Storage drive technology evolution was slow. In the early days, we were stuck with a 3.5” hard drive with a spinning disk for quite a while. The storage size has improved over time; we’re talking from only 500MB back in the past to up to 20TB these days! However, the speed of these spinning drives hasn’t changed much.
The invention of the Solid State Drive, also known as SSD, changed the storage drive game. Solid State Drives don’t rely on a mechanical spinning disk to read and write data. Instead, they use electronic circuits to retrieve data. This not only compresses the physical size of the storage drive but also boosts the read and write speeds.
The adoption of SSDs has been received gracefully by consumers, leading to a speedy evolution of solid-state drive technology. Introducing the M.2 storage form factor, it’s smaller than a regular 2.5” SSD and even faster in reading and writing data. This hardware is targeted for faster application startup and processing.
Western Digital is a well-known storage drive manufacturer. They released the WD Blue SN580 NVMe SSD, targeting content creators, gamers, and business professionals. The WD Blue SN580 NVMe form factor is M.2 2280, a very common form factor for M.2 NVMe storage, with physical dimensions of 22mm x 80mm and a weight of 5.5 grams.
WD Blue SN580 is built with content creators and professionals in mind to boost productivity and cut loading times for I/O-intensive software and media such as photos, 4K videos, and music. The WD Blue SN580 is equipped with PCIe Gen 4.0, which boasts speeds up to 4,150 MB/s read on 1TB/2TB models and features nCache 4.0 technology for fast file copying.
I have a WD Blue SN580 1TB variant, and I tested the read speed, which varied between 3800 – 4100 MB/s. The write speed ranged from 1600 – 1900 MB/s. The noticeable outcome I could immediately see is that booting up and loading Windows 11 is fast, indeed faster than my Samsung 2.5” SSD. Loading games such as Overwatch, Apex Legends, and New World is significantly faster. Playing and editing video via DaVinci Resolve is noticeably faster.
WD Blue SN580 comes in storage sizes of 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB. Compatibility depends on your PC setup and laptop model. It’s worthwhile to check and confirm with your PC motherboard or laptop manufacturer. The WD Blue SN580 NVMe can also be installed on the PS5, although WD offers a more premium option for gaming performance, such as the WD Black SN850 NVMe, dedicated to the PS5 console. The WD Blue SN580 is excellent for extending laptop storage, and its low-power specification will maximise your laptop’s battery life.
WD Blue SN580 NVMe comes with a 5-year limited warranty and is rated for up to 900 TBW (Terabytes Written), giving you extra peace of mind. The WD Blue SN580 1TB is priced at 149 AUD at computer stores such as Mwave, or Amazon.
