Western Digital has introduced its new series of SSDs aimed at mainstream PCs, which combine high performance and low cost. The Western Digital PC SN5000S family of DRAM-less drives uses the company's 3D QLC NAND memory and an in-house-developed platform, so the SSDs promise to be relatively inexpensive. Meanwhile, their sequential read performance reaches 6,000 MB/s.
Western Digital's PC SN5000S drives are based on the company's latest in-house controller, which supports a PCIe 4.0 x4 host interface and BICS6 3D QLC NAND memory. The controller fully supports Western Digital's nCache 4.0 HybridSLC technology with endurance monitoring to ensure decent performance, RSA-3K and SHA-384 encryption, and TCG Opal 2.02 and Pyrite security capabilities.
On the capacity side, Western Digital's PC SN5000S drives will be available in 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB configurations. As for performance, the 2TB PC SN5000S is rated for up to 6,000 MB/s sequential read speed, up to 5,600 MB/s sequential write speed, up to 750,000 random read IOPS, and up to 900,000 random write IOPS. The SSDs will be available in M.2-2230 and M.2-2280 form factors.
| Western Digital SN5000S SSD Specifications | |||
| Capacity | 512 GB | 1 TB | 2 TB |
| Controller | Western Digital's proprietary controller | ||
| NAND Flash | Western Digital / Kioxia BiCS 6 176L 3D QLC NAND | ||
| Form-Factor, Interface | Single-Sided M.2-2280, PCIe 4.0 x4, NVMe 2.0 | ||
| Sequential Read | 6000 MB/s | ||
| Sequential Write | 4200 MB/s | 5400 MB/s | 5600 MB/s |
| Random Read IOPS | 500K | 750K | |
| Random Write IOPS | 850K | 900K | |
| Peak Power | 6.1W | 6.5W | 6.9W |
| SLC Caching | Yes | ||
| Security Capabilities | TCG Opal 2.02 and Pyrite | ||
| Warranty | 5 years | ||
| Write Endurance | 150 TBW | 300 TBW | 600 TBW |
When it comes to endurance, Western Digital rates 2TB PC SN5000S at 600 terabytes to be written, 1TB version at 300TBW, and 512GB at 150TBW, which is significantly lower compared to entry-level SSDs with similar capacities (yet higher compared to WD Green-branded drives).
While the performance of Western Digital's PC SN5000S hardly impresses our avid readers, who tend to look at the highest-end SSDs, 1TB and 2TB versions offer considerably higher performance than most entry-level drives on the market today. What disappoints is the relatively low endurance of Western Digital's new SSDs compared to entry-level drives from other makers.
Western Digital primarily markets its PC SN5000S solid-state drives for OEMs, where they succeed the company's SN740-series. For PC makers, the drives are fast enough, and perhaps more importantly, they support advanced encryption technologies as well as TCG Opal 2.02 and Pyrite security capabilities, which is crucial for desktops and laptops sold to various U.S. government agencies.
Source: Western Digital
