WD Black SN850X 1TB

Specifications

Capacity

1TB

Interface

NVMe PCIe 4.0

Form Factor

M.2 2280

Read Speed

7.3 GB/s

Write Speed

6.3 GB/s

Endurance

600 TBW

Warranty

5 years

Brand

WD

Price / TB

$234.99/TB

Value Score Breakdown

Our Verdict

The WD Black SN850X 1TB is Western Digital's performance flagship, using PCIe 4.0 ×4 with a custom WD controller to achieve 7,300 MB/s sequential reads and outstanding random IOPS. What separates the SN850X from rivals is its Game Mode 2.0 — predictive caching firmware that monitors game asset patterns and pre-loads frequently accessed files, reducing perceived load times in titles with large open-world environments. Random 4K read speeds at 1M+ IOPS consistently rank it among the top three PCIe 4.0 drives in independent testing. The optional heatsink version is ideal for PS5 storage expansion. At ~$100–120 for 1TB, it competes directly with Samsung's 980 Pro and typically wins on random performance metrics.