had a little bit of an overhaul currently, with the WD Dashboard suite being deserted, and the WD Kitfox suite solely being for arduous drives. Nevertheless, the Sandisk Dashboard now covers all of the necessities, providing you with a straightforward strategy to monitor your drive’s efficiency and temperature, and likewise to disable options akin to TRIM and the write cache if you would like (although I do not advocate it).

In contrast to Samsung’s complete Magician software program package deal, there is not any strategy to simply clone one drive to a different utilizing Sandisk Dashboard, however you’ll be able to obtain a free five-year license to a WD version of Acronis True Picture, which does the identical job and significantly extra moreover.

I attempted it out by cloning the Home windows set up from our WD Black SN850X to the brand new SN8100, and it labored fantastic, whereas additionally being simple to make use of. There is no signal of the Recreation mode that was included with WD Dashboard, however all of the necessities are accessible with this SSD in a single type or one other.

How we take a look at

To evaluate SSD efficiency, I run a mixture of artificial checks utilizing CrystalDiskMark and AS-SSD, to gauge peak sequential and random efficiency. I additionally run the PCMark 10 full system drive benchmark to get an concept of real-world efficiency as a system drive, and run the 3DMark storage benchmark to evaluate gaming efficiency, which is the precedence for our critiques as a gaming web site.

The latter runs traces from actual video games, together with Battlefield V, The Outer Worlds, and Overwatch, to measure efficiency for sport installs, saves, and loading instances. All of the SSDs within the graphs beneath have been examined on the identical take a look at rig, which has the specs listed beneath. All checks are carried out in a full PC construct inside a Cooler Grasp MasterCase H500P case with two 200mm entrance consumption followers and one 140mm exhaust fan, with the glass aspect panel connected, to get a practical concept of thermal efficiency and throttling.

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
• CPU cooler: Corsair H100X Elite
• Motherboard: MSI X870E Carbon WiFi
• RAM: G.Talent TridentZ RGB 6,000MT/s, CL28
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080
• SSD (system drive): WD Black SN850X heatsink 2TB

Benchmarks

With its highly effective SSD {hardware}, the WD Black SN8100 is an absolute pace demon in our benchmarks, notably in relation to peak sequential efficiency. The flagship determine is that 14,900MB/s learn declare, and amazingly, the WD Black SN8100 very practically hits it at 14,897MB/s – the distinction is negligible. Comparatively, the Samsung 9100 Professional 2TB is 252MB/s off the tempo, and even the 4TB 9100 Professional (the quickest mannequin) is 172MB/s behind.

That is a strong sufficient lead in itself, however the place the WD Black SN8100 actually makes an announcement right here is in relation to sequential write pace. In actual fact, in our checks the WD Black SN8100 even surpassed SanDisk’s 14,000 declare by 88MB/s within the CrystalDiskMark sequential write pace take a look at, making it 638MB/s faster than the quickest end result from the Samsung 9100 Professional.

Keep in mind that, except you genuinely plan to run large-scale file transfers between quick drives regularly, these peak sequential outcomes are extra about bragging rights than real-world efficiency, the place variations between drives are sometimes a lot smaller. Nevertheless, the WD Black SN8100 has nonetheless made an announcement right here – there is not any quicker desktop SSD in relation to peak learn and write speeds.

Fortunately, the WD Black SN8100 additionally beats the competitors in just about each different area too. One notable end result was within the CrystalDiskMark random 4K take a look at, the place PCIe 4.0 drives are sometimes faster than their PCIe 5.0 counterparts, however the WD BLack SN8100 beats its predecessor, the SN850X, right here in relation to random reads, and its random write pace can be properly forward of different PCIe 5.0 drives we have examined.

Transferring to the AS-SSD random 4K take a look at, measured in IOPS, once more noticed the WD Black SN8100 pummel the competitors. The random learn pace of 1,168,126 IOPS is massively in entrance of the 976,640 from the following quickest drive, the Samsung 9100 Professional, and the random write pace of 1,189,511 can be quicker than each different drive we have examined.

Transferring to the real-world efficiency checks additionally confirmed the WD Black SN8100 being a formidable pressure. The PCMark 10 full system drive take a look at, which measures how an SSD performs as your basic Home windows drive whereas performing a lot of storage-intensive duties, confirmed the WD Black SN8100 averaging 650MB/s. That is 13MB/s in entrance of the already-impressive Samsung 9100 Professional’s end result, and properly in entrance of the opposite drives we have examined lately.

Entry instances are additionally sturdy on this take a look at, with the WD Black SN8i100’s 38µs entry time being the quickest we have recorded – it solely simply beats the Samsung 9100 Professional right here, however it’s considerably faster than the 64µs from the WD Black SN850X, displaying a advantage of the quicker drive in Home windows.

In the meantime, the 3DMark storage benchmarks present extra of a combined image, however one the place the WD Black SN8100X is at all times sturdy. Its sport load pace for Battlefield V, for instance, at 1,591MB/s is once more the quickest end result we have recorded, beating the Samsung 9100 Professional, and being 620MB/s faster than the PCIe 4.0 WD Black SN850X.

Within the Overwatch sport load time take a look at, the Samsung 9100 Professional pulled forward by 10MB/s, however the WD Black SN8100 remains to be quicker than the opposite PCIe 5.0 drives we have lately examined right here, and it is actually not far off the Samsung drive both.

Likewise, the sport set up time for The Outer Worlds noticed the WD Black SN8100 fall behind the highest end result (from the Essential T705), however solely by 3MB/s. Comparatively, the Samsung 9100 Professional is 54MB/s behind the WD Black SN8100 on this take a look at.

