WD 1 TB Performance Hard Drive - Black

Product Information

Of particular note is the Game Mode 2.0 feature that's new with the SN850X. The original Gaming Mode could be turned on or off within the Dashboard, but Game Mode 2.0 has an additional Auto setting to detect game launches. You can also manually enter game folder locations so the software knows where to watch. Soup up your gaming experience with extremely low latency that loads graphics fast with minimal stutter and lagging for smooth, satisfying action. The WD Elements external HDD comes in a variety of sizes from 1TB to 5TB and is an extremely affordable storage solution. It is compatible with PC, Mac, PS4, and Xbox and has both USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports. It measures a diminutive 4.35 inches long and 3.23 inches wide and won't take up much room on your desk, TV stand, or travel bag. Output approaching the limits of the PCIe® Gen4 interface helps you get ultra-fast performance out of your storage and system components. The SN850X is competitive with other high-end PCIe 4.0 drives in sequential workloads, but it can’t quite match the SK hynix Platinum P41 in random IOPS. Pricing is a bit stiff, particularly at 4TB. The SN850X will have to impress to justify its MSRP. Game Mode 2.0, Software and Accessories

The 1TB and 2TB drives have an optional version with RGB lighting plus heatsink to help maintain peak performance through the most intense gaming sessions. (Please choose the heatsink model for this) This officially licensed Xbox™ expansion card is plug-and-play with your Xbox™ Series X|S, so you don’t have to worry about compatibility or opening your console to install Engineered and built with Western Digital 3D NAND to give you the reliability and endurance needed to sustain pro-level performance. The latest version of Game Mode serves up even more PC performance-boosting features like load prediction to ready game assets for fast in-game loading.Insane speeds up to 7,300 MB/s deliver top-tier performance with ridiculously short load times for the elite gaming experience you’ve been waiting for. The SN850's Gaming Mode worked by disabling lower power states, ensuring the drive would be more responsive. Game Mode 2.0 works differently with a three-pronged approach: predictive loading, adaptive thermal management, and overhead balancing. Predictive loading is an algorithm designed to detect upcoming low queue depth, sequential workloads - particularly the read workloads prevalent in many games. Adaptive thermal management works to improve average and sustained throughput via smoother throttling. Finally, overhead balancing seeks to improve read latency while gaming through I/O prioritization. Game Mode 2.0 serves up even more PC performance-boosting features like load prediction to ready game assets for fast in-game loading.

SN850 with heatsink is intended for Desktop PCs and PlayStation™ 5 (PS5 system software version 21.02-04.00.00 or higher required). DirectStorage sure sounds as that there will be some improvement, albeit assuming you aren't running GPU at full load already, as DirectStorage apparently works mainly at the premise of taking some workload from the CPU and giving it to the GPU, such as to decompress files that get loaded in when walking to a new area in an open-world game. And for current-gen gaming, even slower NVMe SSDs sure are plenty fast.

Designed with an M.2 2280 slim, light, and compact form factor to easily slide into your gaming rig. Get into the match fast as you zoom past load times with blazing speeds of up to 5,150MB/s 1 (1TB and 2TB models). A new suite of features comes with the SN850X including Predictive Loading, Overhead Balancing and Adaptive Thermal Management 5. Get the ultimate gaming edge over your competition with insane speeds up to 7,300 MB/s for top-level performance and ridiculously short load times. Insane speeds up to 7,300 MB/s 1 deliver top-tier performance with ridiculously short load times for the elite gaming experience you’ve been waiting for.

WD's NAND technology still lags behind its competitors, with its 112-Layer BiCS5 flash competing against 176-Layer flash from Micron and SK hynix. However, this has advantages, as WD's mature flash can be carefully and reliably binned. BiCS5 also has 1Tb dies available for higher-capacity SSDs. The benefits of an internal SSD drive are the same as the external: They’re fast, they use less power, have no moving parts, and they’re whisper-quiet. The downsides are the same: For those benefits, you’ll be paying a lot more per TB of storage. That said, prices on internal SSDs seem to be more accessible than the external devices, so adding a terabyte or two is more achievable for a little extra effort. WD improved performance in sequential read workloads, with a maximum of 7.3GBps from 7.0GBps, and sequential writes improved from up to 5.3GBps to 6.6GBps. Performance in random workloads has also improved significantly, up from a maximum of 1M / 720,000 read and write, respectively, to 1.2M / 1.1M. Today’s A-list titles can take up 200GB or more of storage. A range of capacities from 1TB to 4TB means you get to keep more games at the ready and get into the action fast. A range of capacities from 1TB to 4TB means you get to keep more of today’s games that can take up 200GB or more of storage.Extremely low latency loads graphics fast with minimal stutter and lagging for an incredibly smooth, satisfying gaming experience.