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The WD Black name runs strong in the minds of PC enthusiasts, with high performance and reliability being key factors. When WD released the second-gen WD Black last year, it quickly became one of the best SSDs you could buy. But, now a year later, competition is heating up. Many manufacturers are turning to Phison and Silicon Motion for new controllers to power their next-gen SSDs and NAND manufacturers are getting their next-gen NAND ready for prime time.
It is a challenging task to keep up with the controller manufacturers that supply many third-party SSD vendors. It's even harder to keep up with market leader Samsung, but even a year later, WD’s custom controller is doing just that. All it took was a few firmware refinements.
Although there could be some more improvement to idle power consumption, WD’s Black SN750 is a top competitor. It is capable of 3.5/3 GB/s read/write speeds and can keep up with the Samsung 970 Pro. It even outperforms the 970 EVO.
Going for the WD Black is a safe bet for gamers, and the new gaming mode feature in the revamped WD Black SSD Dashboard is convenient. You won't need to worry if the ASPM low power modes are disabled in your UEFI or not – you can just disable them via the gaming mode toggle and get the full performance out of your device all the time. The model that comes with the custom hand-crafted EKBW heatsink is also sure to impress with its aggressive aesthetic.
We've seen how the new E12 and SM2262EN controllers perform in the BPX Pro and SX8200 Pro, respectively, and they do offer a lot of performance, particularly at their price points. The WD Black SN750 is just a few dollars more at each capacity point, but it's a hard choice for many WD fans. All three SSDs feature a five-year warranty and solid endurance specifications.
If you need the absolute best endurance, the BPX Pro is currently the best bang for your buck, but it has lower write performance after the SLC cache is exhausted. Both the SX8200 Pro and WD Black SN750 have great write performance, but after the SLC is exhausted, the SX8200 Pro degrades further than the WD Black. Conversely, it maintains higher SLC cache speeds for a longer duration. It’s a hard toss-up between the two if you're consistently working with large files, though the SX8200 is slightly cheaper and boasts slightly better endurance and performance.
In the end, you can’t go wrong with either of them. Most WD fans are accustomed to paying the WD tax, especially for the Black series, and the company is known for reducing prices shortly after products debut. WD SSDs have a track record of reliability and performance, so brand heritage will likely play a big role at checkout.
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