Western Digital Announces First PS5-Compatible PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD: WD_BLACK SN850

[Tsing]

Images: Western Digital



Sony hasn’t released a vetted list of NVMe SSDs for the PlayStation 5 yet, but Western Digital has gone ahead and confirmed that one of its newly announced WD-BLACK models – the SN850 NVMe SSD – will be compatible with the next-gen console.



Available in 500 GB ($149.99), 1 TB ($229.99), and 2 TB ($449.99) capacities, the SN850 is a PCIe 4.0 drive that boasts sequential read performance and write performance of 7,000 MB/s and 4,100 MBs, respectively. These also come with an optional heatsink (add $20 to the price), but we can’t confirm whether it would fit into the PS5’s storage slot.



The SN850 NVMe SSD is just one of many...

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[Denpepe]

looks good, I don't have experience with WD SSD's but I assume they should be at least semi decent. Now I only will have to be able to get a console first b4 I even think about expanding storage on it.

 

[LazyGamer]

looks good, I don't have experience with WD SSD's but I assume they should be at least semi decent. Now I only will have to be able to get a console first b4 I even think about expanding storage on it.

Have... three Blues in SATA form and one Black NVMe, and all function as advertised. Wouldn't hesitate to use them again, but not at these prices .

 

[northrop]

So... $150 for a COD SSD. Console gaming is getting pricey

 

[Armenius]

Have... three Blues in SATA form and one Black NVMe, and all function as advertised. Wouldn't hesitate to use them again, but not at these prices .

Agreed. This is actually a little more expensive than the Seagate Series X proprietary SSD. I paid $140 for my SN750 a couple months ago. PCI-E 4.0 should not be adding $90 or 64% to the price of these drives.

 

[LazyGamer]

Agreed. This is actually a little more expensive than the Seagate Series X proprietary SSD. I paid $140 for my SN750 a couple months ago. PCI-E 4.0 should not be adding $90 or 64% to the price of these drives.

I get pricing them higher upon release. It's almost a given that prices will drop a bit, if not officially, then for routine sales. Still more than I'm going to pay, though!

 

[Brian_B]

I don’t think these are “official” PlayStation add on parts, WD is just saying these are standard PCI 4 m.2s and they should work

 

[Armenius]

I don’t think these are “official” PlayStation add on parts, WD is just saying these are standard PCI 4 m.2s and they should work

They passed Sony's requirements for being compatible with the PS5, that is all. The word "official" is used nowhere in the marketing material, just "PlayStation 5 Compatible."

 

[LazyGamer]

They passed Sony's requirements for being compatible with the PS5, that is all. The word "official" is used nowhere in the marketing material, just "PlayStation 5 Compatible."

Got to be better than AT&T claiming that their fast 3G stuff was '4G', or that their fast 4G stuff is '5G', for which they've now been sued, right?

I figure so long as someone as big as WD can self-certify compatibility, and Sony doesn't complain, then we're likely to see similar claims coming from more manufacturers very soon.

I'd also like to know what the metrics for making the claim are.