Western Digital announces the 'Blue SN500,' a budget-friendly NVMe SSD

[Polycount]

Solid state storage prices have been coming down as of late, but they are still usually considerably more expensive than their hard drive counterparts. For example, you can snag a 1TB, 7200RPM Western Digital Blue HDD for around $50, whereas you'd be paying upwards of $150 for a basic 1TB SSD equivalent.

While the price disparity between HDDs and SSDs probably won't be fully eliminated anytime soon, Western Digital is making the entry point for high-performance SSDs significantly more appealing with the announcement of their new Blue SN500 storage device.

Priced at $54.99 for a 250GB version, or $77.99 for a 500GB version, the NVMe-based SN500 costs about the same as Samsung's 500GB 860 Evo - the key difference is that the latter device uses much slower SATA technology.

As a result, the SN500 offers read and write speeds that are up to three times as fast as the 860 Evo, meaning it could bring significantly more value to the table; in theory, anyway - we've yet to test the SN500 for ourselves.

At any rate, if you haven't jumped on board the SSD bandwagon yet, now might be the time to think about doing so. Though Western Digital's new SN500 drives don't seem to be available just yet, their Amazon listing suggests they will ship within "1 to 3 months."

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https://www.techspot.com/news/79198-western-digital-announces-blue-sn500-budget-friendly-nvme.html

 

[gusticles41]

Fewer and fewer reasons for prebuilt home PC's to come with HDD's. I look forward to the day you can't walk out of Best Buy with an i7, 16gb DDR4, discrete graphics, and....a 1TB 5,400rpm crippling slow piece of death.

 

[mcborge]

Nice, I'm in the market for a decent MVNe drive for my new Rog Strix X470-f board. The SN500 could be just the ticket.

 

[Christiaaan]

Solid, I'll probably pick this up

 

[Christiaaan]

Fewer and fewer reasons for prebuilt home PC's to come with HDD's. I look forward to the day you can't walk out of Best Buy with an i7, 16gb DDR4, discrete graphics, and....a 1TB 5,400rpm crippling slow piece of death.

That's my customer base, careful with that wish lol they return the PC and come to me to build one faster.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

#1 I am very happy to see M.2 and Sata SSD decrease in price quickly. Every week, I see lower and lower prices. I bought a 2TB Crucial MX500 last weekend.

#2 The real size of M.2 we need to be more reliable and less expensive is the 1TB and 2TB models. More and more laptops are dropping volume and mass by moving to M.2 as main storage - and dropping a sata SSD as secondary storage. 500GB is "OK" but we need to get the 1TB version for $100. right now they are around $150.

 

[EClyde]

I don't see where these budget models are any less expensive then what is available now from WD

 

[BossCrazyJ]

Nice, I'm in the market for a decent MVNe drive for my new Rog Strix X470-f board. The SN500 could be just the ticket.

The 1tb m2 Intel 660p NVMe PCIe, boasting speeds up to 1800mb/s read/write, is available through Newegg for $112.99 right now.

 

[CmdrKeen]

I assume the pictures are accurate for the drive they're talking about, and if they are then that drive is not nvme, it's sata m.2, meaning it would still max at the same speeds as sata ssds

 

[eX C0n]

#1 I am very happy to see M.2 and Sata SSD decrease in price quickly. Every week, I see lower and lower prices. I bought a 2TB Crucial MX500 last weekend.

#2 The real size of M.2 we need to be more reliable and less expensive is the 1TB and 2TB models. More and more laptops are dropping volume and mass by moving to M.2 as main storage - and dropping a sata SSD as secondary storage. 500GB is "OK" but we need to get the 1TB version for $100. right now they are around $150.

I think you mean NVMe, not m.2
M.2 is just a form factor. There are m.2 SATA SSDs, and m.2 NVMe SSDs.

 

[eX C0n]

I assume the pictures are accurate for the drive they're talking about, and if they are then that drive is not nvme, it's sata m.2, meaning it would still max at the same speeds as sata ssds

The drives pictured are most definitely m.2 NVMe drives.

