WD Blue SN5000 – Big Capacity At A Small Price

Sandisk has a long history in the storage market. The brand is a global powerhouse in this space and has been ever-present in the South African market for decades. Offering a wide array of options for your performance and budget requirements, it covers almost the entire physical storage landscape to provide consumers and businesses with the perfect solution for their needs. The technology landscape never stands still, even in the storage world. Sandisk has expanded its NVMe offerings in South Africa, with the launch of the WD Blue SN5000 in the country.

WD Blue SN5000 - Improved Performance at More Affordable Price — Image Credit: Western Digital

There are four variants for the new WD Blue SN5000 NVMe, which include 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB options. The 250GB offering is no longer available from the previous iteration and is replaced with a much higher 4TB capacity option. Specifications for the line-up are as follows:

WD Blue SN5000 SSD Specifications
Capacity	500 GB	1 TB	2 TB	4 TB
Controller	WD In-House: 4 Channel, DRAMless
NAND Flash	WD BiCS 5 TLC			WD BiCS 6 QLC
Form-Factor, Interface	Single-Sided M.2-2280, PCIe 4.0 x4, NVMe
Sequential Read	5000 MB/s	5150 MB/s	5150 MB/s	5500 MB/s
Sequential Write	4000 MB/s	4900 MB/s	4850 MB/s	5000 MB/s
Random Read IOPS	460K	730K	650K	690K
Random Write IOPS	770K			800K
Peak Power	6.3W
SLC Caching	Yes
Warranty	5 Years
Write Endurance	300 TBW 0.33 DWPD	600 TBW 0.33 DWPD	900 TBW 0.24 DWPD	1200 TBW 0.16 DWPD

The upgraded WD Blue SN5000 NVMe drives come in an M.2-2280 form factor. These are also based on WD’s in-house 4-channel controller, which has a DRAMless design. The latter has become the standard for budget and mid-range SSDs in recent years. Sandisk has implemented the nCache 4.0, which eliminates the need for a DRAM inside the SSD. Interestingly, the drives have a single-sided chip design covered with a thin graphene heatspreader for heat dissipation. One of the stand-out features of the SN5000 is the support for a PCIe 4.0 x4 connection. This means that, while considered mid-range, the devices are still fast enough, supported by the additional bandwidth across the PCIe 4.0 framework.

Each device in the line-up carries a 5-year warranty, giving users peace of mind that their purchase is secure. Additionally, each variant offers between 5,000 and 5,500 MB/s sequential read speeds. Compared to the previous iteration of the WD SN580, this is an improvement from 4,000 MB/s to an impressive 5,000 MB/s. We’ll look at this in more detail in the coming weeks, testing the overall performance of the 1TB variant.

The WD Blue SN5000 was designed to improve workflow for creatives and boost productivity during the day. It specialises in multitasking capabilities, allowing users to switch between projects easily, thanks to the high-end NVMe technology. This means that even the most heavy-duty projects can be tackled with performance endurance, utilising PCIe Gen 4 and WD nCache 4.0, which is ideal for drafting, editing, and finalising those projects.

With four options to choose from to meet your budget and capacity requirements, the WD Blue SN5000 has you covered. It delivers an improved performance and reliability over the previous iteration. Recommended pricing for the WD Blue SN5000 line-up is as follows: