WD Black SN850X: Faster version of NVMe SSD to launch soon

With the WD Black SN850X, manufacturer Western Digital will soon launch a faster version of the SN850. After the introduction in May 2022, more information and the official prices now follow, which point to a market launch soon.

The WD Black SN850X in detail

Some things were already known about the WD Black SN850X NVMe SSD. The PCIe 4.0 SSD realizes even higher speeds than the SN850 with up to 7,300 MB/s. The controller is a specially developed one. A specially developed model with eight NAND memory channels is used for the controller, which is supposed to increase the performance in addition to a DRAM cache.

The X-model is offered in the M.2-2280 form factor and in capacities of 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB and, if desired, also with a heat sink including RGB lighting. A special feature marks the so-called Predictive Loading, which is supposed to predict the load times and caches data independently.

This is said to result in a speed boost of around 18 percent compared to the SN850, as the manufacturer itself had proven based on benchmark results in 3DMark Storage. The now published datasheet for the WD Black SN850X provides more technical details.

Game Mode 2.0 and performance specs

For example, Western Digital’s WD Black SN850X features a new “Game Mode 2.0” that is supposed to further increase performance in games. This is also due to the aforementioned predictive loading.

In terms of speeds, the SSD realizes the maximum of what the PCIe Gen 4 standard is capable of. All three models of the SSD share the 7,300 MB/s in sequential reading, while the variants with 4 TB and 2 TB write with 6,600 MB/s sequentially. The smallest variant with 1 TB of storage, on the other hand, achieves 6,300 MB/s.

In addition, there are up to 1.2 million IOPS in 4K random read (800,000 in the 1 TB model), as well as 1.1 million IOPS in 4K random write in all variants. The manufacturer estimates the lifespan at 2,400 TBW (4 TB), 1,200 TBW (2 TB) and 600 TBW (1 TB).

Compatible is the WD Black SN850X beside PCs of course also with the PlayStation 5. At least in the variant with Heatsink.

WD Black SN850X price and availability

In the US shop, Western Digital already lists the WD Black SN850X, which points to an imminent market launch – although the gaming SSD cannot yet be found on the German website. The price starts at an MSRP of $159.99 for the 1 TB model without the heatsink.

The heatsink results in a surcharge of 20 US dollars (179.99 USD). The 2 TB model starts at 289.99 US dollars, and the full 4 TB comes in at 699.99 US dollars.