Now they’re even putting heat sinks on storage cards. Western Digital is announcing its new WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD (solid state drive) for the PC gaming market.
The PC-based second-generation SSD has fast transfer speeds, optimized power, and an overall design built for gamers who want a competitive edge, said Matt Woithe, product manager at WD, in an interview with GamesBeat.
Capacity ranges from 250 gigabytes to two terabytes on a single-sided M.2 form factor for desktops or custom-built gaming rigs. It has an integrated heat sink that helps maintain the speed and lower the temperature. And that means you can get a competitive boost during intense PC gameplay, Woithe said. There are up to 16 flash memory chips on each single-sided SSD.
“This is built for multitasking and gaming,” Woithe said. “Our heat sink adds thermal efficiency, and it looks cool. Games are getting bigger. Installation and loading times are getting longer.”
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Graphics technologies are taking PC gaming to new heights. But to take advantage of the increasingly immersive and responsive in-game experiences, gamers have to deal with higher performance demands and large file sizes, with some games approaching file sizes exceeding 100 gigabytes.
Top-level transfer speeds give users near-instant access to their games and files, getting them back into game action more quickly and boosting the system’s overall responsiveness.
To support very fast read and write data speeds, traditional NVMe SSDs are designed to throttle performance in order to keep the drive’s operating temperature within acceptable parameters. Designed in collaboration with EKWB, a creator of PC cooling technology, the WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD will offer an option for a sleek EKWB-designed heat sink for capacities ranging from 500 gigabytes to two terabytes. That version will be coming in the spring. I liked the fins on the design, which resembles a car radiator.
The heatsink dissipates heat from the drive during intense operation, allowing the SSD to run for longer periods of sustained read and write performance, compared with non-heatsink versions.
Western Digital also has added a Gaming Mode feature to a WD Black-exclusive SSD Dashboard, allowing users the flexibility to disable low power mode and keep the SSD running at peak levels for longer sustained execution when they want non-stop, consistent high performance.
The second-generation NVMe SSD to be built on Western Digital’s own 3D NAND technology, firmware and controller, the WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD features a vertically integrated SSD platform designed to maximize NVMe SSD performance for gaming and hardware enthusiasts looking to build or upgrade their gaming PC or a custom PC.
It has sequential read performance up to 3,470 MB/s for the 500 gigabyte and one terabyte versions, and its write performance is up to 3,000MB/s for the one terabyte model.
Above: WD’s new SSD can store 250 gigabytes to 2 terabytes.
Combined with its large capacity, the new drive reduces the time required for users to access their programs and files, load games, and transfer large games, 4K/8K videos, and other data-intensive content.
Additionally, the SSD features up to 515,000 random-read and 560,000 random-write IOPs (for 1TB model) for extreme throughput, allowing the SSD to manage multi-threaded applications and data-intensive environments. This enables higher responsiveness when accessing multiple files in various locations to load new levels or games, with less time required to save in-game progress during gameplay.
WD will be showcasing the new products at PAX South (Booth #10683) in San Antonio. The WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD offers up to 600TBW endurance for the one terabyte model and up to 1200TBW for the upcoming two terabyte model. With a single-sided M.2 2280 form factor, the WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD comes in capacities from 250 gigabytes up to two terabytes, with prices ranging from $80 to $500.
The heat sink version will be available globally in the spring at select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers, system integrators and distributors. The pricing on the heat sink versions will be announced later. I’ve got a review unit and I’ll report back on how it works.
Rivals include Samsung and Plextor.
