Tag Archives: SanDisk

The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD Revealed!

Western Digital today launched two portable SSD drives – the My Passport Wireless SSD and the SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD. Let’s hear from WD’s Albert Chang on the key features of these new portable SSD drives. He will also introduce the upcoming G-Technology family of professional storage solutions!

 

The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD

The rugged SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD (Price Check) delivers high-speed transfers with up to 550MB/s read speeds, making it perfect for saving and editing high resolution photos and videos. Its IP55 dust- and water-resistance rating mean it can stand up to hazards such as rain, splashes, spills and dust.

Offered in capacities up to 2 TB, the new SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD (Price Check) is perfect for extensive photo shoots – giving users the capacity to take their portfolio with them on the go, or back up instantly while out in the field.

  • High-speed transfers with up to 550MB/s read speeds
  • Rugged, water- and dust-resistant (IP55 rated)
  • Shock-resistant solid state core for greater durability
  • Compact and designed to fit in the palm of your hand
  • Works with both PC and Mac computers and comes with a 3-year limited warranty

The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD (Price Check) delivers high-performance and capacity in a pocket-sized drive.

For more on WD portable SSDs, take a look at our coverage of The WD Portable SSD Showcase @ Computex 2018

 

SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD Price + Availability

The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD (Price Check) has a three-year limited warranty and is available now at all leading IT retail outlets across Malaysia & online stores including Lazada, 11street and Shopee. Here are its Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) :

 

An Introduction To G-Technology

G-Technology is a Western Digital brand that focuses on professional-grade storage solutions. Albert gives us a quick overview of G-Technology, and the kind of storage drives they create.

 

Suggested Reading

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WD Portable SSD Showcase @ Computex 2018

In addition to their WD Black NVMe SSD showcase, Western Digital also showed off their wide range of portable SSD drives under the SanDisk, WD and G-Technology brands. Join us for our tour of the WD Portable SSD showcase at Computex 2018!

 

The WD Portable SSD Showcas

Western Digital currently has portable SSDs under three brands – SanDisk, WD and G-Technology. Western Digital’s Jared Peck gives us a tour of these portable SSDs, and their key features. He even demonstrates how crushproof the G-DRIVE portable SSD is!

SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD

The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD is a tough, IP55 dust- and water-resistant drive. It offers capacities up to 2 TB, with transfer rates of up to 550 MB/s.

  • 2 TB SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD : $599
  • 1 TB SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD : $299
  • 500 GB SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD : $139
  • 250 GB SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD : $99

WD My Passport Portable SSD

WD is increasing the capacity of their My Passport SSD drive to 2 TB. It offers up to 540 MB/s in transfer rate, with 256-bit AES hardware encryption built-in.

  • 2 TB WD My Passport Portable SSD : $599
  • 1 TB WD My Passport Portable SSD : $306
  • 512 GB WD My Passport Portable SSD : $139
  • 256 GB WD My Passport Portable SSD : $99

WD My Passport Wireless SSD

The WD My Passport Wireless SSD is the SSD version of the WD My Passport Wireless drive. Designed for photographers on-the-go, it not only comes with an internal battery and WiFi-AC connectivity, it also has a SD card reader built-in.

  • 2 TB WD My Passport Wireless SSD : $799
  • 1 TB WD My Passport Wireless SSD : $499
  • 500 GB WD My Passport Wireless SSD : $299
  • 250 GB WD My Passport Wireless SSD : $199

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G-DRIVE Mobile SSD

The G-Technology G-DRIVE Mobile SSD has a built-in heatsink that keeps the drive cool and makes it crushproof (up to 450 kg / 1000 lbs). It is also IP67 dust- and water-resistant.

  • 2 TB G-DRIVE Mobile SSD : $670
  • 1 TB G-DRIVE Mobile SSD : $299
  • 500 GB G-DRIVE Mobile SSD : $169

G-DRIVE Mobile Pro SSD

The G-DRIVE Mobile Pro SSD uses NVMe and Thunderbolt 3 technologies to achieve transfer rates of up to 2,800 MB/s! It also comes with a heatsink core that doubles as a crushproof cage (up to 450 kg / 1000 lbs).

  • 1 TB G-DRIVE Mobile Pro SSD : $298

G-DRIVE Pro SSD

This is a desktop version of the G-DRIVE Mobile Pro drive above, although it’s arguably portable as well. It has an enterprise-grade SSD inside, with storage capacities of up to 7.68 GB, and transfer rates of up to 2,800 MB/s. You can even daisy-chain multiple G-DRIVE Pro SSDs together.

  • 3.84 TB G-DRIVE Pro SSD : $3,999
  • 1.92 TB G-DRIVE Pro SSD : $1,999
  • 960 GB G-DRIVE Pro SSD : $1,299

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Tech ARP Computex 2018 Live Coverage – Day Two

This is the second day of our LIVE COVERAGE of Computex 2018. You can follow us LIVE on the Tech ARP Facebook page or keep track on this article. Computex 2018 began yesterday and we will be here until tomorrow!

This article will be updated live with pictures and details as and when they come in. Videos will be inserted at the end of every night, as they take time to process and upload.

 

Day 2 Schedule

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM : GIGABYTE Showcase @ TWTC

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM : GIGABYTE Showcase @ Taipei 101

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM : AORUS Showcase @ Taipei 101

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM : Intel Press Conference with Gregory Bryant

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM : Western Digital + SanDisk Showcase

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM : TWTC Computex Walkabout

7:00 PM – 10:00 PM : ADATA Party + TweakTown Party

 

GIGABYTE Showcase @ TWTC

GIGABYTE has not one but THREE showcases in Computex 2018. This one here is focused on their datacenter solutions.

This is one of GIGABYTE’s new HPC servers powered by the NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPU.

It’s not just work and no play at this GIGABYTE showcase though. Right behind their server showcase is an entire gaming room!

Some really cool GIGABYTE swag!

Try out the AORUS gaming system and stand to win a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card! 😱

An NVIDIA model prepping to do a video shoot at the GIGABYTE booth.

AORUS motherboards with RGB lighting are bae

Next Page > GIGABYTE + AORUS Showcases @ Taipei 101

 

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GIGABYTE Showcase @ Taipei 101

Time to head up to the 36th floor of Taipei 101!

View from the GIGABYTE and AORUS showrooms on the 36th floor of Taipei 101.

Now you can game on a Mac with the GIGABYTE RX580 Gaming Box!

The GIGABYTE RX580 Gaming Box turns you MacBook and MacBook Pro into a gaming machine!

This is the new GIGABYTE Sabre 17 gaming laptop.

And this is the new GIGABYTE Sabre 15 gaming laptop.

Those are live fish swimming in the water.
The entire system is actually soaked in mineral oil under the water.

With my GIGABYTE hosts! 

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AORUS Showcase @ Taipei 101

The top-secret AORUS B450 PRO WiFi motherboard

And this is the top-secret X399 Refresh motherboard… tadaaaa… video coming up soon!

Next Page > Intel Computex 2018 Press Conference with Gregory Bryant

 

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Intel Computex 2018 Press Conference with Gregory Bryant

Gregory Bryant just announced the Intel Core i7-8086K Anniversary Limited Edition processor!

And here is the new Lenovo Yoga Book 2 with dual display panels!

Gregory Bryant announced the Intel AI for PC Developer Program.

Jerry Shen shows off the new ASUS PreCog laptop.

Gregory Bryant announces that the Intel Optane SSD 905P will be available in the M.2 form factor.

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Intel will introduce a new 28-core processor very soon!

The future 28-core Intel processor will have a Cinebench score of 7334!

Omaigerd… it’s @jlin7 😁😁😁

Intel shows off an AI band!

Gregory Bryant even showed off his drumming skills! 😁

Next Page > Western Digital + SanDisk Showcase

 

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Western Digital + SanDisk Showcase

The Western Digital Black NVMe SSD – a real performance beast!

The InWin WinBot gaming PC with WD Black SSD and HDD inside.

The iBuyPower SnowBlind PC with transparent LCD panel and WD Black NVMe SSDs.

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Western Digital actually installed two ASUS Hyper M.2 X16 cards – each with four WD Black NVMe SSDs. Guess how fast they ste???

Freaking unbelievable!!! The eight WD Black NVMe SSDs delivered more than 19 GB/s in throughput!!!

Here are the IOMeter results details of the 8 WD Black NVMe SSDs in RAID array.

Close up of the ASUS Hyper M.2 x16 Card with four 1TB WD Black NVMe SSDs.

Next Page > ADATA + TweakTown Computex Parties!

 

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ADATA + TweakTown Computex Parties!

The ADATA Computex Party is really happening! @ *inhouse

Taiwanese girls are not only hot, they’re tall! 😅😅😅

Nothing beats an open bar… 😁

Entertainment at the ADATA Computex Party

With David (left) and Scott of ADATA

Hey… an open bar at the TweakTown Computex Party too! 😁 @ The Brass Monkey

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256 GB SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive Now Available!

Hot on the heels of its recent unveiling at the Consumer Electronics Show 2018 (CES 2018), Western Digital is pleased to announce that the new 256 GB SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive, the world’s smallest 256GB USB flash drive, is now available in Malaysia.

 

The 256 GB SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive

The new 256 GB SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive is a low-profile USB drive for people who want to add more photos, videos, games and audio files to their notebooks, tablets, TVs, gaming consoles and car audio systems.

