WD Black SN750 SE SSD with PCIe 4.0 interface is no drama
Western Digital is releasing new variants of its WD Black SN750 SSDs. The SE variants have a PCIe 4.0 controller, but write speeds are slower than the PCIe 3.0 versions. The SE versions also do not have a dram cache.
According to WD, the dram-less SN750 SE SSD consumes up to 30 percent less power than its predecessor. That could make the SSDs interesting for use in laptops. There are variants with a storage capacity of 250GB, 500GB and 1TB and these are NVMe SSDs with an M.2-2280 form factor.
WD mentions a maximum sequential read speed of 3600MB / s for the 1TB version of the SN750 SE and writing is at 2830MB / s for the top model. The previously released SN750, a PCIe 3.0 SSD, has read and write speeds of 3470MB / s and 3000MB / s in the same version.
The difference in writing speed is greater with the variants of 250GB and 500GB. WD lists speeds of 1000MB / s and 2000MB / s respectively for the new SN750 SE, while that is 1600MB / s and 2600MB / s for the predecessor.
The manufacturer uses an unspecified four-channel controller from Phison. That could be the PS5019-E19T. The lack of dram cache may be compensated with slc cache, as Samsung does with its 980 ssd, for example.
With suggested retail prices of 68, 103 and 200 euros, the SN750 SE SSDs are also more expensive than the predecessors. It is not yet clear to what extent the prices mentioned correspond with the price in web shops. By omitting dram, the new versions could ultimately be cheaper than their predecessors. WD says the SN750 SE SSDs will be available in the summer.
| Fashion model | Interface | Sequential reading speed | Sequential write speed | price |
| WD Black SN750 SE 1TB | PCIe 4.0 | 3600MB / s | 2830MB / s | 199.99 euros |
| WD Black SN750 SE 500GB | 3600MB / s | 2000MB / s | 102.99 euros | |
| WD Black SN750 SE 250GB | 3200MB / s | 1000MB / s | 67.99 euros | |
| WD Black SN750 1TB | PCIe 3.0 | 3470MB / s | 3000MB / s | € 148.50 |
| WD Black SN750 500GB | 3430MB / s | 2600MB / s | € 72.90 | |
| WD Black SN750 250GB | 3100MB / s | 1600MB / s | € 54.90 |
External SSDs aimed at console gamers
WD is also introducing new external USB-C SSDs aimed at console gamers. The WD Black D30 Game Drive SSD is available in variants of 500GB, 1TB and 2TB and costs at least 154 euros. According to WD, the SSD achieves speeds of up to 900MB / s. There will also be a version with an Xbox license and a matching design, which costs at least 161 euros. The Game Drive SSDs will be released in June.
The external SSDs can be used in combination with consoles of the previous generation to save and play games from the SSD. The SSDs also work with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, but games designed for the new consoles cannot be played from these external SSDs. Those games can be archived on the external storage.