In actual fact, the one take a look at the place the WD Black SN8100 did not come both first or second in our checks was within the save sport time for The Outer Worlds, the place each the Corsair MP700 and Essential T705 have the higher hand, displaying that peak sequential speeds do not at all times translate into quick speeds in every single place. Once more, although, the WD Black SN8100 is forward of the Samsung 9100 Professional right here.

Temperature

One space the place the WD Black SN8100 struggles in comparison with the competitors, nevertheless, is thermals. The Samsung 9100 Professional confirmed that you could possibly construct a high-speed drive PCIe 5.0 drive that did not want an enormous heatsink to maintain it in test, and I hoped the WD Black SN8100 would obtain the identical feat.

Nevertheless, be warned that the WD drive will get scorching. There have been no factors the place it entered warning standing and throttled throughout our checks, however it did hit a peak temperature of 73°C throughout our stress take a look at, below back-to-back CrystalDiskMark sequential runs.

This was whereas the drive was sitting below the dual-pad PCIe 5.0 heatsink equipped with our MSI X870E Carbon WiFi motherboard, however it could properly run cooler with the optimized WD heatsink on prime of it when these drives come out. In spite of everything, the Samsung 9100 Professional additionally runs cooler with its personal heatsink than with this MSI cooler. Nevertheless, the Samsung 9100 Professional additionally solely peaked at 70°C when utilizing the identical MSI cooler with our take a look at motherboard, displaying that the WD Black SN8100 runs comparatively scorching.

It is also quicker, after all, particularly in relation to sequential write checks, and in contrast to many different PCIe 5.0 drives, it would not require an outsized heatsink or an lively cooling fan that you’ll want to energy individually. Nevertheless, you may wish to make certain an honest quantity of airflow is directed over this SSD out of your case followers, and use the chunkiest heatsink attainable. In case your motherboard comes with a selected PCIe 5.0 SSD heatsink, that is the one you may want to make use of.

Worth

The WD Black SN8100 value is $179.99 / £149.99 for the 1TB drive, which undercuts the equal Samsung 9100 Professional by $20 and gives higher worth for the efficiency on supply. Nevertheless, that is nonetheless costly for a 1TB drive, particularly if you get 1TB PCIe 4.0 drives that also do the job fantastic for lower than half that quantity.

This determine then goes as much as $279.99 / £226.99 for the 2TB WD Black SN8100, which is once more $20 cheaper than the equal mannequin of the Samsung 9100 Professional. In the meantime, the 4TB WD Black SN8100 value is $549.99 / £415.99 at MSRP, which matches the value of the Samsung 9100 Professional. When the heatsink variations of the WD Black SN8100 arrive later in 2025 they’ll every add $20 to the MSRP of the equal naked drive.

Mainly, the WD Black SN8100 is mostly a bit cheaper than the equal competitors from Samsung, however keep in mind that you would be able to nonetheless get very quick efficiency from different PCIe 5.0 drives which might be less expensive. A 1TB Corsair MP700 Elite, for instance, has a slower claimed peak pace of 10,000MB/s, however is significantly cheaper at $119.99, and also you nearly definitely will not discover a lot of a distinction in real-world use.

Options

Samsung 9100 Professional

I am anticipating the Samsung 9100 Professional to often commerce pricing blows with the WD Black SN8100, and you’ll already choose up this Samsung drive for a similar value because the WD drive, because of some pre-emptive value cuts.

The WD Black SN8100 remains to be the superior drive, notably in relation to write efficiency, however the Samsung runs a bit cooler and is not far off the tempo. If the Samsung 9100 Professional is ever cheaper than the WD Black SN8100, then it is completely price contemplating.

Learn our full Samsung 9100 Professional overview.

WD Black SN850X

The brand new WD efficiency king may be twice as quick on paper, however in fact, the WD Black SN850X remains to be lots quick sufficient for most individuals’s wants, and the distinction between the 2 drives diminishes when you get away from peak sequential speeds. At the moment going for simply $94.99 for the 1TB drive, or $149 for a 2TB drive, you’ll be able to mainly get practically as a lot capability for twice the value in the event you go for this cheaper drive as a substitute.

Learn our full WD Black SN850X overview.

Verdict

We now have a brand new king of the gaming SSD fort, all hail King WD Black SN8100. With phenomenally quick efficiency claims, which in some instances are even exceeded by our personal benchmark outcomes, the WD Black SN8100 has already overwhelmed the Samsung 9100 Professional into submission lower than a month after it got here out.

Particularly, its sequential write efficiency is properly forward of any of the competitors, however real-world efficiency checks additionally profit from this super-fast drive, from Home windows system drive duties to sport load instances. On the draw back, this high-speed drive does run scorching, so you may want to purchase both the heatsink-equipped model or the chunky PCIe 5.0 SSD heatsink that is equipped together with your motherboard, if it has one – the drive may also want an honest quantity of airflow operating over it.

Nevertheless, whereas the MSRP of the WD Black SN8100 is decrease than that of the Samsung 9100 Professional, the latter has already began to return down in value, and the brand new WD drive remains to be very costly for the capacities on supply. Sure, it is quick, however you will get different drives that are not far off the tempo for a lot much less cash elsewhere, and also you’re unlikely to note the distinction in efficiency generally.

If you need the best possible SSD that cash should buy, although, and you’ll afford the outlay, then there is not any doubt about it – you need the WD Black SN8100. Now let’s have a look at how the remainder of the SSD market responds – hopefully, some cheaper costs will likely be on the way in which shortly.

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