WD Black SN8100 PCIe 5.0 SSD

By simultaneously being the fastest, most powerful, and most efficient SSD on the planet, SanDisk's WD Black SN8100 has earned a very rare 100% all-around perfect Editor's Choice rating.

The WD Black SN8100 is the new SSD speed king, beating the Samsung 9100 Pro and showing what can be achieved if you push four PCIe 5.0 lanes to their limit. It's not cheap, and it runs hot too, but it's the fastest drive available if you can afford it.

This is the fastest PCIe 5.0 SSD on the market to date. It doesn't matter if you're a pro gamer or a working professional; the SN8100 delivers in every arena and then some. For its first PCIe 5.0 SSD WD has set the bar incredibly high. Now everyone else has to catch up.

A future in which PCIe 5.0 SSDs are more affordable, efficient, and speedy is one we should all welcome and drives like WD_Black SN8100 mark an important step towards that. It’s an impressive drive and a worthy successor to the beloved WD_Black SN850X, even if it doesn’t always top the charts in the face of chonkier, more-power-hungry alternatives.

PCIe Gen 4 storage drives are already "fast enough", particularly on the high-end of the category, but that doesn't mean they'll satisfy needs forever. Technology moves on, and SanDisk is ready to double the read speeds of my current champion at a higher price for file storage space. Yes, you'll pay more per terabyte with PCIe 5.0, but the WD_BLACK SN8100 actually delivers better value on its read speeds for those who regularly create/render/transfer gigantic files.