With 256 GB of storage capacity, people have the flexibility to keep more content at their fingertips – approximately, 14,000 photos, 10 hours of full HD video and 16,000 songs, with 64 GB still available for files.

Below are more features of the SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive:

  • World’s smallest 256 GB USB 3.1 flash drive
  • High-speed USB 3.1 performance enables write speeds up to 15X faster than standard USB 2.0 drives – A full-length movie can be transferred to the drive in less than 30 seconds
  • Warranty: 5-year limited warranty

 

SanDisk Ultra Fit Price & Availability

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The SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 flash drives are available in storage capacities from 16 GB to 256 GB. Their MSRP prices are :

Customers will also receive a free SanDisk travel pack when they purchase the SanDisk Ultra Fit (64GB and above) at 11street, Shopee, Lazada, from now onwards, while stock lasts.

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The 1TB WD Blue 3D SSD (WDS100T2B0A) Review

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD is the first Western Digital solid state drive to feature their 64-layer 3D NAND technology that delivers higher storage capacities, performance and endurance, with lower power consumption. Let’s see if the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD delivers on that promise!

 

The WD Blue 3D NAND SSD Family

The WD Blue 3D NAND SSD family consists of four models built upon the same technology. They mainly differ in storage capacities, with some performance characteristics. Here’s a table comparing their key specifications :

Specifications2 TB WD Blue 3D SSD1 TB WD Blue 3D SSD500 GB WD Blue 3D SSD250 GB WD Blue 3D SSD
Model NumberWDS200T2B0A WDS100T2B0AWDS500G2B0AWDS250G2B0A
Storage Capacity2048 GB (Total)
2000 GB (Effective)
1024 GB (Total)
1000 GB (Effective)
512 GB (Total)
500 GB (Effective)
256 GB (Total)
250 GB (Effective)
Overprovisioning48 GB (2.4 %)24 GB (2.4 %)12 GB (2.4 %)6 GB (2.4 %)
SSD ControllerMarvell 88SS1074-BSW2Marvell 88SS1074-BSW2Marvell 88SS1074-BSW2Marvell 88SS1074-BSW2
NAND Flash Type64-layer WD 3D NAND (BiCS3)64-layer WD 3D NAND (BiCS3)64-layer WD 3D NAND (BiCS3)64-layer WD 3D NAND (BiCS3)
SDRAM CacheNoneNone512 MB DDR3256 MB DDR3
InterfaceSATA 6 Gb/sSATA 6 Gb/sSATA 6 Gb/sSATA 6 Gb/s
Peak Sequential Read560 MB/s560 MB/s560 MB/s550 MB/s
Peak Sequential Write530 MB/s530 MB/s530 MB/s525 MB/s
Random Read I/O95,000 IOPS95,000 IOPS95,000 IOPS95,000 IOPS
Random Write I/O84,000 IOPS84,000 IOPS84,000 IOPS81,000 IOPS
Write Endurance500 TB400 TB200 TB100 TB
Slumber Power56 mW56 mW56 mW56 mW
DEVSLP Power5-12 mW5-12 mW5-7 mW5-7 mW
Mean Time To Failure (MTTF)Up to 1.75 million hoursUp to 1.75 million hoursUp to 1.75 million hoursUp to 1.75 million hours
Ambient Temperature0°C to 70°C (Operating)
-55°C to 85°C (Non-Operating)
0°C to 70°C (Operating)
-55°C to 85°C (Non-Operating)
0°C to 70°C (Operating)
-55°C to 85°C (Non-Operating)
0°C to 70°C (Operating)
-55°C to 85°C (Non-Operating)
Vibration Range5.0 gRMS, 10-2,000 Hz (Operating)
4.9 gRMS, 7-800 Hz (Non-Operating)
5.0 gRMS, 10-2,000 Hz (Operating)
4.9 gRMS, 7-800 Hz (Non-Operating)
5.0 gRMS, 10-2,000 Hz (Operating)
4.9 gRMS, 7-800 Hz (Non-Operating)
5.0 gRMS, 10-2,000 Hz (Operating)
4.9 gRMS, 7-800 Hz (Non-Operating)
Shock1,500 G @ 0.5 ms half sine1,500 G @ 0.5 ms half sine1,500 G @ 0.5 ms half sine1,500 G @ 0.5 ms half sine
Dimensions100.5 mm x 69.85 mm x 7.0 mm100.5 mm x 69.85 mm x 7.0 mm100.5 mm x 69.85 mm x 7.0 mm100.5 mm x 69.85 mm x 7.0 mm
Weight57.9 g37.4 g37.4 g37.4 g
Warranty3 Years3 Years3 Years3 Years

 

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD Up Close!

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) comes in a deceptively light cardboard box. Let’s unbox it and take a closer look!

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) is a low-profile 2.5″ drive, with a thickness of only 7 mm. This is thinner than the regular 9.5 mm drives, making it suitable for all 2.5″ drive bays, even in thin laptops.

Next Page > 3D NAND, nCache 2.0 Technology, SSD Controller & SATA Interface

 

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The WD 3D NAND Technology

Western Digital first announced their 64-layer 3D NAND technology, also known as BiCS3, last year. However, it was only slated for commercial volume production in the first half of 2017.

BiCS3 was developed jointly with their technology and manufacturing partner, Toshiba. It not only uses 64-layers, but also 3-bits-per-cell technology to achieve high capacity (256 to 512 gigabits per chip) and performance at a much lower cost.

 

SanDisk nCache 2.0 Technology

SanDisk nCache 2.0 is a proprietary pseudo-SLC caching technology that greatly increases the write performance of the solid state drive. Here is an old infographic (from their Ultra II SSD) that shows how it works :

A small portion (about 4%) of the NAND memory blocks are set to run in the SLC mode, which allows for a much higher write speed. This SLC portion serves as a fast write cache for all writes to the drive, allowing for write speeds of up to 530 MB/s.

The data is later transferred to the TLC portion using the special On Chip Copy feature. This proprietary feature allows the transfer to occur internally on-die without affecting any other transfers.

In a 1TB drive, about 40 GB is reserved for use as the nCache 2.0 write cache. That translates into an effective write cache size of about 13 GB.

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The Marvell 88SS1074 SSD Controller

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) uses the Marvell 88SS1074 SSD controller, which boasts the following key features :

  • Supports up to 4 NAND channels, with up to 8 NAND chips per channel
  • Features Marvell’s third-generation NANDEdge low-density parity check (LDPC) technology
  • Supports SATA 3.2 (6.0 Gbps)
  • Toggle 2 and ONFI2 support at up to 400 MT/s
  • Integrated DEVSLP (Device Sleep) mode for low power support
  • Supports 256-bit AES hardware encryption
  • Built on 28 nm CMOS process

The Marvell NANDEdge LDPC technology allows for reliable on-the-fly error correction of the 3-bit TLC flash memory, with minimal impact on latency, performance and power consumption.

However, the Marvell 88SS1074 is likely to fall short in sustained throughput, because it only supports 4 NAND channels. Competing controllers like the Phison S10, for example, boast 8 NAND channels, allowing twice as many NAND chips to be accessed simultaneously.

 

SATA 6 Gb/s Interface

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) is a Serial ATA drive, with native support for SATA 6 Gb/s interface. It is backward-compatible, so you will have no problem using it with older SATA 3 Gb/s controllers. However, the faster SATA 6 Gb/s interface is necessary for optimal performance because this SSD is capable of a peak transfer rate of 560 MB/s.

Like all Serial ATA drives, it comes with the standard SATA data (left) and power (right) connectors, and is hot-pluggable. That means you can connect and disconnect this solid state drive while the PC is still running. There is no jumper block, because there’s really nothing for you to set. It’s just plug and play!

Next Page > SSD Endurance & Maintenance

 

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SSD Endurance

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) is rated for a lifetime write lifespan of 400 TBW (Terabytes Written). That does not seem like a lot (equal to overwriting the drive just 400 times), but it is considered enterprise-grade endurance. Many consumer-grade SSDs of equivalent capacity are rated at around 75-100 TBW.

Based on a typical consumer DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) of 20 GB per day, this 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) will last at least 54 years.

Please note that this long lifespan is due to the large capacity. The 500 GB and 250 GB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSDs are rated at 200 TBW and 100 TBW respectively. That corresponds to an estimated lifespan of 27 years and 13.5 years respectively.

Like all other current SSDs, the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) comes with certain features to help extend its lifespan :

Wear Levelling

Unlike hard disk drives, flash-based SSDs write and overwrite data in large blocks of 512 KB to 1 MB in size. Even if you only need to write one byte of data, it has to erase and overwrite an entire block. This causes a lot of wear on the memory cells and greatly reduces their lifespan.

To help extend the lifespan of the drive, SSDs perform wear levelling by spreading the writes, so that the flash memory cells have equal wear. The lifespan of the memory cells remain unchanged, but it prevents some of them from failing earlier due to excessive wear.

Write Combine Cache

SSDs also use a write buffer to temporarily store and combine the writes before they are actually written to the flash memory. This reduces the number of block erases required, and consequently, extends the lifespan of the flash memory cells.

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) uses the aforementioned nCache 2.0 technology instead of a dedicated SDRAM write combine cache. It reserves about 4% of the NAND blocks and uses them in the SLC mode.

