Verdict
Western Digital ’s WD Blue SN580 is an M.2 SSD that is frankly passably unsatisfying . At this cost point in time and on the PCIe 4.0 program , it just does n’t quite contend with likewise priced competitors from the likes of Crucial , Adata and others . It ’s loud , sure , and offers some telling value on sequential performance against the clam , but otherwise leave a batch to be desired , in existent - human beings performance .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
There ’s no denying Western Digital ’s WD Blue SN580 is absolutely an entry - level driving . With an RRP of just $ 75 USD for the 1 TB variant , it packs in a lot of repositing for not a stack of spending . With such a lowly price pointedness , however , it descend with several caveats .
Well known for its old - school 3.5 - inch hard drives , Western Digital now also owns Sandisk as well expound its SSD capabilities . As such , the controller receive in most of its current SSDs is Sandisk - base , rather than utilizing a firebrand like Phison for the control side . Similarly Western Digital are working with Kioxia for TLC NAND supplying as well , instead of Micron .
Specs
The WD Blue SN580 has been build around the PCIe 4.0 monetary standard , complete with anM.2 - 2280form component . mould with SanDisk ( now part of Western Digital ) , the SN580 has a proprietary Sandisk controller . A huge amount of information on exactly what it is or how it operates is n’t provide , other than the fact it has a minuscule amount of cache on the control itself .
Full Specs
That say , there ’s no dedicated DDRDRAMcache on board , scurvy top executive or otherwise , and the control ’s been paired up with 112 - Layer TLC from Kioxia developed in partnership with Western Digital . WD ’s touting that it ’s using what it calls nCache 4.0 technology , although trying to retrieve item on just what that entails online is almost unimaginable .
That ’s all there is to this drive . There ’s no heatsink involved , nothing else , just a super - budget 1 TB PCIe 4.0SSDwith a touch of intragroup cache , and that ’s about it .
Test Setup
As with all the SSDs I test , including the WD Blue SN580 , each one of them gets benchmarked fair aggressively to analyze how well they perform under pressure . A big part of that physical process is ensuring I have a upstanding and true tryout bottom that eliminate any bottlenecks wherever possible . In an idealistic world , the only bottleneck should be the thrust itself .
To that closing , I ’m employ a eminent - remainder Z790 motherboard , and each drive is test in the top - most PCIe 5.0 slot on the board itself . In connective with that , I ’m also taking advantage of an Intel Core i7 - 14700 K to ensure that file transfer of training are as smooth as they can be .
you may ascertain the full test layer specs below :
When it come to the actual tests , I ’m using a motley of both tangible - world and synthetical benchmark to determine the performance here . First and foremost is CrystalDiskMark 8 . Its synthetic loads provide a fantastic insight into the successive and random 4 kB performance that these drive are capable of . On top of that , I also head for the hills the drives through PCMark 10 ’s Data Drive benchmark and Quick System Drive benchmark to provide a more well - rounded index for us to swear on .
For real - earth testing , that falls on the nous of Final Fantasy XIV and Red Dead Redemption II . The former has a dedicated secret plan bench mark that you may place directly onto the campaign you ’re examine . Run that at 4 K , and the bench mark will sprinkle out the results showing you how long each scene took to freight , and the average overall of those run . Lastly , with Red Dead Redemption II , we ’re using that to try file cabinet written matter times . Each drive has a gillyflower copy of RDR2 placed on it , and then a copy of that copy is placed on the drive a second meter , and that process is then time .
Lastly , I employ a phone number of indices to see just how well these drives run from a time value proposition . Typically this involve dividing the price in USD by a metric function . In our case , I expend the maximum sequential speed immortalise , the maximum random 4 thousand speed recorded , and gibibyte per dollar as well . Again this is mostly done to level the playing playing field , after all , of row , a $ 400 PCIe 5.0 SSD is going to perform well versus a $ 75 PCIe 4.0 drive , but finding how that technical school transcends down the Cartesian product lines is a all-important metric I need to measure .
Performance
The WD Blue SN580 ’s overall performance is , if I ’m reliable , a bit unsatisfying . Sequentials topped out at 4,132 MB / s and 3,994 MB / s severally for read and write , and random 4Ks listed at 77 and 264 MB / s. That ’s pretty low by today ’s standards . The WD Black SN770 M , by comparison , features the same TLC , a minuscule form divisor , and a similar in - house comptroller , and still manage 5GB / s on the sequentials ( although admittedly random 4Ks were about the same between the two ) .
Those chassis translate fairly swimmingly into real - world tests too . Final Fantasy ’s average encumbrance time tapped out at 8.47 seconds aggregate , compared to 9.01 for theWD Black SN770 M , and a more reasonable 7.23 seconds for theCrucial T500 . One minor win is it did beat out the Adata Legend 960 Max , which achieved a likewise slow 8.72 seconds .
The biggest performance dip however came with the actual - earth 120 GB file written matter examination ( RDR2 ) . The WD drear SN580 get a astounding 283.19 seconds to complete the written matter . That is incredibly slow , peculiarly compared to all of the above drives . The SN770 M finish that Indian file written matter in 57.69 seconds , the Adata Legend 960 Max in 45.58 seconds , and the Crucial T500 in 44.13 second base . In fact , it was so slow I ran this run five fourth dimension , with close to very results across the lot .
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Should you buy it?
WD SN580 Blue is a little slow , but still far faster than any old - school 2.5 - inch SSD , and even some of the best PCIe 3.0 drives . If you ’re expect for a moderately hunky-dory , modestly price , secondary storage solution for all your game , it ’s a good pick .
As PCIe 5.0 is well under maturation , and PCIe 4.0 is now fabulously mature , there are several drives out there that are far better plectrum than the SN580 , including Crucial ’s T500 , orKingston ’s Fury Renegade M.2 SSD .
Final Thoughts
Western Digital ’s WD Blue SN580 is , well , a act of a disappointing movement . Although it present a good budget option for those looking for something cheap and upbeat , it does n’t do that much better than a top - grade PCIe 3.0 drive , and given the fact it launched in 2023 , that ’s not quite what I ’d hope to see , even at this pricing .
Is it thebest SSD ? No . But if you ’re in a pinch , or are just wait for a secret plan driving force you’re able to regurgitate in as junior-grade depot , it ’s an okay enough plectrum , just do n’t expect it to break any speeding records as it does so . That said , if you could spare the additional cash , getting something like Crucial ’s T500 is a far better bet , and it ’ll serve you well in the retentive run too .
Trusted Score
How we test
Each SSD we test utilizes a intermixture of both man-made and literal - world benchmark tests . On top of that , we also use several price - to - performance metrics , and supervise temperature and power draw poker to determine the long - condition constancy and cost - effectiveness of the drive .
FAQs
The WD Blue SN580 is n’t an SSD that require a heatsink , with the temperature not rear richly enough to need additional cooling .
The SN580 does not sport a drachm hoard .
