Sandisk just launched the SN8100 from its WD_BLACK range, currently the fastest M.2-format (gumstick) drive available.
It is a PCIe Gen 5 drive and succeeds the PCIe Gen 4 WD_BLACK SN850X with twice the read speed, twice the power efficiency, and the same 8 TB maximum capacity. The old drives used the BiCS4 3D NAND generation with 96 layers, whereas the new drive is built with BiCS8 218 layer chips, formatted as TLC (3 bits/cell), like the SN850X.
Eric Spanneut, Sandisk VP of devices, stated: “The WD_BLACK SN8100 NVMe SSD with PCIe Gen 5.0 delivers peak storage performance for the most discerning users.”
That means the 2 TB and 4 TB versions deliver over 2.3 million random read IOPS, while sequential read and write bandwidth numbers are 14.9 GBps and 14 GBps respectively. A comparison with other suppliers’ equivalent PCIe Gen 5 M.2 drives shows that Sandisk’s new drive is the fastest in terms of sequential read and write performance:
Spanneut said: “Whether it’s for high-level gaming, professional content creation, or AI applications, high-performance users now have a PCIe Gen 5.0 storage solution that matches speed with power efficiency to help them build the ultimate gaming rig or best-in-class workstation, enabling them to play and create with next-level performance and reliability.”
The SN8100’s average operating power is 7 W and it offers endurance of up to 2,400 terabytes written (TBW).
Sandisk could potentially build an enterprise version of this drive, perhaps with QLC formatting and the hot-swappable E1.S form factor, and reach 16 TB of capacity, which would be impressive.
This SN8100 drive is available for purchase at sandisk.com and select retailers worldwide in 1 TB ($179.99), 2 TB ($279.99), and 4 TB ($549.99) capacities – US MSRP amounts. The heatsink-equipped version will be available this fall in the same capacities for $20 extra. The 8 TB version, with and without a heatsink, is expected to be available later this year.
