WD's new Black SN750 uses the same 64-layer memory/ WD controller combination as the previous Black NVMe drive but with updated firmware to squeeze some more performance out of the drive.
With WD being one of the select group of SSD manufacturers that have all the major components of a drive under their own control, they are able to fine tune the firmware to get the best out of the drives components.
The standard SN750 comes in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities but arriving very soon will be another version of the drive fitted with a stylish EKWB solid aluminium heatsink. This version of the drive brings with it a larger 2TB flagship model.
WD quote Sequential read/write figures for drive of up to 3,470MB/s and 3,000MB/s respectively. We could confirm these figures with the ATTO benchmark, the tested drive producing a read score of 3,504MB/s with writes at 3,026MB/s. That ATTO read figure makes the SN750 the fastest consumer NVMe SSD we have tested to date. Incidentally, those official ratings for the SN750 are an improvement on the previous Black NVMe drive which was rated at up 3,400MB/s reads and up to 2,800MB/s for writes.
Random 4K performance is quoted as up to 515,000 IOPS for reads and up to 560,000 IOPS for writes which again is faster than the previous model, some 15,000 IOPS for reads and a massive 160,000 IOPS improvement for writes. However under our tests we couldn't get close to those maximum figures, the best we saw was 326,381 IOPS for reads and 335,910 IOPS for writes.
With the launch of the SN750 comes a very fancy refresh of WD's SSD Dashboard which now includes a Gaming Mode. When turned on, the firmware disables the power saving features that are incorporated into the drive allowing lower latencies and more performance. The one annoying aspect of this Gaming Mode is that you have to re-start the system to enable/disable it.
For the launch of the new drive and to re-enforce its gaming use, WD have re-vamped the branding of the Black SSD range with restyled labelling and product packaging designs.
We found the WD Black 1TB SN750 available buy from Overclockers for £219.95 (inc VAT) HERE
Pro
- Strong Sequential Performance.
- Updated SSD Dashboard software.
Cons
- The 4K performance was disappointing in some of the tests.
KitGuru says: There's nothing really new about WD's Black SN750 drive compared to the previous Black NVMe drive but with some updates to the firmware WD have got the new drive to perform better – particularly when it comes to Sequential performance.