 

[CmdrKeen]

The drives pictured are most definitely m.2 NVMe drives.

apparently they must be since they say so on the sides, but the pins on the connector tell otherwise since that design is typically for sata m.2 drives, not nvme.
nvme usually as only one gap between the pins, this has 2 like sata drives typically have

 

[eX C0n]

apparently they must be since they say so on the sides, but the pins on the connector tell otherwise since that design is typically for sata m.2 drives, not nvme.
nvme usually as only one gap between the pins, this has 2 like sata drives typically have

I do stand corrected. I was incorrectly thinking the opposite. Forgot which one was which *shrug*
Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[CmdrKeen]

I do stand corrected. I was incorrectly thinking the opposite. Forgot which one was which *shrug*
Thanks for pointing that out.

I mean, WD's reports indicate that this new drive is supposed to be nvme, given reports from other websites. maybe their pictures are incorrect, or maybe they have an nvme drive with a new connector...? honestly idk.

 

[eX C0n]

I mean, WD's reports indicate that this new drive is supposed to be nvme, given reports from other websites. maybe their pictures are incorrect, or maybe they have an nvme drive with a new connector...? honestly idk.

Iirc, a m.2 NVMe cannot be plugged into a m.2 sata port, but a m.2 sata CAN be plugged into a m.2 NVMe port. So perhaps this IS an NVMe drive, and pins 7 thru whatever aren't needed? Perhaps that's what makes this budget? Slower transfer rates than ~2100MB/s but faster than SATA at ~550MB/s
Edit: perhaps with the ability to connect it to a m.2 sata port as well???

 

[CmdrKeen]

Iirc, a m.2 NVMe cannot be plugged into a m.2 sata port, but a m.2 sata CAN be plugged into a m.2 NVMe port. So perhaps this IS an NVMe drive, and pins 7 thru whatever aren't needed? Perhaps that's what makes this budget? Slower transfer rates than ~2100MB/s but faster than SATA at ~550MB/s?

I believe you are correct; WD may have saved budget in doing it this way

 

[eX C0n]

I believe you are correct; WD may have saved budget in doing it this way

Wonder if this allows it to be plugged into an m.2 sata port... If it'd work in SATA mode or something?I didn't think it was possible, but this stuff evolves FAST. Like a dual purpose NVMe...?

 

[CmdrKeen]

Wonder if this allows it to be plugged into an m.2 sata port... If it'd work in SATA mode or something?I didn't think it was possible, but this stuff evolves FAST. Like a dual purpose NVMe...?

I highly doubt it. they would use completely different controllers

 

[eX C0n]

I highly doubt it. they would use completely different controllers

My assumption as well.. But I feel this design will cause confusion, as this "NVMe" drive will indeed fit in an m.2 sata slot...

 

[Homer10]

With the speeds of SSD getting so fast now, why have RAM? The SSD is your RAM. It might simplify the software too.

 

[mcborge]

The 1tb m2 Intel 660p NVMe PCIe, boasting speeds up to 1800mb/s read/write, is available through Newegg for $112.99 right now.

That's a Sata III drive though so I would religate one of those to my second M.2 slot and just use it for any current games I'm playing.

 

[toooooot]

With the speeds of SSD getting so fast now, why have RAM? The SSD is your RAM. It might simplify the software too.

RAM can be read and right many more times before it wears out.
SSDs are many years behind with the lifespan

 

[Danny101]

Nice. I still like my HD's for archival stoage. SSD's still can't compete on that front, yet. Yeah, I know they're good but still not good enough for me, especially if you leave them without power for too long. And with double heads for HD's coming down the pike, HD's will be less time consuming to work with. They're not going away anytime soon. At least until SSD's are more reliable and can hold their data without power. I have a 2010 portable HD that's still hanging on. Via the Enmotus Fuzedrive tiered system: NVm, Sata SSD, and a Double head HD should provide a fast and reliable machine. Don't forget to back it up! With an HD, of course!. No, I don't do cloud storage so don't even bother mentioning it. I've considered it already and declined.

 

[AsaDTeD]

With the speeds of SSD getting so fast now, why have RAM? The SSD is your RAM. It might simplify the software too.

Not even close, 2100MB/s was the speed of *DDR1 266 MHz.* Latest DDR4 2400 is around 19000 MB/s.
Also, RAM ≠ Storage.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

With the speeds of SSD getting so fast now, why have RAM? The SSD is your RAM. It might simplify the software too.

I believe you can do that if you wanted to test it out. In Windows, disable your RAM in the device manager. At lest SSD’s give a whole new meaning to thrashing.