WD Black SN8100 2TB review

On paper, the specifications for the 2TB model are impressive. It's a standard M.2 2280 single-sided drive built with Sandisk BiCS8 TLC 3D CBA NAND technology. The performance metrics according to the spec sheet are 14,900MB/s Sequential Read and 14,000MB/s Sequential Write. Sandisk also says the Random Read IOPS is 2.3 million and the Random Write IOPS is 2.4 million. Meanwhile, the endurance is rated for 1,200 Terabytes Written (TBW).
More notable than the raw speed is the efficiency. The drive is reportedly over 100% more power-efficient than its Gen4 forerunner, with the 2TB model averaging 7.0W during write operations. This is a significant engineering step, as it means the SN8100 can operate without the sort of elaborate, expensive cooling solutions its predecessors often required. We still went overboard with our heatsink and included a heatsink that would take care of any sizzling operations. The SN8100 drive is only available without a heatsink right now. It will get a heatsink version later this year, along with an 8TB variant as well.
A feature of interest is the 'Game Mode', accessible via the WD Black Dashboard software. It offers settings to automatically optimise the drive when a game launches. While intriguing, its practical utility is questionable, especially as toggling the mode on or off necessitates a full system reboot, a rather clunky requirement for a feature meant to streamline performance.

In our testing, the SN8100 delivered a random read speed of 14,196MB/s and a write speed of 12,490MB/s. This is almost exactly double the performance of the WD Black SN850X we tested recently, which clocked in at 6,954MB/s read and 6,670MB/s write speeds. The generational leap is, therefore, not just a claim but a measured reality.
Crucially, the drive manages its heat exceptionally well. During normal copy-pasting operations, the temperature hovered around a stable 60°C. Even when pushed hard during a CrystalDiskMark test, it hit a maximum of only 68°C, staying comfortably below the drive's thermal throttle threshold of 85-90°C. To test a real-world scenario, we copied a 1TB folder of game files from a Gen4 drive to the SN8100. The entire process took just under eight minutes, a shockingly fast transfer for such a large amount of data, and the temperature never exceeded 65°C.

The critique, however, remains. While the eight-minute 1TB transfer is impressive, it's a task few users will perform regularly. For booting an OS, loading most current games, or general desktop use, the difference between a top-tier Gen4 drive and this Gen5 drive will be measured in fractions of a second. It's a quantifiable improvement, but also an expensive one. The performance is undeniable, but its practical impact for anyone outside of a niche professional or enthusiast demographic is debatable. Which is not to say the drive is bad or anything, it’s just so ridiculously fast that you better hope that you have a Gen5 motherboard and a serious requirement for video editing, because that’s the only place this drive makes absolute worth the money.

A blistering-fast drive that’s more of a tantalising glimpse into tomorrow's world than a must-have for today. It’s like owning a supercar in a world full of 20mph zones; the power is immense, but you’ll struggle to find a road where you can legally (or practically) floor it. The WD Black SN8100 proves that Gen 5 storage can be both face-meltingly fast and cool as a cucumber, fixing the fiery reputation of its early brethren.
However, it's difficult to recommend for a broad audience at this time. To achieve its maximum potential, the drive requires a PCIe Gen 5.0-compatible motherboard, representing a significant platform investment for most people. Not to mention the 2TB drive is a whopping 44,064 on Amazon India at the time of writing. When you factor in that cost, the marginal real-world gains over a much cheaper Gen4 drive make the SN8100 a luxury item. It’s for the enthusiast who needs benchmark-topping bragging rights or the professional whose specific workflow can leverage every drop of sequential performance.
So, unless you’re a video pro shifting terabyte-sized files for breakfast or a benchmark-obsessed enthusiast, your current setup likely can’t keep up. It’s an aspirational bit of kit, a beautiful, pricey postcard from the future.