Western Digital has announced the world’s first client solid state drives built with its 64-layer 3D NAND technology. The company says this will allow them to deliver SSDs with lower power consumption and higher performance, endurance and capacities. The new drives will come in tow broad product groups with one focused on DIY enthusiasts, resellers and system builders and the other for gaming and creative enthusiasts.
The WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD is being targeted at DIY enthusiasts, resellers and system builders, WD is saying these drives will deliver a 1.75M hours MTTF. purchasers can avail themselves of a free download of Acronis True Image WD Edition cloning software, and WD SSD Dashboard software, which enables continuous performance and capacity monitoring, and firmware updates. The WD Blue will come in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities in both a traditional 2.5-inch/7mm cased drive as well as a single-sided M.2 2280 form factor.
More demanding users, such as gamers and creatives will likely look at the SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD. WD is saying the SanDisk Ultra 3D SSDs are ideal as a drop-in upgrade for existing systems. SanDisk Ultra 3D SSDs will be available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities in a traditional 2.5-inch/7mm cased drive form factor.
Both products boast up to 560MB/s and 530MB/s sequential read and write speeds, a three-year limited warranty, and will be available worldwide in the third quarter of 2017. Retail prices will start at US$99.99 for the WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD and SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD 2.5-inch/7mm version.
It’s interesting that the Sandisk brand, which has traditionally been pitched at the memory card and thumb drive business is being pitched at the high-end enthusiast market. Given the two different drives will start at the same price, I’d be buying the fastest drive I could afford.
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