Sandisk announces the new WD Black SN8100, promising speeds up to 14.9 GB/s. The drive is out, and reviews are being published.
| Name | WD Black SN8100 | Samsung 9100 Pro | Crucial T705 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Memory | Kioxia’s BiCS8 TLC 3D CBA NAND | 236-Layer Samsung TLC NAND | 232-Layer Micron TLC NAND |
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| Controller | Silicon Motion SM2508 | Samsung Proprietary (Presto) | Phison E26 |
| DRAM | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| TBW | 1TB: 600 TB 2TB: 1200 TB 4TB: 2,400TBW | 1TB: 600 TB 2TB: 1200 TB 4TB: 2,400TBW | 1TB: 600 TB 2TB: 1200 TB 4TB: 2,400TBW |
| Peak Sequential Performance (Read/Write) | 14,900/14,000 MB/s | 14,800/13,400 MB/s | 14,100/12,600 MB/s |
| Peak Random Performance | 2,300K/2,400K IOPS | 2,200K IOPS/2,600K IOPS | 1,500K/1,800K IOPS |
So far, 2025 is going great for the Gen 5.0 NVMe category. After the huge launches of Crucial T705, T700, Renegade G5, and Samsung 9100 Pro, WD has officially launched its first Gen 5.0 SSD: the WD Black SN8100. We are quite aware of the success that the WD Black SN850X has had in the Gen 4.0 category. Now, in the Gen 5.0 category, they are surely going to have a separate place.
So what’s the big deal? Essentially, this internal SSD is boasting some ridiculous speeds. We’re talking faster loading into games than you can get a snack – supposedly, it can achieve read speeds of up to a staggering 14,900MB/s and write speeds of up to 14,000MB/s on the larger models (2TB and 4TB). And it’s got some ridiculous random performance with more than 2.3 million IOPS on those same models. Translation: your PC’s gonna be lightning fast.
Even better is that it’s supporting the new PCIe Gen 5 technology. WD is claiming it’s twice as fast as Gen 4 hardware but manages to consume roughly the same power (around 7W on average). That’s having a sports car and still being fuel-efficient – a double advantage for your frames per second and your utility bill.
They’re also discussing some snazzy new tech on the inside known as TLC 3D CBA NAND, which supposedly not only makes it extremely fast but also trustworthy. So go ahead, rage quit all you desire; your precious game saves and projects should be safe.
And for all the RGB enthusiasts out there, they’re releasing one with a heatsink and adjustable lights in Fall 2025. Because your setup should look as powerful as it performs.
Along with that, with storage capacities of up to 4TB, you can now stop deleting games to accommodate new ones (we’ve all done this). You will have room for all of it – your OS, your huge game collection, and even your enormous files for your creative endeavors, or AI workloads.
The Gen 5.0 NVMe category is slowly filling with the drives that are now capable of utilizing most of the allowed bandwidth. If I just have a brief look, the biggest competitors are the Samsung 9100 Pro, Crucial T705, and Kingston Renegade G5.
I just had a look at some of the latest reviews and was quite impressed by the performance it has to offer. However, I am still waiting for Tom’s Hardware’s review of the drive so that I can reach a conclusion. The conclusion is whether the SN8100 is a beast or just another over-hyped product with little to no impact on real-world computing problems.