(Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) This is a single-sided drive with an SSD controller, a power management chip, and a single NAND flash package. This layout allows for a shorter form factor if necessary. The extra space between the controller and the flash reduces heat buildup and makes the drive a good candidate for thermal padding or a heat spreader, if you so desire. The drive is rated for 3.3V/2.5A, which is above 8W, but it’s designed to pull a maximum of around 5.6W. This is within the expected range for a drive of this class.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) Based on our results, we’re fairly confident this is using SanDisk 218-Layer BiCS8 QLC flash. This means it should be the same as the WD Blue SN5100 , or now the SanDisk Optimus 5100, but run at a slower speed. This could involve binning of some sort – lower interface speeds are more generous for the controller and flash – or simply market segmentation, although it wouldn’t be surprising if the flash being used is of lower endurance. This means you can get SN5100 levels of random performance at a lower price point if you’re willing to compromise on the warranty and some sequential bandwidth. The BiCS8 flash has architectural improvements over BiCS6 for superior latency and power efficiency, which elevates this drive above the QLC-based 4TB WD Blue SN5000 and, frankly, it can beat the TLC SKUs of that drive, too, in everything but sustained write performance.
Shane Downing is a Freelance Reviewer for Tom\u2019s Hardware US, covering consumer storage hardware. ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-13/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Shane Downing Social Links Navigation Freelance Reviewer Shane Downing is a Freelance Reviewer for Tom’s Hardware US, covering consumer storage hardware.
das_stig Probably perfectly good for a drive that is going to do more reads that writes, but the question of long term data integrity and warranty is never questioned when doing reviews? Maybe TH should do a piece on why flash devices do not come with separate TBW write warranty and a warranty for long term storage and data retrieval guarantees? Reply
Stomx QLC are like these cheap school plastic pens from China when they first appeared decades ago which never worked even till 1/10 of the ink but nobody cared and bought more . No one sued them for the planned obsolescence. And dollar by dollar, pen by pen, toy by toy which lasted one day, battery by battery with fake capacities — look where China is decades later. And looks like all companies in the world now want to follow Reply
UnforcedERROR Stomx said: TLC are like these cheap school plastic pens from China when they first appeared decades ago which never worked even till 1/10 of the ink but nobody cared and bought more . No one sued them for the planned adolescence. And dollar by dollar, pen by pen, toy by toy which lasted one day, battery by battery with fake capacities — look where China is decades later. And looks like all companies in the world now want to follow I'm assuming you meant QLC here? Reply
Stomx UnforcedERROR said: I'm assuming you meant QLC here? Of course. Thanks, corrected Reply
emerth Does it go to sleep and take ages to wake up? Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ssds/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ssds/wd-green-sn3000-1tb-ssd-review#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
- Get up to $470 off in Dell's weekend sale — President's Day prices on popular laptop and desktop PCs
- Leading Inference Providers Cut AI Costs by up to 10x With Open Source Models on NVIDIA Blackwell
- Nvidia DGX Spark update cuts idle power by 32% or more — hot-plug detection on ConnectX NIC makes for a more efficient AI workstation
- NVIDIA DGX Spark Powers Big Projects in Higher Education
- The Steam Deck is sold out, but the SteamOS-powered Legion Go S is still available for $50 off — get Lenovo's handheld for $599
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.