The resulting nCache 2.0 write cache may not be as fast as an SDRAM cache, but it is much larger in size. The 1TB WD Blue SSD, for example, boasts a large 1 GB DDR3L memory cache, but that is nothing compared to the 13 GB (or so) SLC cache in the 1TB WD Blue 3D SSD.

TRIM

Current SSDs support the TRIM command, otherwise known as the ATA8-ACS-2 DATA SET MANAGEMENT command. Operating systems that support TRIM (e.g. Microsoft Windows 7) will notify the SSD when data blocks are deleted in the file system. This allows the SSD to perform garbage collection in the background – internally erasing the affected blocks so that they are ready to be written to.

Without the TRIM command, the SSD will not know when a block of data has been deleted by the operating system. When new data is written to the same block of data, it will force the SSD to perform the time-consuming read-erase-modify-write cycle, which not only cripples performance but also increases wear on the affected memory cells.

Multi-Stream

This is a new SSD technology that was introduced in May 2015, as part of the T10 SCSI Standard. Multi-stream greatly improves performance and extends lifespan by reducing or even eliminating garbage collection.

It achieves this by marking data writes that are associated with one another, or have a similar lifetime, with a unique stream ID. This allows the SSD controller to pack all data writes with the same stream ID into the same block.

When the operating system deletes data, it is likely that they are all packed into the same block. If the block has not been written to the SSD, then this eliminates the pending write operation completely. If the block has been written to the SSD, then this would only require that single block to be erased, instead of multiple blocks (which would happen if the data was not all packed into the same block).

 

SSD Maintenance

First of all, you should never, ever defragment solid state drives. Spatial fragmentation of data on the SSD has no effect on its performance. Fragmented data are accessed as quickly as nicely-packed blocks, so it’s pointless to defragment the data blocks. Doing so will only reduce the lifespan of the flash memory cells by putting them under additional wear.

3D NAND flash memory will only last about 1,000 erase/write cycles – about the same as TLC NAND memory. You will want to minimise the number of times each flash memory cell is erased.

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You should also use an operating system that supports the TRIM command. If you are using one of the following operating systems, then you have nothing to worry about :

  • Microsoft Windows 7, or better
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, or better
  • Linux 2.6.33, or better
  • FreeBSD 8.2, or better
  • Mac OS X Snow Leopard, or better

If not, you should consider upgrading your operating system. Otherwise, you will need to perform manual garbage collection on a regular basis, either using a manufacturer utility, or newer defragmentation software that specifically supports solid state drives.

Basically, these utilities will retrieve the list of free blocks from the operating system’s file system and pass it to the SSD in the form of TRIM commands, so that it will know which blocks to erase internally. Again, these utilities are not necessary if you are using an operating system that supports TRIM.

Next Page > Over-Provisioning, Capacity, Transfer Rate Profile, WinBench Results & Transfer Rate Range

 

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Testing The SanDisk Ultra 3D NAND SSD

Processors Intel Core i7-2600K
Motherboard Intel DP67BG
Memory Four Kingmax 2 GB DDR3-1333 modules
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
SSD & HDD Drives 8 TB Western Digital Gold
1 TB + 120 GB WD Black²
1 TB WD Blue 3D SSD
1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD
1 TB WD Blue SSD
1 TB WD VelociRaptor
256 GB OCZ Vector
240 GB HyperX Savage
240 GB Intel 520 Series
160 GB Intel X25-M G2
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit
Microsoft Windows Vista 32-bit

Testing Methodology

 

Over-Provisioning & Usable Capacity

This 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) has a maximum storage capacity of 1,024 GB, courtesy of eight 128 GB SanDisk 3D NAND chips. Of that, a mere 24 GB has been set aside for garbage collection, wear levelling and replacement of failing blocks.

Ordinarily, the limited 2.4% over-provisioning may impact long-term performance and lifespan. However, Western Digital mitigated that using a large 13 GB pseudo-SLC write cache they call nCache 2.0.

After it is formatted in NTFS, the actual formatted capacity is 1,000,202,039,296 bytes. This is slightly (202 MB) more than the official formatted capacity of 1,000 GB.

With about 124 MB of space allocated to the NTFS file system, the actual usable capacity is just above 1,000 GB.

 

Transfer Rate Profile

We compared the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) to the 1TB WD Blue SSD. As you can see, it has a sustained throughput of about 378 MB/s, which makes it almost twice as fast as the 1TB WD Blue SSD, which uses TLC NAND memory.

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Business Disk WinBench 99

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) did very well in this test, beating its brother, the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) by 17%!

Drive Model Capacity Business Disk
WinMark 99
Difference Useful Links
Intel 520 Series 240 GB 77.7 MB/s + 7.2% Review Lowest $
WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB 72.5 MB/s Baseline Lowest $
Western Digital Black² 120 GB 63.1 MB/s – 14.9% Review Lowest $
OCZ Vector 256 GB 62.1 MB/s – 16.7% Review Lowest $
SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB 62.0 MB/s – 16.9% Review Lowest $
WD Blue SSD 1 TB 62.0 MB/s – 16.9% Review Lowest $
HyperX Savage 240 GB 61.9 MB/s – 17.1% Review Lowest $
Intel X25-M G2 160 GB 50.4 MB/s – 43.8% Review Lowest $
WD VelociRaptor 1 TB 29.8 MB/s – 143.3% Review Lowest $
WD Gold 8 TB 23.3 MB/s – 211.2% Review Lowest $

 

High-End Disk WinBench 99

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) did very well in the High-End test, beating virtually all other competitors, except for the 240 GB HyperX Savage and the 240 GB Intel 520 Series SSDs.

Drive Model Capacity High-End Disk
WinMark 99
Difference Useful Links
Intel 520 Series 240 GB Beyond limit NA Review Lowest $
OCZ Vector 256 GB Beyond limit NA Review Lowest $
WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB 283 MB/s Baseline Lowest $
SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB 277 MB/s – 2.2% Review Lowest $
HyperX Savage 240 GB 262 MB/s – 8.0% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Black² 120 GB 246 MB/s – 15.0% Review Lowest $
WD Blue SSD 1 TB 220 MB/s – 28.6% Review Lowest $
Intel X25-M G2 160 GB 215 MB/s – 131.6% Review Lowest $
WD VelociRaptor 1 TB 172 MB/s – 164.5% Review Lowest $
WD Gold 8 TB 23.3 MB/s – 212.8% Review Lowest $
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Transfer Rate Range

This chart shows you the range of memory cell-to-controller transfer rates for SSDs, or the range of platter-to-buffer transfer rates from the innermost track to the outermost track in HDDs.

Despite boasting an official peak read speed of 560 MB/s, the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) could only hit 386 MB/s. That is impressive in its own right, but puts it below the 256 GB OCZ Vector and the 240 GB HyperX Savage SSDs.

Next Page > IO Meter Benchmark Results

 

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IO Meter

We compared the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) against the 1TB WD Blue SSD. If you wish to see how the SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD compares to other solid state drives, take a look at our Solid State Drive Performance Comparison Guide, which we will be updating shortly.

 

Throughput (Random Access)

Test 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 371.71 MB/s 239.84 MB/s + 55.0%
512 KB Write 488.55 MB/s 257.09 MB/s + 90.0%
4 KB Read 32.48 MB/s 24.93 MB/s + 30.3%
4 KB Write 75.94 MB/s 53.31 MB/s + 42.4%

The small random reads and writes are the most important tests for applications that make a lot of random accesses, so these would be key performance indicators for SSDs that are often used as boot drives.

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) did incredibly well in this test, solidly beating the 1TB WD Blue SSD. Thanks to its built-in nCache 2.0 technology, it delivered almost twice the large random write performance of the 1TB WD Blue SSD!

 

Random Access Time

Test 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 1.41 ms 2.19 ms – 35.5%
512 KB Write 1.07 ms 2.04 ms – 47.4%
4 KB Read 0.13 ms 0.17 ms – 25.1%
4 KB Write 0.05 ms 0.08 ms – 29.8%

The random write performance of the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) was truly stellar, in comparison to the 1TB WD Blue SSD.

 

Random CPU Utilization

Test 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 29.50 % 7.16 % + 312.0%
512 KB Write 30.12 % 7.31 % + 312.3%
4 KB Read 32.53 % 9.94 % + 227.2%
4 KB Write 35.72 % 11.91 % + 199.9%

The only downside – the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) uses up a lot more CPU performance than the 1TB WD Blue SSD. About 3X more CPU performance, on average!

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IO Meter (Sequential Accesses)

We compared the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) against the 1TB WD Blue SSD. If you wish to see how the SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD compares to other solid state drives, take a look at our Solid State Drive Performance Comparison Guide, which we will be updating shortly.

 

Sequential Throughput

Test 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 510.62 MB/s 250.14 MB/s + 104.1%
512 KB Write 494.55 MB/s 255.54 MB/s + 93.5%
4 KB Read 84.74 MB/s 63.35 MB/s + 33.8%
4 KB Write 75.98 MB/s 59.15 MB/s + 28.5%

The sequential read and write performance indicators determine how fast you can copy and move files. This is also important in determining how fast you can launch an application or game.

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) did marvellously in this test, coming in twice as fast as the 1TB WD Blue SSD in large, sequential reads and writes.  It also had a large boost in small sequential read and write performance.

