Hands-on review: WD_Black SN850X NVMe SSD 2TB Game Drive

The WD_Black SN850X is an M.2 2280 NVMe solid-state data storage drive designed for PC gaming.

With most modern motherboards sporting sockets for multiple M.2 SSDs, it's never been easier to increase the storage capacity of your PC. There's no longer any need to find space for chunky hard drives or connect cables. M.2 drives tend to be about the same size as a stick of chewing gum and clip into place, flush with the motherboard, taking up nigh on zero space in your machine. NVMe drives are also considerably faster accessing data than their SATA hard-disk predecessors.

Until very recently, using an NVMe SSD over a regular SATA HD for gaming has been optional. Whilst access times were theoretically faster, the real-world effect on game loading times was negligible due to other system bottlenecks.

With Windows 10, Microsoft introduced DirectStorage, based on the same system used in Xbox Series X|S consoles. Instead of data being loaded into RAM and then passed to the GPU, data is streamed directly from storage to the GPU, speeding up loading times. 

At two terabytes, the AUD$285/NZ$300 WD_Black SN850X supplied for testing balances price with performance to provide a reasonably cost-effective and fast storage solution for gamers. The SSD is also available in one, four, and eight terabyte versions for those with different storage capacity needs.

The WD_Black SN850X is a PCIe Gen4 NVMe drive that most modern motherboards will support up to the maximum transfer speed of 7300MB/s. There are faster drives, but these only tend to be capable of their top data transfer speeds when paired with an enthusiast-level motherboard. Most gaming motherboards will have at least one PCIe 4.0 M.2 socket for the WD_Black SN850X. The SN850 is also fast enough to be used in a PlayStation 5/PS5 Pro, with a heatsink. Versions of the SN850X are available with a factory-fitted heatsink.

Using CrystalDiskmark 8 running the SSD on an MSI Z690 Carbon WiFi motherboard I obtained a maximum read speed of 6838MB/s and a maximum write speed of 6689MB/s, which are very close to the drive's maximums. As a comparison, my traditional SATA6 HDD has a max read result of 147MB/s, making the SN850X forty-six times faster when reading data!

Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows lists an SSD as a requirement for PC gamers. So, no SSD, no play. Whilst it says you shouldn't, running the game on one of my traditional hard drives took over five minutes to load, but the game crashed after a couple of minutes of play. Assassin's Creed Shadows installed on the SN850X loaded in just under a minute. This was from the Windows desktop to where I left off in the game, allowing me to continue my journey through feudal Japan in record time.

The WD_Black SN850X is a great DIY storage upgrade as installation is so simple. The SSD easily clips into an M.2. socket and is held in place with either a single screw or, with some motherboards, such as those produced by Asus, a little rotating clip. After installation, you just need to switch your PC back on and run the Disk Management tool, which will detect your new drive and format it for you. You are then ready to go. 

As well as fast data transfer speeds and easy installation, WD_Black SSDs tend to be very reliable. I have several WD_Black SSDs in the Techday review rig, one of which, a 2TB WD_Black SN750, has clocked over 20,000 hours of use, with three other WD SSDs each with over 9000 hours of operation. Not all drives are created equal, but the signs are all good.

For a fast NVMe game storage drive the WD_Black SN850X is a great performer that ticks the box as a PlayStation 5 storage upgrade and with PC games like Assassin's Creed Shadows that need a fast drive to play. The tested 2TB version has a pretty reasonable price for an SSD that is an order of magnitude faster than the hard disk drives of old.