Western Digital is about to refresh its client SSD lineup with numerous new products, some of which are based on new controllers (as noticed by TechPowerUp). The new drives promise to improve performance compared to the company's existing SSDs with a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface.
Western Digital recently certified a number of its unreleased drives with PCI-SIG, which oversees compliance and ensures interoperability of new hardware with PCIe platforms. The inclusion of numerous new Western Digital SSDs into PCI-SIG's Integrators List indicates that the drives have passed compatibility tests and work fine with existing PCIe 4.0 hardware.
The list of Western Digital's upcoming SSDs is pretty long. It includes the new flagship WD_Black SN850X drive that is presumably based on a new (or revamped) controller and/or faster/higher-capacity 3D NAND memory, as well as the new SN820 SSD for OEMs, which is powered by the same controller but is aimed at OEMs. There's also the WD_Black SN770 incoming, though we are not sure how the company plans to position it.
We're not quite sure what to expect from the WD_Black SN850X, but the non-X WD_Black SN850 is rated for up to 7000 MB/s sequential read speed, up to 5300 MB/s sequential write speed, and up to 1,000,000 IOPS. We expect the X version will be faster than that and will surely join the list of the best SSDs available today.
In addition, Western Digital is preparing small form-factor M.2-2230 and M.2-2242 drives — the SN560 as well as SN740 — designed primarily for PC makers. The same drives will also be available in the M.2-2280 form-factor for DIYers.