 

Sequential Access Time

Test 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 1.03 ms 2.10 ms – 51.2%
512 KB Write 1.06 ms 2.05 ms – 48.3%
4 KB Read 0.05 ms 0.07 ms – 26.7%
4 KB Write 0.05 ms 0.07 ms – 22.4%

 

Sequential CPU Utilization

Test 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 29.61 % 8.69 % + 240.7%
512 KB Write 29.11 % 5.76 % + 405.4%
4 KB Read 36.38 % 15.93 % + 128.4%
4 KB Write 35.69 % 15.42 % + 131.5%

Again, the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) took up a significant amount of CPU processing power.

Next Page > IOPS Scaling Results

 

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IOPS Scaling (Random)

In these tests, we tested the drive’s ability to tackle multiple input/output operations. We compared the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) against the 1TB WD Blue SSDFor more performance comparisons, please take a look at the Solid State Drive Performance Comparison Guide.

Even though the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) is rated for enterprise-class endurance, its Marvell 88SS1074 controller is just not capable of handling too many simultaneous operations. It appears to handle up to 8 simultaneous transactions.

Its nCache 2.0 technology appears to have compensated for its limited NAND channels, allowing it greatly supersede the performance of the 1TB WD Blue SSD, even though they both use the same SDD controller.

 

4 KB Random Read

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 7,928 IOPS 6,086 IOPS + 30.3%
8 46,297 IOPS 38,444 IOPS + 20.4%
32 64,051 IOPS 36,145 IOPS + 77.2%

 

4 KB Random Write

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 18,539 IOPS 13,015 IOPS + 42.5%
8 49,559 IOPS 39,066 IOPS + 26.9%
32 51,495 IOPS 39,115 IOPS + 31.6%

 

512 KB Random Read

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 709 IOPS 457 IOPS + 55.0%
8 1,075 IOPS 537 IOPS + 100.4%
32 1,077 IOPS 544 IOPS + 97.9%

 

512 KB Random Write

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB WD Blue 3D SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 932 IOPS 490 IOPS + 90.0%
8 946 IOPS 522 IOPS + 81.4%
32 961 IOPS 522 IOPS + 84.3%
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IOPS Scaling (Sequential)

In these tests, we tested the drive’s ability to tackle multiple input/output operations. We compared the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) against the 1TB WD Blue SSDFor more performance comparisons, please take a look at the Solid State Drive Performance Comparison Guide.

The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) did much better than the 1TB WD Blue SSD, even though they both use the same SDD controller.

 

4 KB Sequential Read

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 20,688 IOPS 15,466 IOPS + 33.8%
8 66,011 IOPS 41,425 IOPS + 59.4%
32 65,146 IOPS 37,963 IOPS + 71.6%

 

4 KB Sequential Write

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB WD Blue 3D SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 18,550 IOPS 14,440 IOPS + 28.5%
8 49,505 IOPS 38,840 IOPS + 27.5%
32 54,477 IOPS 39,188 IOPS + 39.0%

 

512 KB Sequential Read

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 974 IOPS 477 IOPS + 104.1%
8 1,079 IOPS 544 IOPS + 98.3%
32 1,065 IOPS 540 IOPS + 97.2%

 

512 KB Sequential Write

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 943 IOPS 487 IOPS + 93.5%
8 1,025 IOPS 521 IOPS + 96.5%
32 1,026 IOPS 521 IOPS + 96.8%

Next Page > AS SSD Benchmark Results

 

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AS SSD Benchmark

AS SSD Benchmark is a simple and easy-to-use SSD benchmark by Alex Intelligent Software. It not only tests the drive’s sequential transfer rates and access times, but also its performance at both single-threaded and multi-threaded 4K IOPS.

 

Sequential Transfers

Drive Model Read + Write Average Difference Quick Links
HyperX Savage 516.0 MB/s + 1.9% Price, Review
WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 506.6 MB/s Baseline Price
OCZ Vector 500.3 MB/s – 1.2% Price, Review
SanDisk Ultra 3D 493.5 MB/s – 2.6% Price, Review
Intel 520 Series 293.9 MB/s – 42.0% Price, Review
Western Digital Black² 280.6 MB/s – 44.6% Price, Review
WD Blue SSD 260.2 MB/s – 48.6% Price, Review
Intel X25-M G2 179.0 MB/s – 64.7% Price, Review

 

Single-Threaded 4K IOPS Performance

Drive Model Read + Write Average Difference Quick Links
WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 48.2 MB/s Baseline Price
SanDisk Ultra 3D 48.1 MB/s – 0.2% Price, Review
Intel 520 Series 45.7 MB/s – 5.1% Price, Review
HyperX Savage 40.2 MB/s – 16.5% Price, Review
OCZ Vector 38.6 MB/s – 19.9% Price, Review
Western Digital Black² 35.0 MB/s – 27.4% Price, Review
WD Blue SSD 31.7 MB/s – 34.2% Price, Review
Intel X25-M G2 30.7 MB/s – 36.3% Price, Review
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Multi-Threaded 4K IOPS Performance

Drive Model Read + Write Average Difference Quick Links
SanDisk Ultra 3D 347.3 MB/s + 1.5% Price, Review
WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 342.3 MB/s Baseline Price
OCZ Vector 338.6 MB/s – 1.1% Price, Review
HyperX Savage 257.8 MB/s – 24.7% Price, Review
WD Blue SSD 193.6 MB/s – 43.5% Price, Review
Intel 520 Series 177.5 MB/s – 48.2% Price, Review
Western Digital Black² 164.9 MB/s – 51.8% Price, Review
Intel X25-M G2 125.2 MB/s – 63.4% Price, Review

 

Access Time

Drive Model Read + Write Average Difference Quick Links
HyperX Savage 0.065 ms – 13.4% Price, Review
OCZ Vector 0.067 ms – 10.1% Price, Review
WD Blue 3D NAND SSD 0.075 ms Baseline Price
SanDisk Ultra 3D 0.076 ms + 1.3% Price, Review
WD Blue SSD 0.078 ms + 4.7% Price, Review
Intel X25-M G2 0.089 ms + 18.8% Price, Review
Western Digital Black² 0.119 ms + 59.1% Price, Review
Intel 520 Series 0.162 ms + 116.8% Price, Review

Next Page > ATTO Disk Benchmark Results, Verdict, Award & Prices

 

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ATTO Disk Benchmark

ATTO Disk Benchmark is a free benchmark that allows you to compare the performance of solid state drives using a variety of transfer sizes. It also allows us to determine if the SSD performs data compression to improve performance, and extend lifespan.

 

I/O Comparison

Results Compressible Data Non-Compressible Data
Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
Read Speed 6.5 MB/s 145.1 MB/s 5.8 MB/s 143.6 MB/s
Write Speed 5.6 MB/s 137.2 MB/s 6.1 MB/s 134.2 MB/s

The Marvell 88SS1074 controller does not perform any data compression, which is why the performance results are the same for both compressible and non-compressible data. The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) reached its peak transfer rate with a block size of 1 MB.

 

Multiple I/O Comparison

Results Compressible Data Non-Compressible Data
Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
Read Speed 8.8 MB/s 147 2 MB/s 10.2 MB/s 147.5 MB/s
Write Speed 8.3 MB/s 139.6 MB/s 9.0 MB/s 136.5 MB/s

With just 8 simultaneous transactions, the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) reached its peak transfer rate with a block size of 128 KB.

 

Our Verdict & Award

The first 1 terabyte solid state drive we tested was the 1TB WD Blue (WDS100T1B0A) SSD. While it had a large storage capacity, high endurance and a affordable price point, it was not particularly fast.

That changed with the introduction of the 64-layer 3D NAND technology, which not only increases storage capacity and performance, but also reduces cost and power consumption. Now we can have our cake and eat it too.

The 1TB WD Blue 3D SSD (Price Check) is the first Western Digital solid state drive to make use of the 64-layer 3D NAND technology and it sure impressed us with its performance.

Despite using the same SSD controller as the 1TB WD Blue, the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) was twice as fast in large reads and writes. It accomplished this without using any SDRAM cache, thanks to nCache 2.0 technology.

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The 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD (Price Check) will work well as a boot drive, thanks to its excellent small random performance. It will be particularly attractive as an upgrade option for laptops still running on hard disk drives, or smaller SSDs.

Just note that its high performance requires a significant amount of CPU performance. So make sure you pair it with a fast processor.

We like its combination of great performance, large storage capacity and lower cost so much, we think it deserves our Editor’s Choice Award. Great work, Western Digital!

 

WD Blue 3D NAND SSD Prices & Warranty

The WD Blue 3D SSDs are available in storage capacities from 250 GB to 2 TB in the 2.5-inch / 7mm cased drive form factor, at the following price points :

  • 2TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD : $520.97 | RM 3,800
  • 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD : $259.99 | RM 1,596 (MSRP : RM 2,000)
  • 500GB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD : $134.99 | RM 777 (MSRP : RM 1,100)
  • 250GB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD : $83.19 | RM 458 (MSRP : RM 620)

The WD Blue 3D SSD is also available in the single-sided M.2 2280 form factor.

All WD Blue 3D NAND SSDs come with a three-year limited warranty.

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The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (SDSSDH3-1T00) Review

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD is the first SanDisk solid state drive to feature their 64-layer 3D NAND technology that delivers higher storage capacities, performance and endurance, with lower power consumption. Let’s see if the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD delivers on that promise!

