Western Digital has announced the first ever consumer 64-layer 3D NAND SSDs. The tech comes in two flavors; WD Blue for enthusiasts, and the SanDisk Ultra for gamers.
Both SSDs will be available in capacities of 250TB, 500TB, 1TB, and 2TB. That pairs with a read speed of up to 560 MB/s and write speeds of 530.
“Delivering 64-layer 3D NAND-based SSDs into the PC segment marks a critical step in our ongoing conversion to this new technology and offers long-term benefits for our customers,” said Mike Cordano, the president and COO of Western Digital. “Between our two, strong brands in SanDisk and WD, and their respective loyal customer bases and distribution channels, these advanced SSDs will appeal to a very broad footprint of the computing population that are seeking the benefits of today’s newest technologies.”
WD Blue 3D NAND SSD Details
The SSDs have multiple improvements in reliability, performance, and power consumption. According to Western Digital’s website, the WD Blue offers the following benefits:
- “High capacity with enhanced reliability: A WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD uses 3D NAND technology not only for higher capacities (up to 2TB1) than the previous generation WD Blue SSDs, but also to help reduce cell-to-cell interference for enhanced reliability.
- Enhanced power efficiency: Offering improved endurance, a WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD features an active power draw up to 25% lower than previous generations of WD Blue SSDs. And with less power used, you’re able to work longer before recharging your laptop.
- Superior performance for high-end computing: For high-end computing applications like gaming, HD media playback, or creative software, look to WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSDs. 3D NAND technology helps enable sequential read speeds up to 560MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 530MB/s for fast system boot-ups, quick application responses, and rapid transfer speeds.”
The product comes with a 3-year limited warranty and 1.75M hours mean time to failure.
SANDISK ULTRA 3D SSD Details
The Sandisk Ultra 3D Drive comes with similar specs but is aimed at the gaming market. It’s a simple upgrade process and should be a good fit for gaming rigs of any kind.
This variant will feature nCache 2.0 technology, allowing for faster burst speeds. It also comes in a durable design with real-time status updates so you can tell if your device is performing well.
Of course, there are all the benefits of the WD SSD too, including better power efficiency and reliability.
In all, it’s a fair offering by Western Digital. Both drives will set you back $99 and will be available late this summer. You can find more details on the SanDisk and Western Digital sites.
