Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Small 2230 type issue for handheld gaming rigs
- Up to 2TB of capability
- Very good real-world efficiency
- 5-year guarantee and good TBW scores
Cons
- Slow writes when secondary cache is exhausted
- Requires host reminiscence buffer assist (HMB)
Our Verdict
Though a tad expensive, WD’s Black SN770M 2230 M.2 SSD delivers excellent efficiency and is offered as much as 2TB in capability. That means twice as many video games in your handheld gaming gadget than with most different 2230 SSDs.
Price When Reviewed
500GB: $80 I 1TB: $120 I 2TB: $220
Best Prices Today: WD SN770M NVMe SSD
$79.99
$109.99
It’s been nearly two years since we examined the full-sized, 2280 (22mm vast, 80mm lengthy) WD Black SN770. WD simply launched the far shorter 2230 (30mm lengthy) SN770M, which is supposed as an improve on your Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, and different handheld gaming PCs.
Performance- and component-wise, there turned out to be little completely different between the SN770M and the SN770, and pricing isn’t all that completely different both.
What are the WD Black SN770M’s options?
As to the applied sciences on board, the SN770M is an M.2, PCIe 4.0 x4 (4 lane) drive, using an in-house Sandisk controller and the identical 112-layer Sandisk-labeled TLC NAND as within the SN770.
Note that the Steam Deck is PCIe 3.0 (the ROG Ally is 4.0). PCIe 4.0/5.0 SSDs are backwards suitable, although sequential efficiency will likely be restricted to round 3.5GBps.
The SN770M is a DRAM-less, (HMB/host reminiscence buffer) design. That means for high write efficiency, the gadget by which you put in the SN770M should assist the expertise and provide up a few of its reminiscence for caching duties.
Jon L. Jacobi / Foundry
WD supplies a five-year guarantee for the Black SN770M and charges it for 300TBW (terabytes that could be written over the lifetime of the drive) per 500GB. That ranking is par for the course, although lower than what you’ll get from Seagate, Kingston, or Lexar.
How a lot does the WD Black SN770M price?
At the time of this writing, the SN770M was out there in 500GB/$80 (£71), 1TB/$120 (£104), and 2TB/$220 (£199) flavors. Not discount basement, however usually on par for smaller “specialty” 2230 SSDs. That stated, the Sabrent Rocket Q4 (2230) was a bit cheaper on the time of this writing.
How quick is the WD Black SN770M?
Faster in some exams, slower in others, total the SN770M carried out on par with its SN770 predecessor. The solely exception was the 450GB write, the place being a 2TB drive, the SN770M by no means ran out of secondary cache (3-bit TLC written as 1-bit SLC) because the SN770 did.
In CrystalDiskMark 8’s sequential exams, the the 2 WDs scored very equally — nicely inside the margin of error.
WD Black SN770M’s CrystalDiskMark sequential efficiency
proved nearly similar to the SN770’s.
Jon L. Jacobi
The SN770M and the SN770 had been once more neck and neck in CrystalDiskMark 8’s 4K exams, except the 32-queue learn the place the older SN770 pulled forward.
WD Black SN770M’s 4K efficiency is sort of good for the category, and solely fell off its sibling’s occasions within the 32-queue learn take a look at.
Jon L. Jacobi
I don’t usually embody AS SSD 2.0 outcomes as they have an inclination to merely re-state CrystalDiskMark’s. However, the discrepancies between the 2 WD drives within the 4K exams had been too fascinating to omit. And sure, the Lexar NM790 continued its relatively abysmal efficiency with 4K information.
WD Black SN770M and SN770, with every drive spanking the opposite in a single take a look at.
Jon L. Jacobi
When it got here to our real-world 48GB transfers, the SN770M was nearly as quick as its SN770 sibling. The Lexar NM790, although a 98-pound weakling in 4K exams, actually shines on this one.
WD Black SN770M in our 48GB transfers.
Jon L. Jacobi
When it got here to our 450GB single file write, the SN770M got here up aces. The SN770 not a lot, however that’s largely as a result of, once more, the unit we examined was a 1TB drive that ran out of secondary cache at across the 375GB mark. Again, the NM790 actually shines in steady massive file writes.
WD Black SN770M was 2TB and the older SN700 was 1TB, it didn’t run out of secondary cache and turned in a superb 450GB write efficiency. Note that the SN770M will decelerate considerably off cache.
Jon L. Jacobi
To full the secondary cache dialogue, beneath you’ll see that the SN770M additionally drops to round 300MBps (writing natively as TLC) as soon as it runs out of secondary cache. Neither of the WDs is the SSD you need for very massive information writes regularly.
SATA-like write efficiency when a drive ran out of secondary cache was as soon as the story with all SSDs; nonetheless, some newer drives with quicker NAND such because the Lexar NM790 drop solely to 700MBps to 1.5GBps when writing natively– i.e., writing the total three-bits.
Should you purchase the WD Black SN770M?
If you’re on the lookout for a quick SSD with 2TB of capability on your Steam Deck or different gadget that accepts solely 2230 type issue SSDs, then the WD SN770M is pretty much as good because it will get. Beyond that, you will get extra for much less with a standard SSD.
How we take a look at
Internal drive exams at present make the most of Windows 11, 64-bit working on an X790 (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard/i5-12400 CPU combo with two Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (64GB of reminiscence whole). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 4 are built-in to the again panel and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. The 48GB switch exams make the most of an ImDisk RAM disk taking on 58GB of the 64GB of whole reminiscence. The 450GB file is transferred from a 2TB Samsung 990 Pro which additionally runs the OS.
Each take a look at is carried out on a newly formatted and TRIM’d drive so the outcomes are optimum. Note that in regular use, as a drive fills up, efficiency might lower on account of much less NAND for secondary caching, in addition to different components. This is much less of an element with the present crop of SSDs with their far quicker NAND.
Caveat: The efficiency numbers proven apply solely to the drive we had been shipped and to the capability examined. SSD efficiency can and can fluctuate by capability on account of extra or fewer chips to shotgun reads/writes throughout and the quantity of NAND out there for secondary caching. Vendors additionally sometimes swap elements. If you ever discover a big discrepancy between the efficiency you expertise and that which we report, by all means, tell us.