Nowadays a fast NVMe gen4 SSD is practically mandatory if you want to set up a competitive gaming PC. Between games weighing a hundred and more GB, shooters with mammoth maps and very high resolution textures, without a modern and fast storage device you risk spending more time waiting for game uploads than actually playing.
We therefore took advantage of the wonderful occasion of the launch of one of the most anticipated multiplayer titles of the year to test Western Digital’s medium-high-end solid-state storage device, which for the occasion dresses in the clothes of the EA game. : let’s talk about the Western Digital Black SN 750 SE Battlefield 2042 Edition.
It is a PCI-E NVMe gen4 SSD with certified sequential read speed of 3600MB / s. It is therefore not the fastest SSD available on the market, much less the company’s fastest product, given that the higher-end model, the SN 850, reaches 7000 MB / s. However, it is a product with an excellent price / performance ratio that is also offered with the not just added value of a five-year warranty.
The Battlefield 2042 branded version has nothing new compared to the standard product that was already on the market, other than the fact that a PC download code of the game is included, which offers some convenience compared to buying SSD and game (if taken at launch) in separate locations. This eventuality also offered us a good opportunity to see how important an SSD of this performance level is with a latest generation mass online shooter.
A second revision of the SN750 had already appeared two years ago, and made use of a WD controller and 64-layer NAND Flash 3d memory produced by the sister brand SanDisk. This SE version instead uses a 32-bit Phison PS5019-E19T controller manufactured by TSMC and this change is part of the reason why the previous model was available in denominations of 1.2 and 4 TB, while this SE is only available in denominations of 250 GB. , 500 GB and 1 TB. Although the new controller is a PCIe Gen4x4, the management of the NAND modules does not allow to go beyond the PCI-e 3×4 band. That’s why the speed is certified at “only” 3600 “MB / s.
It won’t be a supersonic bullet like the Seagate Firecuda 530 we tested last month, but the good news is that unlike many NVMe gen4 SSDs, it is backwards compatible with PCIe Gen 1, 2, 3 interfaces. This feature makes it a It is an excellent choice to upgrade an NVMe SSD with a few years behind it, as it is also compatible with motherboards with an older production M.2 slot.
For our tests we therefore decided to compare this product with an older solid state M.2 disk that we had available: the Crucial P: launched at the end of 2018, it was one of the first disks with NAND 3D TLC and reading speed and writing that touched 2000 MB / s. Before doing this, however, we launched the classic CrystalDiskMark test to test not only the sequential read and write speeds and verify what is certified by the manufacturer, but also the random ones of small files which are then those that make the difference in the daily use of the PC with OS, software and games.
As you can see from the attached screenshot, the SN 750 SE achieves the speeds it promises, while also performing exceptionally well in random reads and writes of small 4 KB files. As for the IOPS (Input / output operations per second), we have quite variable values based on the cut, with the 500 GB test model totaling 250K IOPS in reading and 480K in writing, which double for readings if we switch to the 1 TB model.
If we compare these values with those obtainable from a three-year-old SSD like the Crucial P1, the difference is stark. The P1 in our possession, half full and with two years of use on the back, stops 1600 MB / s in sequential read, 1700 MB / s in write and 175000 IOPS and 2370000 IOPS for random reads and writes respectively QD1.
Moving on to other tests, we started with timing the cold boot of the PC and various games such as Battlefield 2042, Cyberpunk 2077, GTA 5 and Mafia 3 Definitive Edition. The SN 750 SE installed on a PC with Windows 10, Ryzen 3700x and 16GB DDR4 3200 MHz used for the test, took just a few seconds to get to the desktop and make the computer ready for use.
The same operation took seven seconds longer on the Crucial P1. As for the boot of the games instead we are good or bad on par, with 26 seconds required by Battlefield 2042, 31 by Cyberpunk 2077, 34 by GTA 5 and 39 by Mafia 3, with the Crucial P1 taking about a couple of seconds in more for each game.
Where we have found abysmal differences is in the copying of large files in sequence and folders full of small files with an important total weight. In a copy of a handful of HD videos with a total weight of 30GB, the Western Digital disc took about twenty seconds, without ever losing speed, while the Crucial P1 took more than double, slowing down conspicuously in the middle of the operation.
The same for the folder with small files, where the Crucial proved even more difficult, with temperatures causing thermal throttling. On the other hand, the temperatures of the SN 750 SE proved to be excellent. WD claims to have reduced consumption and temperatures by 30% compared to the previous model and in fact these never exceed 60 ° C without any heatsink applied, when in the same situations the Crucial reaches 70 ° C with heatsink.
The software supplied with the product is also very useful. In addition to providing us with the usual monitoring, optimization and firmware update information, we also find the possibility to activate the gaming mode. This allows you to further increase performance by disabling all energy saving features. The natural consequence is that performance never drops, a couple of seconds are gained in large read and write operations but consequently the operating temperatures also increase by a few degrees.
This new SSD from WD largely satisfied us after our tests. It’s not the fastest NVMe SSD on the market, at least on paper, but in the operations that matter it has proven to be as fast as or even faster than ‘fan favorite’ products like the Samsung EVO 840 and 850.
Abyssal is the difference to a three-year-old disc like the Crucial P1, which makes it a great option for those wishing to upgrade to increase space and reduce loading times. And if you’re still on a SATA SSD, then the speed difference is several orders of magnitude and you shouldn’t even think about upgrading.
The cut to choose is undoubtedly the WD_BLACK SN750 SE 1 TB NVMe SSD Battlefield 2042 PC Game Code Bundle, which currently costs just € 199, which is the same price as the standard version without the game.
Additionally, the 1TB model offers slightly better speeds and a better price / GB ratio. If you were thinking of upgrading your PC and also buying the new DICE shooter, this offer is really not to be missed.
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