WD_BLACK SN850 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 NVMe Gaming SSD with Heatsink - Works with PlayStation 5 up to 7000 MB/s read speed

Product Information

The PCIe 4 drives do get even hotter than 3.0 drives, and these controllers really do throttle hard if you do not keep them under around 75c durint those longer storage workloads, but I know for a fact, that sinked properly, the Asus C8H Included M.2 Heat "sink" is enough to keep the temperature below throttle territory, assuming you have a room ambient that does not exceed 30c, a Case Temperature that does not exceed 45c, and decent airflow in the case that travels over the anemic "heatsinks", provided you sink just the contoller to the Heatsink on top, and the entire bottom sinked to the mobo, which is how I do my testing on this very topic. (My company provides the systems/maintenance for specialized fields so its my job to test our build outs for the clients use case, and a big part of that is making sure that the hardware can operate withing spec in their operating environments, so storage cooling is a component in this, which how I became to learn so much on this topic, although there is obviously still so much more to learn!) SN850 with heatsink is intended for Desktop PCs and PlayStation™ 5 (PS5 system software version 21.02-04.00.00 or higher required). WD improved performance in sequential read workloads, with a maximum of 7.3GBps from 7.0GBps, and sequential writes improved from up to 5.3GBps to 6.6GBps. Performance in random workloads has also improved significantly, up from a maximum of 1M / 720,000 read and write, respectively, to 1.2M / 1.1M.

The SN850's Gaming Mode worked by disabling lower power states, ensuring the drive would be more responsive. Game Mode 2.0 works differently with a three-pronged approach: predictive loading, adaptive thermal management, and overhead balancing. Predictive loading is an algorithm designed to detect upcoming low queue depth, sequential workloads - particularly the read workloads prevalent in many games. Adaptive thermal management works to improve average and sustained throughput via smoother throttling. Finally, overhead balancing seeks to improve read latency while gaming through I/O prioritization.

The WD Black SN850X is one of the fastest drives around for gaming.

With up to 2TB 1 capacity, your PlayStation®5 console has the additional space to store up to 50 games 3 so you still have room for the next big title.

Of particular note is the Game Mode 2.0 feature that's new with the SN850X. The original Gaming Mode could be turned on or off within the Dashboard, but Game Mode 2.0 has an additional Auto setting to detect game launches. You can also manually enter game folder locations so the software knows where to watch. Store and play more titles on a drive that’s officially tested and certified for your PS5™ console 4, so you can keep gaming without worrying about compatibility issues. The benefits of an internal SSD drive are the same as the external: They’re fast, they use less power, have no moving parts, and they’re whisper-quiet. The downsides are the same: For those benefits, you’ll be paying a lot more per TB of storage. That said, prices on internal SSDs seem to be more accessible than the external devices, so adding a terabyte or two is more achievable for a little extra effort. Engineered and built with Western Digital 3D NAND to give you the reliability and endurance needed to sustain pro-level performance.

Lightning-fast uploads

It's not only one of the best PS5 SSDs, but also one of the best SSDs for gaming overall, and this is due to the spectacular sequential performance of up to 7,000 MB/s read and 5,300 MB/s write. When slotted into your console's dedicated M.2 port, you can expect in-game loading and transfer times on par (or even exceeding) that of the system's native storage solution.

To test thermal management, we set the room to 23C and left the SSD without airflow in an open-air test bench. With ASPM disabled and the Windows power profile set to High Performance, the controller’s idle temperature was warm at roughly 55C on the surface (44C via S.M.A.R.T data), while the NAND was 10C-12C cooler when measured with an IR thermometer. The WD Elements external HDD comes in a variety of sizes from 1TB to 5TB and is an extremely affordable storage solution. It is compatible with PC, Mac, PS4, and Xbox and has both USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports. It measures a diminutive 4.35 inches long and 3.23 inches wide and won't take up much room on your desk, TV stand, or travel bag. While Samsung’s TurboWrite offers awesome sustained performance over the 980 Pro due to its more conservative capacity, it only ensures a 6GB static cache at the 1TB and 2TB capacities. In contrast, the SN850’s cache is larger and scales with drive capacity. In contrast, WD infuses its drive with 12GB of static SLC cache for the 1TB model, and doubles that to 24GB for the 2TB model.I've searched around and looked for articles and videos, but haven't found anyone that has done it yet. Any info or guidance for me? I bought a 2TB SN850 for my new build, and I opted for the heatsink model, thinking that for the little extra money, it's worth it. The mobo I ended up buying has three M.2 slots with a one-piece cover that includes heatsinks and an active fan. I thought, great! The heatsink will be a spare, but alas... I own the Crosshair VI, VII, and VIII, I actively use all 3 every day. The VIII is on my Test Bench In an Open Air Setup with a 5900x, the VII is in my Main System running a 5900x (support came way sooner then most of us expected, I was able to get my hands on a Beta Bios with support for 5000 cpus less than a week after launch, which is the only reason I havent moved the VIII over to my main Rig yet, there is still more testing to be done in a controlled environment, and PCIE4 is crucial to my current testing), and the VI is in my Homebrew Automation/VDI/Game Streaming Server, running a 3950x.