 

The SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD Family

The SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD family consists of four models built upon the same technology. They mainly differ in storage capacities, with some performance characteristics. Here’s a table comparing their key specifications :

Specifications2 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D500 GB SanDisk Ultra 3D250 GB SanDisk Ultra 3D
Model NumberSDSSDH3-2T00SDSSDH3-1T00SDSSDH3-500GSDSSDH3-250G
Storage Capacity2048 GB (Total)
2000 GB (Effective)
1024 GB (Total)
1000 GB (Effective)
512 GB (Total)
500 GB (Effective)
256 GB (Total)
250 GB (Effective)
Overprovisioning48 GB (2.4 %)24 GB (2.4 %)12 GB (2.4 %)6 GB (2.4 %)
SSD ControllerMarvell 88SS1074-BSW2Marvell 88SS1074-BSW2Marvell 88SS1074-BSW2Marvell 88SS1074-BSW2
NAND Flash Type64-layer WD 3D NAND (BiCS3)64-layer WD 3D NAND (BiCS3)64-layer WD 3D NAND (BiCS3)64-layer WD 3D NAND (BiCS3)
SDRAM CacheNoneNone512 MB DDR3256 MB DDR3
InterfaceSATA 6 Gb/sSATA 6 Gb/sSATA 6 Gb/sSATA 6 Gb/s
Peak Sequential Read560 MB/s560 MB/s560 MB/s550 MB/s
Peak Sequential Write530 MB/s530 MB/s530 MB/s525 MB/s
Random Read I/O95,000 IOPS95,000 IOPS95,000 IOPS95,000 IOPS
Random Write I/O84,000 IOPS84,000 IOPS84,000 IOPS81,000 IOPS
Write Endurance500 TB400 TB200 TB100 TB
Slumber Power56 mW56 mW56 mW56 mW
DEVSLP Power5-12 mW5-12 mW5-7 mW5-7 mW
Ambient Temperature Range0°C to 70°C (Operating)0°C to 70°C (Operating)0°C to 70°C (Operating)0°C to 70°C (Operating)
Vibration Range5.0 gRMS, 10-2,000 Hz (Operating)
4.9 gRMS, 7-800 Hz (Non-Operating)
5.0 gRMS, 10-2,000 Hz (Operating)
4.9 gRMS, 7-800 Hz (Non-Operating)
5.0 gRMS, 10-2,000 Hz (Operating)
4.9 gRMS, 7-800 Hz (Non-Operating)
5.0 gRMS, 10-2,000 Hz (Operating)
4.9 gRMS, 7-800 Hz (Non-Operating)
Shock1,500 G @ 0.5 ms half sine1,500 G @ 0.5 ms half sine1,500 G @ 0.5 ms half sine1,500 G @ 0.5 ms half sine
Warranty3 Years3 Years3 Years3 Years
Dimensions100.5 mm x 69.85 mm x 7.0 mm100.5 mm x 69.85 mm x 7.0 mm100.5 mm x 69.85 mm x 7.0 mm100.5 mm x 69.85 mm x 7.0 mm

 

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD Up Close!

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) comes in a deceptively light cardboard box. Let’s unbox it and take a closer look!

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) is a low-profile 2.5″ drive, with a thickness of only 7 mm. This is thinner than the regular 9.5 mm drives, making it suitable for all 2.5″ drive bays, even in thin laptops.

Next Page > 3D NAND, nCache 2.0 Technology, SSD Controller & SATA Interface

 

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The WD 3D NAND Technology

Western Digital first announced their 64-layer 3D NAND technology, also known as BiCS3, last year. However, it was only slated for commercial volume production in the first half of 2017.

BiCS3 was developed jointly with their technology and manufacturing partner, Toshiba. It not only uses 64-layers, but also 3-bits-per-cell technology to achieve high capacity (256 to 512 gigabits per chip) and performance at a much lower cost.

 

SanDisk nCache 2.0 Technology

SanDisk nCache 2.0 is a proprietary pseudo-SLC caching technology that greatly increases the write performance of the solid state drive. Here is an old infographic (from their Ultra II SSD) that shows how it works :

A small portion (about 4%) of the NAND memory blocks are set to run in the SLC mode, which allows for a much higher write speed. This SLC portion serves as a fast write cache for all writes to the drive, allowing for write speeds of up to 530 MB/s.

The data is later transferred to the TLC portion using the special On Chip Copy feature. This proprietary feature allows the transfer to occur internally on-die without affecting any other transfers.

In a 1TB drive, about 40 GB is reserved for use as the nCache 2.0 write cache. That translates into an effective write cache size of about 13 GB.

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The Marvell 88SS1074 SSD Controller

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) uses the Marvell 88SS1074 SSD controller, which boasts the following key features :

  • Supports up to 4 NAND channels, with up to 8 NAND chips per channel
  • Features Marvell’s third-generation NANDEdge low-density parity check (LDPC) technology
  • Supports SATA 3.2 (6.0 Gbps)
  • Toggle 2 and ONFI2 support at up to 400 MT/s
  • Integrated DEVSLP (Device Sleep) mode for low power support
  • Supports 256-bit AES hardware encryption
  • Built on 28 nm CMOS process

The Marvell NANDEdge LDPC technology allows for reliable on-the-fly error correction of the 3-bit TLC flash memory, with minimal impact on latency, performance and power consumption.

However, the Marvell 88SS1074 is likely to fall short in sustained throughput, because it only supports 4 NAND channels. Competing controllers like the Phison S10, for example, boast 8 NAND channels, allowing twice as many NAND chips to be accessed simultaneously.

 

SATA 6 Gb/s Interface

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) is a Serial ATA drive, with native support for SATA 6 Gb/s interface. It is backward-compatible, so you will have no problem using it with older SATA 3 Gb/s controllers. However, the faster SATA 6 Gb/s interface is necessary for optimal performance because this SSD is capable of a peak transfer rate of 560 MB/s.

Like all Serial ATA drives, it comes with the standard SATA data (left) and power (right) connectors, and is hot-pluggable. That means you can connect and disconnect this solid state drive while the PC is still running. There is no jumper block, because there’s really nothing for you to set. It’s just plug and play!

Next Page > SSD Endurance & Maintenance

 

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SSD Endurance

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) is rated for a lifetime write lifespan of 400 TBW (Terabytes Written). That does not seem like a lot (equal to overwriting the drive just 400 times), but it is considered enterprise-grade endurance. Many consumer-grade SSDs of equivalent capacity are rated at around 75-100 TBW.

Based on a typical consumer DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) of 20 GB per day, this 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) will last at least 54 years.

Please note that this long lifespan is due to the large capacity. The 500 GB and 250 GB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSDs are rated at 200 TBW and 100 TBW respectively. That corresponds to an estimated lifespan of 27 years and 13.5 years respectively.

Like all other current SSDs, the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) comes with certain features to help extend its lifespan :

Wear Levelling

Unlike hard disk drives, flash-based SSDs write and overwrite data in large blocks of 512 KB to 1 MB in size. Even if you only need to write one byte of data, it has to erase and overwrite an entire block. This causes a lot of wear on the memory cells and greatly reduces their lifespan.

To help extend the lifespan of the drive, SSDs perform wear levelling by spreading the writes, so that the flash memory cells have equal wear. The lifespan of the memory cells remain unchanged, but it prevents some of them from failing earlier due to excessive wear.

Write Combine Cache

SSDs also use a write buffer to temporarily store and combine the writes before they are actually written to the flash memory. This reduces the number of block erases required, and consequently, extends the lifespan of the flash memory cells.

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) uses the aforementioned nCache 2.0 technology instead of a dedicated SDRAM write combine cache. It reserves about 4% of the NAND blocks and uses them in the SLC mode.

The resulting nCache 2.0 write cache may not be as fast as an SDRAM cache, but it is much larger in size. The 1TB WD Blue SSD, for example, boasts a large 1 GB DDR3L memory cache, but that is nothing compared to the 13 GB (or so) SLC cache in the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD.

TRIM

Current SSDs support the TRIM command, otherwise known as the ATA8-ACS-2 DATA SET MANAGEMENT command. Operating systems that support TRIM (e.g. Microsoft Windows 7) will notify the SSD when data blocks are deleted in the file system. This allows the SSD to perform garbage collection in the background – internally erasing the affected blocks so that they are ready to be written to.

Without the TRIM command, the SSD will not know when a block of data has been deleted by the operating system. When new data is written to the same block of data, it will force the SSD to perform the time-consuming read-erase-modify-write cycle, which not only cripples performance but also increases wear on the affected memory cells.

Multi-Stream

This is a new SSD technology that was introduced in May 2015, as part of the T10 SCSI Standard. Multi-stream greatly improves performance and extends lifespan by reducing or even eliminating garbage collection.

It achieves this by marking data writes that are associated with one another, or have a similar lifetime, with a unique stream ID. This allows the SSD controller to pack all data writes with the same stream ID into the same block.

When the operating system deletes data, it is likely that they are all packed into the same block. If the block has not been written to the SSD, then this eliminates the pending write operation completely. If the block has been written to the SSD, then this would only require that single block to be erased, instead of multiple blocks (which would happen if the data was not all packed into the same block).

 

SSD Maintenance

First of all, you should never, ever defragment solid state drives. Spatial fragmentation of data on the SSD has no effect on its performance. Fragmented data are accessed as quickly as nicely-packed blocks, so it’s pointless to defragment the data blocks. Doing so will only reduce the lifespan of the flash memory cells by putting them under additional wear.

3D NAND flash memory will only last about 1,000 erase/write cycles – about the same as TLC NAND memory. You will want to minimise the number of times each flash memory cell is erased.

