Western Digital announced two new additions to its growing WD_BLACK gaming portfolio, the WD_BLACK™ SN850X NVMe™ SSD and WD_BLACK P40 Game Drive SSD. Designed to elevate the gaming experience, the expanded portfolio offers players more options to upgrade their PC or console storage. Living at the intersection of technology and entertainment, the WD_BLACK brand provides innovative, custom-built storage solutions that offer the ultimate in performance and style. The upcoming WD_BLACK gaming portfolio products include:

WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe SSD – Optimized for hardcore gamers looking for unparalleled performance, this powerful internal PCIe® Gen4 SSD1 delivers breakneck read speeds of up to 7,300 MB/s2. With minimized latency, predictive loading and adaptive thermals management, gamers can expect an incredible gaming experience with fast load-times, rich visual experience, and uncompromising thermal performance. The downloadable WD_BLACK Dashboard with its new Game Mode 2.0 (Windows® only) unlocks PC performance-boosting features so gamers can play, stream, record, and dominate at the top of their game. An optional heatsink (1TB and 2TB models) is available to help maintain peak performance and includes RGB lighting to complement any gaming rig.

• Pricing/Availability: The WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe SSD will come in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB3 capacities starting at $189.99 (U.S. MSRP). It will be available for purchase at select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers, system integrators and the Western Digital Store starting July 2022.

WD_BLACK P40 Game Drive SSD – Created for gamers looking for portable storage with both performance and style, the WD_BLACK P40 Game Drive SSD features a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 interface and blazing read speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s2 paired with customizable RGB lighting (Windows only). The downloadable WD_BLACK Dashboard gives full control over the LED light display and can be synced with many existing RGB ecosystems for a setup that can be personalized to any gamer's style. With a sleek, compact, and shock-resistant design, it's the perfect option for gaming on the go.

• Pricing/Availability: The WD_BLACK P40 Game Drive SSD will come in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB3 capacities starting at $119.99 (U.S. MSRP). It will be available for purchase at select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers and the Western Digital Store starting Summer 2022.

More over, a lower priced mode introduced the Western Digital® PC SN740 NVMe SSD. Featuring a DRAM-less architecture and leveraging Western Digital's in-house SSD controller design, BiCS5 3D NAND, firmware development, and vertical integration, the new SN740 NVMe SSD underscores the company's strengths in developing innovations that allow customers to unlock the potential of data. Qualified by and shipping to key OEM customers, the new SN740 NVMe SSD features:

• NVMe Technology: Compute faster with incredible PCIe Gen4 performance and sequential read speeds up to 5,150MB/s1 (1TB - 2TB2 models), 50 percent higher performance compared with the prior generation SN730 SSD.

• Thin, Light and Low Power: Save on space with a single-sided M.2 2230 and multitask more on a single charge. The SN740 offers up to 45% more time between charges compared with SN730.

• Advanced Security Features: Improve data security with advanced security features including optional TCG Opal 2.01, TCG Pyrite 2.0 and ATA password.

• Built-In Support: Work with extra confidence and peace of mind as the downloadable Western Digital® SSD Dashboard helps monitor the drive's health, available space, temperature and more.

• 5-Year Limited Warranty: Equipped with advanced thermal management technology that helps maintain consistent performance, this reliable drive from a trusted brand comes backed by a 5-year limited warranty.

Apart from the above SSDs, WD also announced that it is now sampling its new Ultrastar® NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 SSDs to select hyperscale customers. Built upon its strong vertical integration capabilities, these new SSDs are purpose-built to provide performance at scale while reducing TCO for public cloud deployments. The new Ultrastar DC SN650 NVMe SSD family includes a 2.5-inch form-factor for traditional infrastructure and the slimmer, ruler E1.L form-factor, both with capacities up to 15.36TB1, next-generation BiCS5 3D TLC NAND and a PCIe 4.0 interface.

The Ultrastar DC SN650 NVMe SSDs improve storage resource utilization by increasing the number of virtualized hosts per SSD and by consolidating larger application datasets. These datasets for big data analytics and AI/ML also benefit from moving to higher capacities by unlocking low latency and higher throughput of the DC SN650 NVMe SSD, which translates into faster time-to-insights and real-time analytics. The slimmer E1.L form-factor significantly increases rack storage density, thereby reducing TCO while improving storage manageability, serviceability and efficiency. The DC SN650 E1.L NVMe SSD is compliant with the OCP Cloud Specification 1.0a.

