And yet, every time I ran AS SSD’s 1GB sequential and random 4K tests over its bundled USB-A cable, I got the same read and write scores. WD Black P50 Game Drive SSD. The WD Black P50 Game Drive Portable SSD is available in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities and is built specifically for gamers, however buyer beware, this is not compatible with the just released PS5. Performance is set at 2000 MB/s read and write for this solution bringing SanDisk into the same market as the WD P50 and FireCuda Gaming SSD. Marketed to gamers, WD’s Black P50 Game Drive offers 20 Gbps speeds for those who have the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 ports. If you click our links to online stores and make a purchase we may receive a few pennies. While the SSD’s controller is capable of leveraging active state power management, as a WD Black product, the company optimized it for speed and disabled the feature. Best free PC games She's also RPS' resident deals herald. With a cost-focused design, the BiCS3 flash features just two-planes (half the planes of Micron’s flash) and charge trap technology to scale rather than a more enduring floating gate cell technology. The warranty lasts … NY 10036. WD do, at least, give you a five year warranty with the Black P50, which is much longer than the three years you get with the Samsung and Crucial, but even that isn’t really enough to make up for the huge difference in price. WD’s Black P50 Game Drive is available in capacities of 500GB 1TB, 2TB, with the 1TB model we are reviewing today priced at $200, roughly $0.20 per GB. WD Black P50 Game Drive Specifications WD’s Black P50 Game Drive is available in capacities of 500GB 1TB, 2TB, with the 1TB model we are reviewing today priced at $200, roughly $0.20 per GB. Designed from the ground up with the gamer in mind, the WD Black P50 … And while USB USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) based devices are fast, if you have a fancy new USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) port like on ASRock’s Z490 Taichi or Asus’s Z490 ROG Maximus XII Extreme motherboards, then you definitely want to make use of that high-bandwidth port. Like most portable SSDs, WD’s Black P50 Game Drive lacks an endurance rating, but the company backs the SSD with a suiting five-year warranty. Tagged with feature, Hardware, SSDs, Western Digital. It … The Crucial and Samsung, on the other hand, were up in the 420MB/s zone for their sequential read and write times over USB-A, while their random speeds came in at a much nippier 20MB/s read and around 37MB/s write. However, they still weren’t fast enough to justify that massive price hike. The Black P50 is backwards compatible with older USB standards as well, but its transfer speeds will be naturally limited by their respective bandwidth capabilities. The wd_black P50 game Drive SSD provides the tools you need to drive your game. WD pulled off some magic with the firmware though, as the write speed on the SN750 after the cache fills is immense and similar to Samsung’s 970 EVO Plus. Now, WD’s Black P50 has finally landed on my desk. The WD Black P50 comes with two cables in the box – a USB-C to USB-C and a USB-C to USB-A. Comments are now closed. Thank you for signing up to Tom's Hardware. So, is it worth shelling out for the WD Black P50 now to make sure you’ve got the best future-proofing possible, or are you actually better off plumbing for a USB 3.1 device like the Samsung T5? All Rights Reserved. Archipel are making the best videogame documentaries on YouTube, You can now "play" this cancelled Tomb Raider remake, Planetary Annihilation: Titans is still being updated after five years, under new management, Valorant's stealthy new agent Yoru arrives next week. Website here; Price: (note we only have firm … Utilizing ASMedia’s ASM2364 USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 to NVMe bridge controller and a WD Black SN750 PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 NVMe SSD, the Black P50 Game Drive is a beast. Portable SSDs such as those in our list of the best external SSDs enable responsive performance over their archaic HDD counterparts, but a standard SATA-based portable SSD just isn’t going to cut it for those looking for the best performance now that NVMe is all the rage. Instead, it leverages a small static SLC cache and a fast cache recovery policy for responsive and consistent performance. With read speeds of up to 2000MB/s (1) and up to 2TB of storage, You'll spend less time waiting to get back in the game … New PC games 2020 At time of writing, it’s one of the most expensive portable SSDs you can buy right now, with its 500GB model going for £150 / $165, and its … Here, the WD Black P50 managed a random read speed of 19MB/s and a random write speed of 38MB/s. The P50 is available in three capacities: 500GB (currently $180 on Amazon), 1TB (the size we tested, currently $250 on Amazon), and 2TB (currently $450 on Amazon). However, there is caveat here. While connected to my ps4 … The SSDs feature a 1GB DRAM buffer for the FTL mapping table on our 1TB sample, and a tri-core architecture. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, The Samsung T5 is still the cheapest and best value option for those after a 500GB portable drive at £82 / $105 (and for those whose laptops and PCs still only have USB Type-A ports), but once you move up to 1TB, the Crucial X8 is a tough act to beat, particularly if your PC or laptop has a USB-C port. The design of the WD P50 Black Game drive is military-tough inspired, with rigid support structures as a key element across the company’s product line. That said, the device features more than adequate cooling for its performance profile. Because all you actually need to know is that the WD Black P50 Game Drive 2TB is currently as fast as an external USB SSD gets. It is a portable, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 2×2 lane interface with a WD Black PCIe NVMe SSD inside a metal container. While the WD Black P50 is compatible with next-gen consoles, it won’t take advantage of that faster interface speed because their USB Type-A ports are limited to just 10 Gbps. Features and Specifications. Find more information here. With read speeds of up to 2000MB/s and up to 2TB of storage, … It wouldn’t be so bad if the WD Black P50 offered a noticeably faster experience on current gen devices, but when I tested it with my Dell XPS 15 laptop and Asus Prime Z370-P motherboard, its USB 3.1 speeds were actually considerably slower than its rivals. To put that in friendlier, MB/s terms, WD claim the P50 can deliver up to a whopping 1980MB/s, making it twice as fast as current USB 3.1 devices. I tested out a 1TB capacity WD Black P50 Game Drive SSD (MSRP $249.99) and it proved to … The drive comes with a 5-year limited warranty and a fairly good starting price. Description The WD_Black P50 Game Drive SSD provides the tools you need to drive your game. SanDisk’s Extreme Pro v2 performed better than the P50 Game Drive, but it is also a 2TB model with a larger SLC cache. But it’s better suited to creative professionals. WD_Black 500GB P50 Game Drive Portable External SSD, Portable External Hard Drive Compatible with Playstation, Xbox, PC, & Mac, Up to 2,000 MB/s - WDBA3S5000ABK-WESN 4.8 out of 5 stars 329 … New York, Go have a lie down, Internet. Very partial to JRPGs and the fetching of quests. Technically, the WD Black P50 is a bit fancier than its Samsung and Crucial rivals, as it actually supports the even newer USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 standard, rather than just the regular USB 3.2 Gen 2 speed. Price-wise, the WD Black P50 is quite a tough ask. What’s the difference, I hear you ask? There have been more and more portable SSDs supporting the new USB 3.2 Gen 2 standard cropping up over the last couple of months. When it comes to pricing the P50 Game Drive is available in three capacities: 500GB , 1TB ($239.99 shipped), and 2TB ($395.26 shipped). In order to hit the top speed one needs a motherboard that supports USB Gen2x2. The P50 is offered in three capacity options reaching from 500GB to 1 and 2TB. While this helps the device’s responsiveness, it causes excess power draw and heat output at idle. Today's best Western Digital WD_Black P50 and deals, Mr. Webster, we are looking forward to your sn850 review... looks really promising, We check over 130 million products every day for the best prices, Lenovo Taps Qualcomm’s AR Chip for Trim ThinkReality Smart Glasses, How to Code Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock on Raspberry Pi, Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Xtreme Motherboard Revealed, Nvidia Teases GeForce RTX 30 Mobile GPU Launch on January 12, Best Tech and PC Hardware Deals 2021: CPUs, SSDs and More, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition Review: Taking on Turing's Best at $499. Created with gamers in mind, the WD_Black is a neat looking portable SSD that will expand the capacity of consoles and PCs for a larger game library. The portable SSD comes pre-formatted as exFAT for cross-platform compatibility. The P50 Game Drive operates in active state 0, always ready for your requests. With read speeds of up to 2000MB/s and up to 2TB of storage, you’ll spend less time waiting to get back in the