SANDISK WD_black SN8100 NVMe SSD review: Gen5 drive built for speed, endurance, and reliability

If there’s one component that demands careful consideration in any PC build, it’s the SSD. The choice of storage can define not just how fast a system boots, but also how quickly games load, how responsive creative workflows feel, and how efficiently massive AI models can be handled. This importance only grows with high-end systems designed for gaming, content creation, or data-intensive tasks, where cutting corners on storage can bottleneck the rest of the hardware. It’s within this demanding space that Western Digital positions the Sandisk WD_Black SN8100, its flagship PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSD, designed to push beyond the limits of Gen4 drives and deliver consistently high performance across workloads. I have been testing this drive for a while now and here’s what I think.

MC Tech Desk

September 24, 2025 / 16:05 IST

1/6

Design and storage options
The SN8100 SSD offers capacities of 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB. It's designed with both aesthetics and practicality in mind, suitable for compact builds and larger gaming desktops. Certain models include RGB lighting and a heatsink option with aluminium fins for thermal management. Under the hood, the drive utilizes an eight-channel controller with DRAM across all capacities, ensuring responsiveness even under heavy workloads. It also incorporates clock-gating technology, which reduces power consumption during lighter tasks, balancing performance with efficiency. This engineering acknowledges that Gen5 SSDs can quickly generate heat without active cooling.

2/6

Technical aspect
Under the hood, the SN8100 uses a Silicon Motion SM2508 controller tuned for Sandisk, paired with TLC 3D NAND and DRAM across all capacities (1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB). Sequential read speeds hit up to 14.9 GB/s across the board, with sequential writes scaling from 11 GB/s on the 1 TB model to 14 GB/s on the 2 TB and 4 TB versions. Random IOPS reach 2.4M writes across all models, while reads range from 1.6M to 2.3M depending on capacity. Endurance ratings are sensible — 600 TBW for 1 TB, doubling with capacity up to 2,400 TBW for 4 TB. Despite its Gen5 throughput, the power draw is kept at 6.5–7 W active and just 5 mW at idle, reflecting work on clock-gating and efficiency.

3/6

Performance benchmarks
Synthetic benchmarks show the SN8100 topping charts in many cases. CrystalDiskMark scores include ~15 GB/s sequential reads and ~14.1 GB/s writes, outpacing competitors like Crucial’s T705. While random 4K writes see the T705 hold a slight lead, the SN8100 delivers consistently strong 4K read results. In PCMark 10, it remains competitive in mixed workloads, and in 3DMark Storage testing, it excels in game installs, level loads, and asset streaming.

4/6

Software ecosystem
Management is handled through the Sandisk Dashboard, which provides a clear overview of health, temperature, throughput, and firmware status. It also allows firmware updates and, for heatsink-equipped models, control over RGB lighting. Unlike some storage utilities that pile on unnecessary features, this software remains streamlined, making it functional without being intrusive.

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5/6

Real-world performance
Where the SN8100 distinguishes itself is in applied workloads. AI and machine learning developers loading model checkpoints between 7B and 32B parameters will notice reduced load times, with the drive consistently outpacing competitors thanks to its read throughput. Content creators working with multi-gigabyte video or 3D assets benefit from the sustained write speeds that keep editing pipelines smooth.
For gamers, DirectStorage support is a key highlight. Titles designed to leverage Microsoft’s API stream textures and assets directly from the SSD to the GPU, and the SN8100’s bandwidth ensures these transfers happen without stutter or delay. Testing across demanding titles showed that the drive shaved seconds off level loads compared to even high-end Gen4 drives like the SN850X, making it an attractive choice for those building new gaming rigs.
One area worth noting is that in everyday computing—launching apps, browsing the web, or light file work—the difference between this Gen5 flagship and a strong Gen4 drive will be less noticeable. That said, users who invest in this class of hardware typically operate in scenarios where workloads scale to meet available performance, and here the SN8100 shines.

6/6

Verdict
The SN8100 is a complete Gen5 storage solution that pairs high sequential speeds with efficient power use and robust endurance. You may not notice dramatically faster speeds for routine tasks than the best Gen4 SSDs, but it shines in AI, content creation, and gaming scenarios where bandwidth matters most. For gamers building DirectStorage-ready rigs, professionals managing large datasets, and power users who need consistent throughput, it represents one of the strongest Gen5 options available in the market.