Today at its Flash Perspective event, Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) unveiled three new SSDs for its WD_BLACK™ portfolio of products, providing gamers around the world with fast, high-performance storage solutions to upgrade their PC and next-gen console gaming experience.

"Our WD_BLACK brand delivers a clear and simple promise to gamers – fast and reliable storage that enhances their gameplay," said Rob Soderbery, executive vice president and GM, Flash Business, Western Digital. "With today's new products, the WD_BLACK portfolio has diverse flash-powered solutions so that every gamer – whether they're just starting out or more advanced – can explore the rich worlds of today's most inventive games."

"Over the past few years, the graphics and fidelity of immersive game worlds have become more intense, and flash technology has become critical to enhancing the gaming experience. Gamers not only need more storage, they need speed for quick access so they can instantly step into these rich game worlds and experience games the way they're meant to be played," said Geoff Keighley, industry veteran and host of The Game Awards who spoke at today's event.

Living at the intersection of technology and entertainment, the WD_BLACK brand delivers innovative storage solutions customized for the gamer. The newly announced WD_BLACK gaming portfolio products include:

WD_BLACK SN750 SE NVMe SSD – The WD_BLACK SN750 SE NVMe SSD lets enthusiast gamers level up their PC or laptop gaming experience with PCIe Gen4 technology4 and storage space for more games. This DRAM-less internal storage solution leverages PCIe Gen4 technology (backward compatible with PCIe Gen3) to deliver read speeds of up to 3,600MB/s.5 With up to 30% less power consumption than its predecessor,6 laptop gamers can expect longer playtimes between charges. The included WD_BLACK Dashboard monitors the drive's health while optimizing peak performance in gaming mode even during streaming.

• Pricing/Availability: The WD_BLACK SN750 SE NVMe SSD comes in 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB capacities7 starting at $54.99 (MSRP USD) in the United States. It is now available for pre-order from the Western Digital Store and will be available at select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers and system integrators in Summer 2021.

WD_BLACK D30 Game Drive SSD – For console gamers looking to minimize game load times and get into the game fast, this sleek and compact high-performance SSD comes with read speeds up to 900 MB/s.5 Gamers can spend more time playing games and less time deleting them with expanded storage for up to 50 games8 with capacities up to 2TB.7 Designed to perfectly complement next-gen consoles, the drive has a detachable stand for placement next to a system.

• Pricing/Availability: The WD_BLACK D30 Game Drive SSD comes in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities7 starting at $89.99 (MSRP USD) in the United States. It is now available for purchase at select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers, system integrators and the Western Digital Store.

WD_BLACK D30 Game Drive SSD for Xbox – Built to complement the Xbox console gaming experience, this officially-licensed version of the WD_BLACK D30 Game Drive SSD offers accelerated speeds and capacity packaged in a compact Xbox-inspired design. Gamers can plug in their drive and quickly begin building their game library or making room on their console for new titles, while also being able to play legacy Xbox One favorites directly from the drive.2 Included with purchase is a 1-month membership of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with access to 100+ games on consoles and PC, plus online console multiplayer.3

• Pricing/Availability: The WD_BLACK D30 Game Drive SSD for Xbox comes in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB7 capacities starting at $99.99 (MSRP USD) in the United States. It is now available for pre-order from the Western Digital Store and will be available at select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers, system integrators in June 2021.

For more information on these products, or to learn more about our full WD_BLACK portfolio of gaming solutions, please visit www.WDBLACK.com or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Twitch, where you can tune in to an exciting livestream launch celebration with the WD_BLACK team beginning at 1 p.m. PT.