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You should also use an operating system that supports the TRIM command. If you are using one of the following operating systems, then you have nothing to worry about :

  • Microsoft Windows 7, or better
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, or better
  • Linux 2.6.33, or better
  • FreeBSD 8.2, or better
  • Mac OS X Snow Leopard, or better

If not, you should consider upgrading your operating system. Otherwise, you will need to perform manual garbage collection on a regular basis, either using a manufacturer utility, or newer defragmentation software that specifically supports solid state drives.

Basically, these utilities will retrieve the list of free blocks from the operating system’s file system and pass it to the SSD in the form of TRIM commands, so that it will know which blocks to erase internally. Again, these utilities are not necessary if you are using an operating system that supports TRIM.

Next Page > Over-Provisioning, Capacity, Transfer Rate Profile, WinBench Results & Transfer Rate Range

 

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Testing The SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD

Processors Intel Core i7-2600K
Motherboard Intel DP67BG
Memory Four Kingmax 2 GB DDR3-1333 modules
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
SSD & HDD Drives 8 TB Western Digital Gold
1 TB + 120 GB WD Black²
1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD
1TB WD Blue SSD
1 TB WD VelociRaptor
256 GB OCZ Vector
240 GB HyperX Savage
240 GB Intel 520 Series
160 GB Intel X25-M G2
120 GB OCZ Vertex 2 (E)
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit
Microsoft Windows Vista 32-bit

Testing Methodology

 

Over-Provisioning & Usable Capacity

This 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) has a maximum storage capacity of 1,024 GB, courtesy of eight 128 GB SanDisk 3D NAND chips. Of that, a mere 24 GB has been set aside for garbage collection, wear levelling and replacement of failing blocks.

Ordinarily, the limited 2.4% over-provisioning may impact long-term performance and lifespan. However, SanDisk mitigated that using a large 13 GB pseudo-SLC write cache they call nCache 2.0.

After it is formatted in NTFS, the actual formatted capacity is 1,000,202,039,296 bytes. This is slightly (202 MB) more than the official formatted capacity of 1,000 GB.

With about 124 MB of space allocated to the NTFS file system, the actual usable capacity is just above 1,000 GB.

 

Transfer Rate Profile

We compared the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) to the 1TB WD Blue SSD. As you can see, it has a sustained throughput of about 410 MB/s, which makes it almost twice as fast as the 1TB WD Blue SSD, which uses TLC NAND memory.

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Business Disk WinBench 99

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) virtually matched the 1TB WD Blue SSD in this test.

Drive Model Capacity Business Disk
WinMark 99
Difference Useful Links
Intel 520 Series 240 GB 77.7 MB/s + 25.3% Review Lowest $
OCZ Vertex 2 (E) 120 GB 74.4 MB/s + 20.0% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Black² 120 GB 63.1 MB/s + 1.8% Review Lowest $
OCZ Vector 256 GB 62.1 MB/s + 0.2% Review Lowest $
SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB 62.0 MB/s Baseline Lowest $
WD Blue SSD 1 TB 62.0 MB/s Review Lowest $
HyperX Savage 240 GB 61.9 MB/s – 0.2% Review Lowest $
Intel X25-M G2 160 GB 50.4 MB/s – 23.0% Review Lowest $
WD VelociRaptor 1 TB 29.8 MB/s – 51.9% Review Lowest $
WD Gold 8 TB 23.3 MB/s – 62.4% Review Lowest $

 

High-End Disk WinBench 99

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) did very well in the High-End test, beating virtually all other competitors, except for the 240 GB HyperX Savage and the 240 GB Intel 520 Series SSDs.

Drive Model Capacity High-End Disk
WinMark 99
Difference Useful Links
Intel 520 Series 240 GB Beyond limit NA Review Lowest $
OCZ Vector 256 GB Beyond limit NA Review Lowest $
SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB 277 MB/s Baseline Lowest $
HyperX Savage 240 GB 262 MB/s – 5.7% Review Lowest $
OCZ Vertex 2 (E) 120 GB 250 MB/s – 10.8% Review Lowest $
Western Digital Black² 120 GB 246 MB/s – 12.6% Review Lowest $
WD Blue SSD 1 TB 62.0 MB/s – 25.9% Review Lowest $
Intel X25-M G2 160 GB 215 MB/s – 128.8% Review Lowest $
WD VelociRaptor 1 TB 172 MB/s – 161.0% Review Lowest $
WD Gold 8 TB 23.3 MB/s – 208.3% Review Lowest $
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Transfer Rate Range

This chart shows you the range of memory cell-to-controller transfer rates for SSDs, or the range of platter-to-buffer transfer rates from the innermost track to the outermost track in HDDs.

Despite boasting an official peak read speed of 560 MB/s, the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) could only hit 411 MB/s. That is impressive in its own right, but puts it below the 256 GB OCZ Vector and the 240 GB HyperX Savage SSDs.

Next Page > IO Meter Benchmark Results

 

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IO Meter

We compared the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) against the 1TB WD Blue SSD. If you wish to see how the SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD compares to other solid state drives, take a look at our Solid State Drive Performance Comparison Guide, which we will be updating shortly.

 

Throughput (Random Access)

Test 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 388.48 MB/s 239.84 MB/s + 62.0%
512 KB Write 494.05 MB/s 257.09 MB/s + 92.2%
4 KB Read 31.57 MB/s 24.93 MB/s + 26.6%
4 KB Write 75.97 MB/s 53.31 MB/s + 42.5%

The small random reads and writes are the most important tests for applications that make a lot of random accesses, so these would be key performance indicators for SSDs that are often used as boot drives.

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) did incredibly well in this test, solidly beating the 1TB WD Blue SSD. Thanks to its built-in nCache 2.0 technology, it delivered almost twice the large random write performance of the 1TB WD Blue SSD!

 

Random Access Time

Test 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 1.35 ms 2.19 ms – 38.3%
512 KB Write 1.06 ms 2.04 ms – 48.0%
4 KB Read 0.13 ms 0.17 ms – 22.8%
4 KB Write 0.05 ms 0.08 ms – 29.9%

The random write performance of the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) was truly stellar, in comparison to the 1TB WD Blue SSD.

 

Random CPU Utilization

Test 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 30.21 % 7.16 % + 321.9%
512 KB Write 29.72 % 7.31 % + 306.8%
4 KB Read 32.15 % 9.94 % + 223.4%
4 KB Write 35.61 % 11.91 % + 199.0%

The only downside – the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) uses up a lot more CPU performance than the 1TB WD Blue SSD. About 3X more CPU performance, on average!

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IO Meter (Sequential Accesses)

We compared the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) against the 1TB WD Blue SSD. If you wish to see how the SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD compares to other solid state drives, take a look at our Solid State Drive Performance Comparison Guide, which we will be updating shortly.

 

Sequential Throughput

Test 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 511.36 MB/s 250.14 MB/s + 104.4%
512 KB Write 494.07 MB/s 255.54 MB/s + 93.3%
4 KB Read 84.83 MB/s 63.35 MB/s + 33.9%
4 KB Write 75.63 MB/s 59.15 MB/s + 27.9%

The sequential read and write performance indicators determine how fast you can copy and move files. This is also important in determining how fast you can launch an application or game.

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) did marvellously in this test, coming in twice as fast as the 1TB WD Blue SSD in large, sequential reads and writes.  It also had a nice boost in small sequential read and write performance.

 

Sequential Access Time

Test 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 1.02 ms 2.10 ms – 51.2%
512 KB Write 1.06 ms 2.05 ms – 48.3%
4 KB Read 0.05 ms 0.07 ms – 26.8%
4 KB Write 0.05 ms 0.07 ms – 22.1%

 

Sequential CPU Utilization

Test 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
512 KB Read 30.17 % 8.69 % + 247.1%
512 KB Write 30.11 % 5.76 % + 422.7%
4 KB Read 36.07 % 15.93 % + 126.4%
4 KB Write 35.74 % 15.42 % + 131.9%

Again, the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) took up a significant amount of CPU processing power.

Next Page > IOPS Scaling Results

 

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IOPS Scaling (Random)

In these tests, we tested the drive’s ability to tackle multiple input/output operations. We compared the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) against the 1TB WD Blue SSDFor more performance comparisons, please take a look at the Solid State Drive Performance Comparison Guide.

Even though the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) is rated for enterprise-class endurance, its Marvell 88SS1074 controller is just not capable of handling too many simultaneous operations. It appears to handle up to 8 simultaneous transactions.

Its nCache 2.0 technology appears to have compensated for its limited NAND channels, allowing it greatly supersede the performance of the 1TB WD Blue SSD, even though they both use the same SDD controller.

 

4 KB Random Read

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 7,706 IOPS 6,086 IOPS + 26.6%
8 46,752 IOPS 38,444 IOPS + 21.6%
32 64,618 IOPS 36,145 IOPS + 78.8%

 

4 KB Random Write

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 18,547 IOPS 13,015 IOPS + 42.5%
8 49,086 IOPS 39,066 IOPS + 25.6%
32 52,569 IOPS 39,115 IOPS + 34.4%

 

512 KB Random Read

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 741 IOPS 457 IOPS + 62.0%
8 1,078 IOPS 537 IOPS + 101.0%
32 1,078 IOPS 544 IOPS + 98.1%

 

512 KB Random Write

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 942 IOPS 490 IOPS + 92.2%
8 952 IOPS 522 IOPS + 82.4%
32 966 IOPS 522 IOPS + 85.2%
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IOPS Scaling (Sequential)

In these tests, we tested the drive’s ability to tackle multiple input/output operations. We compared the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) against the 1TB WD Blue SSDFor more performance comparisons, please take a look at the Solid State Drive Performance Comparison Guide.