Leveraging Western Digital's in-house SSD controller designs, firmware development, and vertical integration, the new drives underscore the company's continued strengths in developing innovations that allow customers to unlock the potential of data.

Western Digital is now sampling the Ultrastar DC SN650 drives and expects to begin production shipments in the second half of 2022.

Lastly, WD revealed more products, under the SanDisk® and SanDisk Professional brands, including a modular SSD ecosystem and the world's fastest UHS-I SD™ and microSD™ memory cards, the SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE™ Modular SSD Ecosystem. Designed to meet the need for multiple, super-fast portable storage devices to quickly ingest, edit, and copy large volumes of high-resolution content, the powerful PRO-BLADE ecosystem lets users easily swap out lightweight, high-capacity PRO-BLADE SSD mags so they can carry terabytes of storage without excess bulk. The exceptionally versatile PRO-BLADE modular SSD ecosystem is built to transform the entire workflow with scalable capacity and time-saving convenience on location and back in the studio.

The SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE Modular SSD Ecosystem features:

• PRO-BLADE SSD Mag – A versatile NVMe™ SSD mag that powers the ultimate modular SSD ecosystem. The PRO-BLADE SSD mag allows users to scale the storage they need in an instant whether in the studio or on location. By loading the PRO-BLADE SSD mag into the portable PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT enclosure users can create a powerful portable SSD. When loading up to four SSD mags into the super-fast PRO-BLADE STATION desktop enclosure, users can build their most versatile media workflow yet. The PRO-BLADE SSD mag is ready for any location, delivering up to 3m drop and 4,000lbs crush resistance for on-the-go reliability. The PRO-BLADE SSD mag is offered in 1TB ($179.99 U.S. MSRP), 2TB ($289.99 U.S. MSRP) and 4TB ($599.99 U.S. MSRP) and is expected to begin shipping in in June 2022.1

• PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT portable SSD enclosure – A premium portable and modular SSD for ultra-fast workflow scalability. Pair multiple, lightweight PRO-BLADE SSD mags with the PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT portable USB-C™ (20Gbps) enclosure for up to 2000MB/s read and write speeds.2 The PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT device enables people to easily swap out PRO-BLADE SSD mags so they can carry terabytes of storage without excess bulk. Attach a PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT enclosure to a USB-C compatible camera rig for high-res recording directly on to the loaded PRO-BLADE SSD mag. Simply swap between SSD mags to keep rolling without interruption. The PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT portable SSD enclosure will be available in 0TB ($69.99 U.S. MSRP), 1TB ($239.99 U.S. MSRP), 2TB ($359.99 U.S. MSRP) and 4TB ($659.99 U.S. MSRP) and is expected to begin shipping in June 2022.1

• PRO-BLADE STATION desktop SSD enclosure – Optimized for professionals looking for the fastest way to ingest, copy, and edit their content, the PRO-BLADE STATION desktop system lets pros load up to four PRO-BLADE SSD mags at once creating a powerhouse Thunderbolt™ SSD device. The desktop SSD enclosure utilizes a Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) interface so they can load and swap up to four high-capacity PRO-BLADE SSD mags at once for simultaneous offloading, real-time 4K/8K/12K editing, and super-fast copies. The PRO-BLADE STATION allows pros to take on their most demanding workloads yet with an exceptionally modular and scalable SSD workstation that empowers creativity. The PRO-BLADE STATION desktop SSD enclosure will be available late 2022 in the United States with pricing to be announced closer to product availability.

Continuing a legacy of innovation
At today's event, Western Digital also announced that it has once again achieved record-breaking UHS-I read speeds – now up to 200MB/s3 – on its SanDisk Extreme PRO® -class memory card line, making them the fastest UHS-I SD and microSD memory cards in the world. The SanDisk Extreme PRO cards reach this unprecedented speed by leveraging Western Digital's proprietary SanDisk® QuickFlow™ technology. Paired with the new SanDisk Professional PRO-READER SD & microSD device, the cards deliver unmatched speeds that enable creatives to offload their content quickly with timesaving, labor-saving efficiency. The new SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-I SD and microSD cards are expected to ship in early June 2022. 

The SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-I SD card pricing ranges from 64GB ($18.79 U.S. MSRP) up to 1TB ($279.99 U.S. MSRP), and the SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-I microSD card 64GB ($19.99) and 1TB ($329.99) from the Western Digital Store in the U.S. and may vary by retailer. The SanDisk Professional PRO-READER SD & microSD device is expected to ship in June 2022 for $49.99 U.S. MSRP.