It has been over 6 years since Western Digital shipped SSD drive, but with their recent acquisition of SanDisk, the wait has come to an end. WD has two new SSD models.
These new SSDs naturally borrow SanDisk 15nm TLC flash but drive that flash with aftermarket controllers. The Blue employs a Marvell 88SS1074 controller while the Green will use a Silicon Motion SM2256S. The Blue will have the typical SATA 6Gbps saturating specs seen in modern SSDs, while the Green will be a bit slower. Detailed specifications are below:
- Form Factors: 2.5¨/7mm cased, M.2 2280
- Endurance (Blue):
- 250GB: 100 TBW
- 500GB: 200 TBW
- 1TB: 400 TBW
- Power (Blue):
- Slumber: 42mW-52mW
- DEVSLP: 4.9mW-9.7mW
- Average Active Power: 70mW
- Warranty (Blue and Green): 3 years
The WD Green will be more budget minded and is to be offered in only a 120GB and 240GB form factor, with reduced endurance ratings of 40 TBW and 80 TBW, respectively.
Pricing (for the WD Blue SSD):
- 250 GB $79.99
- 500 GB $139.99
- 1TB $299.99
The WD Green SSD will be available ‘later this quarter’, and we do not yet have pricing for that model, but it should come in at a lower cost than the Blue prices above. We have a Blue model in for testing and should see how it fares on our new storage suite later this week.
Both WD Blue SSDs and WD Green SSDs are protected by a 3-year limited warranty.