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) did much better than the 1TB WD Blue SSD, even though they both use the same SDD controller.

 

4 KB Sequential Read

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 20,709 IOPS 15,466 IOPS + 33.9%
8 65,241 IOPS 41,425 IOPS + 57.5%
32 65,160 IOPS 37,963 IOPS + 71.6%

 

4 KB Sequential Write

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 18,465 IOPS 14,440 IOPS + 27.9%
8 51,812 IOPS 38,840 IOPS + 33.4%
32 50,670 IOPS 39,188 IOPS + 29.3%

 

512 KB Sequential Read

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 975 IOPS 477 IOPS + 104.4%
8 1,070 IOPS 544 IOPS + 96.6%
32 1,045 IOPS 540 IOPS + 93.4%

 

512 KB Sequential Write

Outstanding I/Os 1 TB SanDisk Ultra 3D 1 TB WD Blue SSD Difference
1 942 IOPS 487 IOPS + 93.3%
8 1,048 IOPS 521 IOPS + 100.9%
32 1,008 IOPS 521 IOPS + 93.4%

Next Page > AS SSD Benchmark Results

 

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AS SSD Benchmark

AS SSD Benchmark is a simple and easy-to-use SSD benchmark by Alex Intelligent Software. It not only tests the drive’s sequential transfer rates and access times, but also its performance at both single-threaded and multi-threaded 4K IOPS.

 

Sequential Transfers

Drive Model Read + Write Average Difference Quick Links
HyperX Savage 516.0 MB/s + 4.6% Price, Review
OCZ Vector 500.3 MB/s + 1.4% Price, Review
SanDisk Ultra 3D 493.5 MB/s Baseline Price
Intel 520 Series 293.9 MB/s – 40.4% Price, Review
Western Digital Black² 280.6 MB/s – 43.1% Price, Review
WD Blue SSD 260.2 MB/s – 47.3% Price, Review
Intel X25-M G2 179.0 MB/s – 63.7% Price, Review
OCZ Vertex 2 (E) 172.3 MB/s – 65.1% Price, Review

 

Single-Threaded 4K IOPS Performance

Drive Model Read + Write Average Difference Quick Links
SanDisk Ultra 3D 48.1 MB/s Baseline Price
Intel 520 Series 45.7 MB/s – 4.9% Price, Review
OCZ Vertex 2 (E) 40.6 MB/s – 15.5% Price, Review
HyperX Savage 40.2 MB/s – 16.3% Price, Review
OCZ Vector 38.6 MB/s – 19.7% Price, Review
Western Digital Black² 35.0 MB/s – 27.3% Price, Review
WD Blue SSD 31.7 MB/s – 34.1% Price, Review
Intel X25-M G2 30.7 MB/s – 36.2% Price, Review
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Multi-Threaded 4K IOPS Performance

Drive Model Read + Write Average Difference Quick Links
SanDisk Ultra 3D 347.3 MB/s Baseline Price
OCZ Vector 338.6 MB/s – 2.5% Price, Review
HyperX Savage 257.8 MB/s – 25.8% Price, Review
WD Blue SSD 193.6 MB/s – 44.3% Price, Review
Intel 520 Series 177.5 MB/s – 48.9% Price, Review
Western Digital Black² 164.9 MB/s – 52.5% Price, Review
Intel X25-M G2 125.2 MB/s – 64.0% Price, Review
OCZ Vertex 2 (E) 122.1 MB/s – 64.9% Price, Review

 

Access Time

Drive Model Read + Write Average Difference Quick Links
HyperX Savage 0.065 ms – 14.6% Price, Review
OCZ Vector 0.067 ms – 11.3% Price, Review
SanDisk Ultra 3D 0.076 ms Baseline Price
WD Blue SSD 0.078 ms + 3.3% Price, Review
Intel X25-M G2 0.089 ms + 17.2% Price, Review
Western Digital Black² 0.119 ms + 57.0% Price, Review
OCZ Vertex 2 (E) 0.148 ms + 95.4% Price, Review
Intel 520 Series 0.162 ms + 113.9% Price, Review

Next Page > ATTO Disk Benchmark Results, Verdict & Award

 

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ATTO Disk Benchmark

ATTO Disk Benchmark is a free benchmark that allows you to compare the performance of solid state drives using a variety of transfer sizes. It also allows us to determine if the SSD performs data compression to improve performance, and extend lifespan.

 

I/O Comparison

Results Compressible Data Non-Compressible Data
Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
Read Speed 11.6 MB/s 426.1 MB/s 11.6 MB/s 427.1 MB/s
Write Speed 7.6 MB/s 526.3 MB/s 7.6 MB/s 525.1 MB/s

The Marvell 88SS1074 controller does not perform any data compression, which is why the performance results are the same for both compressible and non-compressible data. The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) reached its peak transfer rate with a block size of 1 MB.

 

Multiple I/O Comparison

Results Compressible Data Non-Compressible Data
Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
Read Speed 25.8 MB/s 559 2 MB/s 26.7 MB/s 580.5 MB/s
Write Speed 16.2 MB/s 538.1 MB/s 16.1 MB/s 538.1 MB/s

With just 8 simultaneous transactions, the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) reached its peak transfer rate with a block size of 128 KB.

 

Our Verdict & Award

The first 1 terabyte solid state drive we tested was the 1TB WD Blue (WDS100T1B0A) SSD. While it had a large storage capacity, high endurance and a affordable price point, it was not particularly fast.

That changed with the introduction of the 64-layer 3D NAND technology, which not only increases storage capacity and performance, but also reduces cost and power consumption. Now we can have our cake and eat it too.

The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) is the first SanDisk solid state drive to make use of the 64-layer 3D NAND technology and it sure impressed us with its performance.

Despite using the same SSD controller as the 1TB WD Blue, the 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) was twice as fast in large reads and writes. It accomplished this without using any SDRAM cache, thanks to nCache 2.0 technology.

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The 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (Price Check) will work well as a boot drive, thanks to its excellent small random performance. It will be particularly attractive as an upgrade option for laptops still running on hard disk drives, or smaller SSDs.

Just note that its high performance requires a significant amount of CPU performance. So make sure you pair it with a decent processor.

We like its combination of great performance, large storage capacity and lower cost so much, we think it deserves our Editor’s Choice Award. Great work, SanDisk!

 

SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD Price Check

The SanDisk Ultra 3D SSDs are available in storage capacities from 250 GB to 2 TB in the 2.5-inch / 7mm cased drive form factor.

Go Back To > First Page | Reviews | Home

 

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The SanDisk iXpand Base Fast Charging + Backup For iPhone

SanDisk just unveiled a unique fast charging and backup solution for iPhone users – the SanDisk iXpand Base! It automatically backs up your important data whenever you recharges your iPhone. Check it out!

 

The SanDisk iXpand Base Revealed!

An extension of the award-winning SanDisk line of iPhone mobile storage solutions, the iXpand Base is designed for consumers who are looking for a convenient way to back up their iPhone photos, videos and contacts.

With the SanDisk iXpand Base, all you have to do is simply plug your iPhone into the iXpand Base and it will automatically back up your iPhone’s content while it is charging. The iXpand Base comes with storage capacities from 32 GB all the way to 256 GB, and can be used to backup multiple iPhones.

The SanDisk iXpand Base has a built-in 15 W (5 V @ 3A) fast charger that is fully compatible with the fast charging technology introduced in the latest Apple iPhone X. However, it does not come with its own Lightning cable.

Although SanDisk does not mention it, the storage is provided via an SD card inserted into an SD card slot at the back. This means you can remove the SD card to extract the stored data if you wish, or swap out the existing SD card for a larger capacity card later.

 

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Price & Availability

The SanDisk iXpand Base is now available at Apple Premium Reseller stores, 11street, Lazada and Shopee across Malaysia with a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of :

  • 64 GB : RM 369 (~US$ 88) / US : $69.99
  • 128 GB : RM 529 (~US$ 126) / US : $99.99
  • 256 GB : RM 899 (~US$ 214) / US : $149.99

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The 400GB SanDisk Ultra microSD Card Revealed!

SanDisk just unveiled the 400GB SanDisk Ultra microSD card for smartphones and devices. That’s a humungous amount of storage in such a tiny storage device!

 

The 400GB SanDisk Ultra microSD Card Revealed!

For non-iPhone users, SanDisk offers the new 400GB SanDisk Ultra microSD card – the world’s highest-capacity microSD card. It will be available for purchase in Malaysia from December 2017 onwards.

The new 400GB SanDisk Ultra microSD card has copious storage capacity, and is rated at UHS-I with a 100 MB/s read speed. That means you can copy up to 1200 photos per minute!

It has also been certified as Application Performance Class 1, delivering a minimum of 1,500 IOPS (read) and 500 IOPS (write). That means you can install your apps on this microSD card for faster loading speed!

Like other microSD cards, the 400GB SanDisk Ultra microSD card is waterproof, temperature-proof, X-ray proof, magnet-proof and of course, shock-proof.

For easy file management, you can download the SanDisk Memory Zone app from the Google Play store. It lets you view, access and backup your smartphone’s files in one location. It can also automatically move files from your device to the 400GB SanDisk Ultra microSD card.

