In today’s review, we’ll be taking a look at the Western Digital WD Black SN770, which is a value-oriented SSD design with support for PCI-Express 4.0, but lacking a DRAM cache. We recently reviewed the PCI-Express 3.0-based WD Blue SN570 and were impressed by how well it handles all workloads, even those that usually require a DRAM cache chip, which sets the bar high for the SN770. For the SN770, and its PCIe 4.0 requirement, WD came up with a new 20-82-10081 controller and paired it with the latest 112-layer 3D TLC flash from Toshiba, also known as BiCS5. A DRAM cache is not available, definitely to reduce manufacturing cost. To connect with the rest of the system, the PCI-Express 4.0 interface is used.
The WD Black SN770 comes in capacities of 250 GB ($53), 500 GB ($70), 1 TB ($115), and 2 TB ($250). Endurance for these models is set to 200 TBW, 300 TBW, 600 TBW, and 1200 TBW respectively. WD includes a five-year warranty with the SN770.
| Specifications: WD Black SN770 1 TB SSD | |
|---|---|
| Brand: | Western Digital / WD |
| Model: | WDS100T3X0E |
| Capacity: | 1000 GB (931 GB usable) 24 GB additional overprovisioning |
| Controller: | SanDisk 20-82-10081-A1 |
| Flash: | Toshiba 112-layer 3D TLC BiCS5 001397 Rebranded as SanDisk |
| DRAM: | N/A, but 64 MB Host-Memory-Buffer |
| Endurance: | 600 TBW |
| Form Factor: | M.2 2280 |
| Interface: | PCIe Gen 4 x4, NVMe 1.4 |
| Device ID: | WD_BLACK SN770 1TB |
| Firmware: | 731030WD |
| Warranty: | 5 years |
| Price at Time of Review: | $115 / $115 per TB |