1 Compatible with PlayStation™ 5 to play and store PS4™ games; archive PS5™ games. PS5 games archived to drive must be transferred to console before playing.  
2 Play and store Xbox One™ games; archive Xbox Series X|S games. Xbox Series X|S games archived to drive must be transferred to console before playing. If game was purchased and loaded from disc, original discs may be required to verify ownership. Internet connection and a Xbox live account required.
3 1-Month trial offer of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for new Xbox Game Pass members only. Limit: 1 per person/account. Available for a limited time. See product packaging for full details.
4 PCIe Gen4 storage technology requires a compatible motherboard. WD_BLACK SN750 SE is backwards compatible with PCIe Gen3.
5 As used for transfer rate, 1 MB/s = 1 million bytes per second. Based on internal testing; performance may vary depending upon host device, usage conditions, drive capacity, and other factors.
6 As compared to WD_BLACK SN750 NVMe SSD using MobileMark 2018 Average Active Power test.
7 As used for storage capacity, 1GB = 1 billion bytes and 1TB = one trillion bytes. Actual user capacity may be less depending on operating environment.
8 Number of games based on a 36GB average per game. The number of games will vary based on file size, formatting, other programs, and factors.

 

Western Digital Debuts SanDisk Professional Brand

New line of premium-grade solutions purpose-built for creators and professionals worldwide

At its Flash Perspective event today, Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) unveiled the new SanDisk Professional™ brand of premium storage solutions for content creators and professionals. From producing the latest blockbuster film to capturing the moment at a destination wedding to managing business-critical content, the powerful SanDisk Professional portfolio is designed to deliver scalable, high-performance, reliable solutions across industries globally.

Professional content is in constant motion. Content that's captured or created needs to be saved, transferred, off-loaded, shared and archived. SanDisk Professional offers a range of purpose-built tools to harmonize every step of that process.

"As a professional photographer and filmmaker, my livelihood depends on how I get the job done. There is no room for error. I need the most advanced, reliable and trusted equipment out in the field," said Lucas Gilman, adventure photographer and filmmaker. "For years I've relied on SanDisk and G-Technology solutions because they enable me to focus on the moment with confidence that my creativity won't be interrupted, and without concern about whether or not they can keep up with my technical needs."

Jim Welsh, senior vice president and general manager of the Consumer Solutions business at Western Digital, said, "Our customers trust their life's work to our products. We design and create solutions for every stage of the creative process, harmonizing our customers' experience so they can save time and focus more on creating. Expanding our brand family with SanDisk Professional allows us to offer advanced solutions to people around the world who rely on the best technology available for their inspiring work."

Born on the foundation of the company's world-renowned SanDisk® consumer brand and its professional-grade G-Technology™ brand, the storage choice of Hollywood professionals for decades, the new SanDisk Professional line features 16 modular workflow solutions with professional-grade performance and enterprise-class reliability that will include:  

• PRO-CINEMA CFexpress VPG400 – An all-new professional-grade, rugged CFexpress® card for videographers and cinematographers needing superior, uninterrupted performance with video recording at a minimum of 400MB/s** to keep up with the demands facing today's videography, broadcast and cinema industries. The new card is expected to be available this summer.

• PRO-READER series – Four new PRO-READER devices that feature a USB-CTM interface that supports SuperSpeed USB 10Gbs. Designed to work with latest and most common camera media including CFastTM, CFexpress, RED Mini-Mag®, CF, microSDTM and SDTM cards. The series of PRO-READERS are expected to be available this summer.

• PRO-DOCK 4 – A new revolutionary 4-bay reader docking station that can bridge capture and ingest with a truly scalable offloading solution that saves critical time and money on multi-camera productions. The PRO-DOCK 4, expected to be available later this summer, enables up to four simultaneous card offloads.

• A new 4TB* G-DRIVE™ ArmorLock™ Encrypted NVMe™ SSD along with our trusted line up of G-DRIVE™ ultra-rugged portable drives, desktop devices featuring our enterprise-grade Ultrastar® drives, and G-RAID™ and G-RAID SHUTTLE transportable, enterprise-grade RAID solutions (now featuring both Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C support) that offer an exceptional range of reliable, high-performance, high-capacity drives for everything from transfer to 100TB+* back up and archive for all types of mission-critical content. The broad range of new drives are expected to begin rolling out by early June.

To learn more about how SanDisk Professional's premium-grade, high-performance product portfolio will help professionals get their work done faster and more efficiently – from high-speed card offloads, super-fast transfers and backup to massive capacity for consolidated backup and access – please visit SanDiskProfessional.com.