 

Price & Availability

The 400GB SanDisk Ultra microSD card comes with a ten-year limited warranty and will be available in Malaysia at 11street, Lazada and Shopee starting from December 2017.

In Malaysia, it will have a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of RM 1,499 / ~US$ 357. If you are in the US, you can purchase it for just $249.99.

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The WD + SanDisk SSDs With 64-Layer 3D NAND Revealed!

Western Digital earlier announced the development of 64-layer and 96-layer 3D NAND technologies, and now, they are introducing the availability of consumer-grade WD Blue 3D NAND SSDs and SanDisk Ultra 3D SSDs. These are the world’s first consumer-grade solid state drives that use the 64-layer 3D NAND technology to deliver lower power consumption with higher performance, endurance and capacities.

 

The WD + SanDisk SSDs With 64-Layer 3D NAND Technology

Targeting DIY enthusiasts, resellers and system builders, the WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSDs boast an industry-leading 1.75 million hours MTTF, as well as the quality backing of WD Functional Integrity Testing Lab (F.I.T. Lab) certification.

The SanDisk Ultra 3D SSDs, on the other hand, are intended for gaming and creative enthusiasts who want to improve their PCs. The product delivers enhanced endurance and reliability, no-wait boot-up, shorter application load times, and quicker data transfers.

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The WD 3D NAND Technology

Western Digital first announced their 64-layer 3D NAND technology, also known as BiCS3, last year. However, it was only slated for commercial volume production in the first half of 2017.

BiCS3 was developed jointly with their technology and manufacturing partner, Toshiba. It not only uses 64-layers, but also 3-bits-per-cell technology to achieve high capacity (256 to 512 gigabits per chip) and performance at a much lower cost.

 

Availability & Pricing

The WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSDs and SanDisk Ultra 3D SSDs are available in storage capacities from 250 GB to 2 TB in the traditional 2.5-inch / 7mm cased drive form factor. They have the same MSRP:

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The WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSDs are also available in the single-sided M.2 2280 form factor at the following prices:

All WD Blue 3D NAND SATA and SanDisk Ultra 3D SSDs come with a three-year limited warranty.

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The Computex Taipei 2017 Live Coverage (Day 4)

This is the fourth and last day of our LIVE COVERAGE of Computex Taipei 2017. You can follow us LIVE on the Tech ARP Facebook page or keep track on this article. Computex Taipei 2017 runs for five full days, and we will be here until June 2!

 

The Western Digital & SanDisk Showcase

For the first time, Western Digital has a presence in Computex. Well, they basically joined SanDisk (their subsidiary) at their regular showcase in the Grand Hyatt Taipei.

Oh my! Managed to catch up with Mimi, Jolin and Jared of Western Digital!

What we are holding are the new WD Blue and SanDisk Ultra SSDs built using the 64-layer 3D NAND flash memory.

That’s 2 TB of flash storage with a 500 TB write endurance in our hands!

 

The Acer Computex 2017 Showcase

From my visit to the Acer booth – the Acer Predator Groton 700. It boasts the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX with Max-Q design.

The ASUS Booth Again

We made sure to drop by the ASUS booth again to check out the new ROG Strix GL702ZC. What’s so special? It boasts an 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 1700 processor!

And the latest AMD Radeon RX 580 GPU, of course!

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Goodbye, Taipei

This year, we had to cut short our Computex coverage. But we still have many pictures, videos and articles to share with you shortly. But for now, goodbye, Taipei. We will see you next year for Computex 2018!

Bye bye rainy Taipei… See you next year!

 

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WD Launches SanDisk iXpand Mini Flash Drive

13 March 2017Western Digital Corporation, a global storage technology and solutions provider, today released its latest mobile memory solution for iPhone and iPad, the SanDisk iXpand Mini Flash Drive.

The new offering expands the company’s portfolio of mobile storage solutions, which includes the award-winning SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive, and offers users an additional design option when it comes to instantly freeing up space, or backing up files, photos and videos on their iPhone or iPad.

 

SanDisk iXpand Mini Flash Drive

The SanDisk iXpand Mini Flash Drive is equipped with a Lightning connector and a USB 3.0 connector so users can quickly and easily move files between iPhone or iPad and Mac or PC computers. The new flash drive features a modern and compact design, a high capacity of up to 128GB.

With the advancements in iPhone and iPad camera and video functionality, people will continue to produce content at astonishing rates, and may need even more space to save all of their memories. The SanDisk iXpand Mini Flash Drive is designed to meet these physical [or local] storage needs and enables users to capture, save and share content without limits.

“Smartphone and tablet users are creating more content than ever before and we understand that customers are looking for physical [or local], mobile storage solutions that are easy to use, portable and reliable,” said Hon-Wai Cheah, Product Marketing Director, APAC, Western Digital. “The new SanDisk iXpand Mini Flash Drive offers iPhone and iPad users an option to capture everything they love without worrying about running out of space.”

The SanDisk iXpand Mini Flash Drive also features a redesigned app, the iXpand Drive app, which offers new features and an improved user experience. Giving users the option to save space instantly, the app now has a camera function so users can shoot and save photos or videos directly to the drive instead of on their iPhone or iPad. The app also allows users to automatically back up content from their iPhone or iPad, as well as playback music within the app. The iXpand Drive app is available for free download from the App Store.

SanDisk offers a full range of mobile storage solutions, making it easy for consumers to expand the memory and manage content on their favorite Apple and Android devices.

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Pricing and Availability

The SanDisk iXpand Mini Flash Drive features a two-year limited warranty. It’s available in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities, with MSRPs of MYR 129 / ~US$ 29, MYR159 / ~US$ 35, MYR219 / ~US$ 49 and MYR349 / ~US$ 78 respectively. The new iXpand Mini Flash Drive is available now in Lazada.

 

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SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.1 Solid State Flash Drive

24 February 2017Western Digital Corporation, a global storage technology and solutions leader, today announced its fastest, high-capacity USB flash drive to date with the launch of its high-performance 256GB* SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.1 Solid State Flash Drive. The new drive delivers the speed, capacity, and reliability of an SSD in the convenient form factor of a small USB flash drive, and is ideal for creative professionals, tech enthusiasts, or anyone who creates and shares massive files.

A game-changer in the USB storage category, the drive is capable of read speeds up to 420MB/s and write speeds up to 380MB/s. With its unprecedented speeds, you can transfer full-length 4K movie to the drive in less than 15 seconds. With its USB 3.1 interface, people can rapidly access and move files on the go, without having to worry about a cable. The new drive also features a sophisticated design with a durable aluminum metal casing and a retractable connector for ultimate style and reliability.

 

“The combination of SSD performance and a compact USB form factor offers the ultimate performance and convenience for moving files easily and quickly,” said Peter Mah, regional director of SanDisk APAC marketing for Western Digital Corporation. “With its increased capacity and blazing speeds, the SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.1 Solid State Flash Drive is our sleekest, most powerful SanDisk USB device yet.”

The SanDisk Extreme PRO Solid State Flash Drive is available up to 256GB, giving consumers plenty of room to manage large files. For added file protection, it includes the SanDisk SecureAccess software, which offers 128-bit file encryption and password protection. The drive also comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

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SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.1 Pricing and Availability

The SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.1 Solid State Flash Drive is now available in Malaysia in capacities of 128GB and 256GB with MSRPs of MYR 469 / ~US$ 104 and MYR 769 / US$ 170, respectively.

 

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WD Completes Acquisition Of SanDisk

Kuala Lumpur, 13 May, 2016 — Western Digital Corporation today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Western Digital Technologies, Inc. has completed the acquisition of SanDisk Corporation. The addition of SanDisk makes Western Digital Corporation a comprehensive storage solutions provider with global reach, and an extensive product and technology platform that includes deep expertise in both rotating magnetic storage and non-volatile memory (NVM).

The Company also indicated that the debt financing associated with this transaction has been consummated and that the previously obtained funds from this financing have been released from escrow to Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

“Today is a significant day in the history of Western Digital,” said Steve Milligan, chief executive officer of Western Digital. “We are delighted to welcome SanDisk into the Western Digital family. This transformational combination creates a media-agnostic leader in storage technology with a robust portfolio of products and solutions that will address a wide range of applications in almost all of the world’s computing and mobile devices.”

“We are excited to now begin focusing on the many opportunities before us, from leading innovation to bringing the best of what we can offer as a combined company to our customers. In addition, we will begin the work to fully realize the value of this combination through executing on our synergies, generating significant cash flow, as well as rapidly deleveraging our balance sheet, and creating significant long-term value for our shareholders.”

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The integration process will begin immediately through the joint efforts of teams from both companies. As previously announced, Steve Milligan will continue to serve as chief executive officer of Western Digital, which will remain headquartered in Irvine, California. Sanjay Mehrotra, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of SanDisk, will serve as a member of the Western Digital Board of Directors, effective immediately.

“As a combined company, we will be best positioned to address the demands for data storage, which is growing exponentially every year,” said Sanjay Mehrotra. “Growth and change go hand in hand, and we couldn’t be happier to grow and change together with Western Digital. I look forward to contributing to realizing the potential of this combination as a member of the board.”

Under the terms of the transaction, each outstanding share of SanDisk common stock was converted into the right to receive $67.50 per share in cash and 0.2387 shares of Western Digital common stock.

 

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