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What we have today is the WD Black SN8100 by another name, with one very important and exciting change: it’s 8TB. This puts the SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 on an entirely different plane, as it delivers a capacity everyone wants with insanely fast hardware. The 2TB Black SN8100 that we reviewed previously was a pleasant surprise given its high power efficiency, but its absurdly low random read latency remains the real draw. Can all this goodness be repeated at 8TB with a new SKU firmly under the SanDisk name? And will anyone be able to afford it?
The previous 8TB champion, the WD Black SN850X , still remains interesting from a value perspective – if you can call current prices a value in any circumstance – but we’ve had a hard time finding high-end PCIe 5.0 drives at this capacity. The only one we’ve reviewed is the 8TB Samsung 9100 Pro, which, if you missed it when it was on sale, is probably promoting a stinging sensation right now. We’ve been promised an 8TB SKU of the Kingston Fury Renegade G5 – which has the same hardware as the Black SN8100 and Optimus GX Pro 8100 – and 8TB versions of Phison E28 drives, too. So far, these promises haven't materialized. The good news is, if you like the Optimus GX Pro 8100 at 8TB, then you can pick it up in its Black SN8100 form if that happens to be the better bargain.
Whether or not it’s a deal at all is up to you, but it’s hard to beat this level of performance at 8TB. The drive is power-efficient, too, and we have some faith in WD’s and SanDisk’s reliability and willingness to offer support. It’s probably best to buy something you know than roll the dice with unknown hardware, even if the latter comes with some price savings. We think the Optimus GX Pro 8100 qualifies as a better-known option, and given the level of investment at 8TB, that’s the safest way to go, even if there were other options.
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SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 Specifications
Swipe to scroll horizontally Product 1TB 2TB 4TB 8TB Pricing $349.99 / $369.99 $694.63 / $649.99 $1339.99 / $1449.99 $2799.99 / $2849.99 Form Factor M.2 2280 (Single-sided) M.2 2280 (Single-sided) M.2 2280 (Single-sided) M.2 2280 (Double-sided) Interface / Protocol PCIe 5.0 x4 / NVMe 2.0 PCIe 5.0 x4 / NVMe 2.0 PCIe 5.0 x4 / NVMe 2.0 PCIe 5.0 x4 / NVMe 2.0 Controller Silicon Motion SM2508 Silicon Motion SM2508 Silicon Motion SM2508 Silicon Motion SM2508 DRAM DDR4 DDR4 DDR4 DDR4 Flash Memory Kioxia 218-Layer BiCS8 Kioxia 218-Layer BiCS8 Kioxia 218-Layer BiCS8 Kioxia 218-Layer BiCS8 Sequential Read 14,900 MB/s 14,900 MB/s 14,900 MB/s 14,900 MB/s Sequential Write 11,000 MB/s 14,000 MB/s 14,000 MB/s 13,200 MB/s Random Read 1,600K IOPS 2,300K IOPS 2,300K IOPS 2,200K IOPS Random Write 2,400K IOPS 2,400K IOPS 2,400K IOPS 2,400K IOPS Security TCG Opal 2.02 TCG Opal 2.02 TCG Opal 2.02 TCG Opal 2.02 Power (R/W) 6.2W / 6.1W 6.4W / 7.0W 6.5W / 7.0W 7.1W / 7.3W Endurance (TBW) 600TB 1,200TB 2,400TB 4,800TB Part Number SDSP82100TAN SDSP82200TAN SDSP82400TAN SDSP82800TAN Warranty 5-Year 5-Year 5-Year 5-Year
The SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 is available in the same capacities as the WD Black SN8100 : 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB. At the time of our Black SN8100 review, the 8TB model was not available, but it is now.
The current price disparity is worth a mention. The Optimus GX Pro 8100 is, right now, priced at $349.99, $694.63, $1,339.99, and $2,799.99. This is significantly higher than the Black SN8100’s $259.99, $439.99, $789.99, and $1,799.99. These prices are without heatsinks – check the table for the Optimus GX Pro 8100’s heatsink price per SKU, which only makes sense at 1TB, as is the case with the Black SN8100. You’re better off providing your own heatsink in most cases, and going for the Black SN8100 instead of the Optimus GX Pro 8100 makes sense until the price of the latter comes down to reality. Alternatives in this price range include the Kingston Fury Renegade G5 and the Samsung 9100 Pro , both of which also have 8TB SKUs, although we’ve only reviewed the latter at that capacity.
The drive’s maximum performance is impressive, with bandwidth up to 14,900 / 14,000 MB/s for sequential reads and writes and up to 2,300K / 2,400K random read and write IOPS. This is about as good as it gets. This level of performance is, on average, attainable with less than 7W of power consumption – a far cry from the 11.5W+ we saw on the earliest high-end PCIe 5.0 SSDs – which makes the drive even more impressive.
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