game and more time actually playing. In fact, since the faster USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port is so rarely implemented on motherboards, there is very little reason for PC gamers to buy this SSD solely for the task of loading up their favorite games. Clad in the same tough, corrugated shipping container-like casing as WD’s Black P10 external HDD, the P50 certainly looks the part of a high-end, no-nonsense portable SSD drive, but does it have the speed to match? Western Digital includes cables to connect to both USB-C and USB Type-A ports. Weighing in at 115 grams and measuring 118 x 62 x 14 mm, it’s a bit on the larger side and while it doesn’t have any impact-absorbing silicone coating it like the SanDisk Extreme Pro v2, the metal casing definitely feels like it can take some abuse. With read speeds of up to 2000MB/s (1) and up to 2TB of storage, You'll spend less time waiting to get back in the game … And it's the biggest version of the P50 offered at its … Cyberpunk 2077 guides, Watch your bank account go from black to red. This western digital p50 ssd is amazing. The wd_black P50 game Drive SSD provides the tools you need to drive your game. First, we had the Samsung T7 Touch, the latest, touch sensor-secured successor to the Samsung T5. It includes a … You do, of course, need a PC motherboard or laptop that supports the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 standard in order to get the best from the WD Black P50, but right now that’s limited to a very select number of them, so it’s likely you won’t be able to make full use of WD’s new drive until you next upgrade. There are just two NAND packages with sixteen 256Gb WD 64-layer TLC NAND dies in each for optimal interleaving. Indeed, my late 2018 Dell XPS 15 laptop and the Asus Prime Z370-P motherboard inside my PC still only have USB 3.1 ports, for example, so even my testing won’t be able to paint the full picture of what the Black P50 is really capable of. At 1TB, the P50 easily outperforms all of its 10 Gbps competition. With read speeds of up to 2000MB/s and up to 2TB of storage, you’ll spend less time waiting to get back in … The company markets this portable SSD as “purpose built for gamers,” but we think that’s just overzealous marketing talking. Katharine writes about all the bits that go inside your PC so you can carry on playing all those lovely games we like talking about so much. MSRP of the WD_BLACK P50 in the 1TB capacity … Current page: Best Warzone loadout The wd_black P50 game Drive SSD provides the tools you need to drive your game. Please enable Javascript to view comments. That’s where WD’s Black P50 Game Drive portable SSD comes into play. Capable of delivering roughly 3.5 GBps, the WD Black P50 easily exceeds the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 limits, but WD’s Black SN750, the drive that powers it, isn’t the most responsive of SSDs. At time of writing, it’s one of the most expensive portable SSDs you can buy right now, with its 500GB model going for £150 / $165, and its 1TB version setting you back an even more extortionate £240 / $250. There’s also a 2TB model that costs a whopping £400 / $500. The price of new technology, eh? Thankfully, the WD Black P50’s speeds greatly improved when I switched over to using its bundled USB-C cable, showing results that were much more in line with what I was expecting. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Whether you use it on a Mac, PC, PlayStation, or Xbox, compatibility is plug n’ play. © This involves transferring three different file types from my OS drive to the SSD – an ISO folder consisting of two large files, a programs folder with lots of little files, and finally a game folder that’s made up of both big and small files. Please refresh the page and try again. I also do light gaming on my PC which has a dedicated usb C port. No part of this site or its content may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holder. Both of these were a tad faster than the Samsung T7 Touch, which managed 18MB/s read and 37MB/s write, but the Crucial X8 just about held on to its lead thanks to its higher 23MB/s read speed, even though its random write speed was an identical 38MB/s. Indeed, I tested the WD Black P50 multiple times to make sure the following results were correct, and I even re-formatted the drive and tested it again to confirm. As I said before, without a proper USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 device to find out what the Black P50 is really capable of, I can only assess what you get out of it on older hardware, which right now is pretty much zero compared to the £150 / $165 1TB