WD Black SN750 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD Review: Striking Successor
Western Digital recently refreshed their fastest, most capable consumer NVMe SSD, now called the WD Black SN750. Today we’re reviewing two of the 1TB models. The first is a direct replacement for last year’s extremely well performing WD Black NVMe SSD and the second model comes equipped with a custom heatsink. Western Digital is using the same hardware as the previous gen NVMe SSD, yet they’ve managed to squeeze out more performance on the new SN750 model. Let’s see just how much and if it their paper stats translate into real world results!
Unboxing & Overview
For simplicity, we will be using the unboxing pictures of the new heatsink version of the 1TB WD Black SN750. Starting with the outside you’ll see a glimpse of the heatsink as well as Western Digital’s new WD Black branding. Also displayed is the increased read speed of 3,470 MB/s. Speaking of which, every model of the SN750 receives an increase in speed.
The back of the box shows off the barcode section of the drive where you can see the capacity, serial number and model number. There’s also a photo of the full heatsink as well as a few badges for 3D NAND, Non-Volatile Memory Express and the generous 5-year warranty Western Digital provides for their product.
Here it is, unboxed and ready to be installed! Western Digital created a secure padded insert for the drive to rest in.
Here’s the back where you can see the barcode with model number, etc.
Finally, a warranty and technical support booklet is included.
Upon closer inspection we see the beautiful heatsink on which Western Digital collaborated with EK Water Blocks. It has a rugged, industrial look to it and its sharp silver lines contrast well with the black metal housing.
Even the Torx screws securing the heatsink to the drive add an additional level of depth to the design, like rivets on an airplane.
Performance
The WD Black SN750 is built using the same 64L 3D NAND and NVMe controller as the 2018 version which we will refer to as the 2nd gen model. The 2nd gen WD Black NVMe SSD was a monumental upgrade over the first WD Black drive and the 3rd generation SN750 builds upon that success. Specs are as follows:
| 2TB *NEW* | 1TB | 500GB | 250GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 3,400 MB/s Read | Up to 3,470 MB/s Read (+70 MB/s) | Up to 3,430 MB/s Read (+30 MB/s) | Up to 3,100 MB/s Read (+100 MB/s) |
| Up to 2,900 MB/s Write | Up to 3,000 MB/s Write (+200 MB/s) | Up to 2,600 MB/s Write (+100 MB/s) | Up to 1,600 MB/s Write |
| 1,200 TBW | 600 TBW | 300 TBW | 200 TBW |
These specifications are among the best performing NVMe SSDs available on the market today. Not only would these drives prove to be solid choices in gaming PCs, they are excellent in workstation computers for video editing and other high resource demanding applications.
The WD Black SN750 1TB without heatsink.
The SN750 has two 64L 3D TLC NAND packages and one 1GB of DRAM. The NAND density of the 250GB to 1TB models has a 256GB density per die, the 1TB model we tested has 16 dies per package. The larger 2TB variant has 512GB per die in the same configuration.
Our performance results are as follows:
| WD Black SN750 1TB | WD Black NVMe (2018) 1TB | Samsung 970 Evo 1TB | Samsung 970 Pro 1TB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,498 MB/s Read | 3,466 MB/s Read | 3,613 MB/s Read | 3,581 MB/s Read |
| 3,033 MB/s Write | 2,794 MB/s Write | 2,467 MB/s Write | 2,744 MB/s Write |
As you can see, we either met or surpassed Western Digital’s stated specifications and as promised, the SN750 outperformed its predecessor. The write speeds are where the SN750 truly shines, even besting the Samsung 970 Pro and outright demolishing the 970 Evo. Read speeds are in line with both Samsung drives which are widely considered to be two of the very best NVMe SSDs.
The back of the non-heatsink WD Black SN750 1TB.
We tested using an 8700K on an ASRock Phantom Gaming Z390 motherboard with the latest BIOS running the latest version of Windows 10. Speaking of which, after formatting, the 1TB version has 931.5GB of usable space.
The SSD is an essential component in modern computers and stout reliability is vital.
The WD Black SN750 with heatsink in our Sliger SM560 build.
No one wants to lose months, years or decades of data and Western Digital wants you to know that the SN750 is a dependable drive. After several months of heavy use in our office, the SN750 has proven itself a very reliable drive without any issues whatsoever.
WD Black SSD Dashboard
One of the most exciting features of the WD Black SN750 SSD is the software that Western Digital provides for owners. This software allows gamers to turn off low power mode through the firmware for additional performance via longer sustained execution during peak loads. In addition, users have access to essential stats at a glance such as temperature, interface speed, drive capacity, life remaining, S.M.A.R.T. status, etc. Finally, you can securely erase the drive should you ever decide to sell or give it to someone.
To top it all off, Western Digital includes a 5-year warranty which we’re confident you’ll never need to use. Nevertheless, it’s nice to have the confidence to provide such a generous warranty for a computer component that will be subject to heavy use in nearly every PC it is installed in.
Conclusion
The third gen WD Black NVMe SSD builds upon a well refined platform by improving already great performance and enhancing the aesthetics of the drive while maintaining the reliability and consistency we’ve come to trust in the WD Black brand. The new WD Black SN750 is also available in a 2TB variant which is great for builders who prefer to use one large storage drive. Finally, additional features present in Western Digital’s SSD dashboard software add to capability and versatility of the SN750.
Western Digital has again proven themselves a steady, reliable manufacturer of high-performance M.2 NVMe SSDs. If you’ve never experienced a proper NVMe drive, you’ll quickly appreciate it and if you are looking for an NVMe drive that will serve you well for many years to come, the WD Black SN750 is that drive. We highly recommend the WD Black SN750 to all system builders!