Western Digital releases three new SSD solutions to enhance the gaming experience

Western Digital has launched a new portfolio of storage devices which have been designed for gamers and the ever-changing gaming landscape and increasing demands on PCs.

There are three new products in the WD_Black range – WD_Black SN850s NVMe SSD, WD_Black AN1500 NVMe SSD Add-in-Card and WD_Black D50 Game Dock NVMe SSD.

“As game developers move towards creating immersive titles that require higher performance, consumers need to equip themselves with the best tools to stay up-to-speed,” said Jim Welsh, senior vice president, consumer solutions, Western Digital.

“Innovative, high-performance storage solutions are essential to keep up with this ever-changing landscape.

“Our latest WD_BLACK products have been purpose-built to allow gamers to meet the increasingly high standards of future games and gaming platforms.

We’ve optimised these products to not only provide more storage for gamers but to elevate the gaming experience as a whole.”

WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD – from $225

This future-ready device will provide fast read/write speeds at up to 7000/5300MB per second and it also has a built-in controller with optimisation for top level and intensive gaming to help users achieve top-level PC performance.

The WD_Black SN850s NVMe SSD will also offer smoother and faster loading of applications.

There will also be a heatsink model as well to cut down on thermal throttling.

The non-heatsink version will be available in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities.

The WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD standard non-heatsink model will be available for purchase at select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers, and system integrators starting December 2020.

The WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD heatsink model is expected to be available for purchase in the first quarter of 2021.

WD_BLACK AN1500 NVMe SSD ADD-IN-CARD – from $399

This is a full bootable plug and play card for gamers looking to achieve next-gen performance.

It is one of the fastest PCle Gen3 x8 solutions you can buy.

It is powered by two internal SSDs with gamers able to achieve speeds up to 6500MB per second (read) and 4100MB per second (write) for lightning gameplay.

There will be less time loading and more time playing.

It even has customisable RGB lighting that can complement your current gaming rig.

The WD_Black AN1500 NVMe SSD ADD-IN-CARD will be available in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities.

It will be available for purchase at select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers and system integrators from October 22.

WD_BLACK D50 GAME DOCK NVMe SSD – from $549

This is a compact, high-performance gaming dock SSD with a heatsink design with the power to transform a Thunderbolt 3-compatible laptop into an integrated and immersive gaming station.

This product is aimed at gamers who want to streamline their set-up and enjoy superfast speeds with NVMe technology with more capacity for games and multiple ports for accessories. And it’s all powered by a single Thunderbolt 3 cable.

There is also customisable RGB lighting controlled through the WD_Black Dashboard (Windows only).

The WD_BLACK D50 Game Dock NVMe SSD is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities and starts at $849.

A non-SSD option, the WD_BLACK D50 Game Dock, is also available for $549.

The WD_BLACK D50 Game Dock and WD_BLACK D50 Game Dock NVMe SSD will be available for purchase at select Western Digital retailers and Officeworks, Amazon, Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi starting December 2020.