Crucial X8. With hardware DSP, soft decode, XOR, and a multi-gear hardware LDPC engine, WD’s Black P50 Game Drive ensures reliable reading even when challenged with high bit-error pages, too. The WD_Black P50 Game Drive SSD will provide you and your PC or console with the tools you need to drive your game the way you choose. All capacities are offered with a five-year warranty. Plus, it comes with a white activity indicator/power light next to the USB Type-C port on both sides of the device. Best Minecraft shaders The MSRP of the 2TB SanDisk Extreme … Here, the WD Black P50 managed a transfer speed of 556MB/s for the ISO test, 155MB/s for the program test, and 398MB/s for the game folder, putting it ahead of the T7 Touch but behind the Crucial X8. With read speeds of up to 2000MB/s (1) and up to 2TB of storage, You'll spend less time waiting to get back in the game … Best PC games With 20 Gbps on tap, the P50 Game Drive is a much better match for avid content creators, who are more likely to have that faster port in the first place. Get instant access to breaking news, in-depth reviews and helpful tips. This site © 2021 Gamer Network Limited, a ReedPop company. I mean, the WD Black P50 was so sloth-like here that it even fell behind my results for WD’s Black P10 HDD, and I just couldn’t quite work out why it performed so badly. If you want Trim support, though, the P50 Game Drive will need to be formatted, as NTFS as we did before testing. The drives come in capacities ranging from 500GB to 2TB and claims of up to 2GB/s. Price-wise, the WD Black P50 is quite a tough ask. The WD Black P50 Game Drive offers 2TB of SSD storage and is seen as a "first-to-industry" drive as it uses a USB 3.2 gen 2x2 port allowing for 2,000MB/s read speeds. All are … Best graphics cards Support RPS and get an ad-free site, extra articles, and free stuff. The 500GB entry-level capacity currently goes for $121 while the 2TB model is $350. … WD’s Black P50 is powered by an ASMedia ASM2364 USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 to NVMe bridge controller along with an M.2 2280 form factor NVMe SSD on the inside, the WD Black SN750. WD rates the Black P50 to deliver upwards of 2 GBps read/write over its USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface. That’s quite a bit more than what you’ll pay for the Crucial X8, for example, whose 1TB model currently goes for just £150 / $165 – the same as WD’s 500GB drive. WD’s Black P50 Game Drive lacks software support but comes with two foot-long USB cables; one USB-Type-C and the other USB Type-C to Type-A. This performance is based on the speed of the SLC cache, however, and will degrade under large transfers. I’m coming from a WD 3.0 that I use as a back up for my ps4 Pro. The WD Black P50 Game Drive SSD is a visually striking, no-compromises repository for massive game files, though you'll need a PC with rare USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support to harness its speeds … And at a starting price of $121, the WD drive can deliver twice the bandwidth as that of its more restricted competition for not much more in cost. Here’s wot I think. You will receive a verification email shortly. All are backed by a 5-year warranty. Then there was Crucial’s X8, which was a smidge faster than the T7 Touch and cheaper to boot. Brad Moon. There was a problem. The WD Black P50’s transfer speeds were dead slow when I ran AS SSD’s copy benchmark over USB-A as well. Visit our corporate site. Well, whereas the normal Gen 2 supports up to 10 Gbit/s, Gen 2×2 doubles that to a maximum of 20 Gbit/s. Tired of using slow portable drives or even worse, USB keys, to store your games and work data? The WD Black P50 Game Drive SSD is a visually striking, no-compromises repository for massive game files, though you'll need a PC with rare USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support to harness its speeds … Heck, even the Samsung T7 Touch’s 1TB model is currently only £195 / $230, which is still considerably cheaper than the WD Black P50, while the older 1TB Samsung T5 can be had for £148 / $175. But while it lacks the fastest read performance, it has a very consistent write dominant performance profile. As stated, there needs to be a particular motherboard with an appropriate USB chipset t… It was a similar picture when I re-ran AS SSD’s copy benchmark as well. The WD Black P50 doesn’t feature a dynamic SLC cache like most SSDs these days. Sequentially, the WD Black P50 managed just 42MB/s read and 41MB/s write, while its random speeds were an abysmal 11MB/s read and 15MB/s write, which is pretty terrible. 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