WD_BLACK 500GB SN7100 NVMe

WD_BLACK 500GB SN7100 NVMe Review & Specifications

The WD_BLACK 500GB SN7100 NVMe by WD is a NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) featuring 500 GB of storage. It is built with TLC 218-layer NAND flash memory and utilizes a WD Polaris 3 A101-000103-A1 controller to manage data access, wear leveling, and overall performance. This SSD features the PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, supporting a theoretical maximum throughput of 16 GB/s. Combined with the advanced NVMe 2.0 standard, it offers high efficiency, low latency, and advanced scalability. It is offered in the M.2 2280 form factor. PCIe 4.0 is backward compatible with older PCIe slots, but speeds will adjust accordingly.

NVMe SSD Performance

Sequential read and write speeds reach 6800 MB/s and 5800 MB/s respectively, while random read/write performance delivers up to 760k and 1200k IOPS. The drive offers an endurance rating of 300 TBW and is backed by a 5-year manufacturer warranty.

This SSD does not include a dedicated external DRAM cache chip. Instead, it relies on a small internal SRAM cache integrated into the controller, typically around 32 MB to 128 MB. Manufacturers may sometimes refer to this SRAM as "DRAM cache," but it is not the same as a discrete DRAM module. Furthermore, because it uses the NVMe interface, the SSD may also support Host Memory Buffer (HMB) — a feature that allocates a small portion of your system’s RAM (usually 64–128 MB) to act as a substitute for DRAM. While this design is cost-effective and suitable for everyday tasks, performance under heavy or sustained random I/O can be lower compared to full-DRAM SSDs. A Dynamic SLC cache is still included to help with write bursts and improve responsiveness.

This SSD module offers entry-level performance in our synthetic benchmark, scoring 69.0% relative to the fastest NVMe SSDs in our database. However, this classification doesn't always reflect real-world capability. Many drives in this range — especially those with DRAM cache, and even some newer, efficient DRAM-less models — can still deliver responsive performance in general computing, gaming, light creative work, and casual development environments. Unless your workload involves large file transfers or sustained heavy I/O, this level of performance is more than adequate.

Cost-Effectiveness

From a cost-per-storage perspective, this SSD offers below-average value at $106.0 per terabyte. The overall combined performance-to-price ratio, which evaluates both maximum performance and total storage capacity per dollar, is calculated at 45.6%. Based on this metric, the drive is a less favorable value in this category. Considering its performance rating of 69.0%, other SSDs at similar or lower prices may deliver better overall performance and capacity per dollar, making this drive less competitive.