Product: WD_Black SN750 SE SSD
Type: Hard Drive (NVMe M.2 SSD)
Price: ~ $159.00 (for the 1TB model tested)
Availability: Out Now
Link: https://www.westerndigital.com

When it comes to SSDs for PC or modifiable laptops, what anyone is really looking for is speed and capacity. And in gaming, speed really is key where the question of downloading to, and loading from (read and write), needs to be answered in equal measure -- how fast is it?

The WD_Black SN750 SE NVMe SSD (1TB reviewed here) is, if anything, a stealth master. Stealth in that you basically don’t need to even consider its presence anymore once you’ve installed it. And given it comes packed with a bandied 3600MB/s read speed, and is of the PCIe Gen4 M.2 2280 ilk (well, Gen4 compatible at least), it’s easy to see why this should be considered a top of the line SSD solution for expanding your data library, at a very palatable cost. But its key selling point on the box is gaming, and it’s here we ran it through the ringer the most, and honestly came away not even remotely concerned about its performance, which might seem like a bit of a spoiler, but bear with us here.

The SSD’s options come in a few different sizes starting at the obligatory 256GB, followed by 512GB and finish at the more important 1TB option (nothing higher with the 750). Modern gaming is all about loading and read speed, but size shouldn’t be undercut in that conversation when you look at titles such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Call of Duty: Vanguard or Forza Horizon 5. I mean, even the now-classic Red Dead Redemption 2 -- infinitely replayable as it is, even outside of Red Dead Online -- requires a lot of read and write performance when taken off your main C: drive storage. Here we found, honestly, no real space (heh) for concern.

Plug and Play

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I’m no savant when it comes to PC builds, and actually rely on people a bit smarter than me for more intricate PC work, but installing the WD_Black SN750 SE NVMe SSD was really very easy. Once on my motherboard, a right click to Disk Management, a format and suddenly some bloke named Bob proclaimed uncle sovereignty against me and my family name. Cheers, Bob.

Honestly, it was two screws and a few clicks, and away I went.

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"Despite being in a more budget price range, the WD_Black SN750 SE really performed across all tests...”

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In testing the first route I went was to download something entirely fresh and new (because it had just come across my inbox), which was The Gunk, a roughly 12GB game. It downloaded to the new SSD easily and the game loaded from my Xbox app on the PC with utter ease. It was also very fast in both loading initially and also once I was in the game. Not a hiccup at all across the whole journey. But you know, what’s 12GB, really?

Nah, it would have to be the big guns I doubled down on, and with nearly 1TB of space to play with, I had a squiz at Assassin’s Creed Valhalla now that the new Assassin’s Creed Crossover Stories are out in the wild. And this is no slouch of a write to any SSD -- at more than a year old and with countless updates and added pieces of content, a fresh download and write comes in at 106GB. But in doing so and loading and playing the game, I honestly encountered no issues. Despite being in a more budget price range, the WD_Black SN750 SE really performed across all tests.

The Literacy Program

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Optimal performance with Gen4 compatibility makes this SSD an excellent addition to any memory card collection, but capping in at 1TB means you need to weigh up your options and while it is Gen4 compatible, its speeds are Gen3 -- a distinction the box doesn’t wholly relay. There are more expensive, expansive options out there, even from Western Digital’s own livery if you engage in a brand loyalty program, but this is essentially a standalone purchase locking you into yesteryear write and read caps, capped at 1TB with the two preceding sizes before it.

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"If you’re a content creator though, or someone working in a creative sphere requiring higher write and read speeds when playing around with huge 4K files, you might need to look elsewhere...”

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For the purposes of gaming, this is a fairly straightforward drive. If you’re a content creator though, or someone working in a creative sphere requiring higher write and read speeds when playing around with huge 4K files, you might need to look elsewhere. It’s not an area I specifically tested the stick in, but it’s certainly a space I’m aware of and if that were your direction, or intended build specificity, the SE just isn’t for you. The OG SN750’s TBW (terabyte write) numbers here are just better, and if we’ve learnt anything over the past two years, it’s that the numbers don’t lie -- use tested metrics to inform your decisions, people.

Ahem.

What all of this boils down to, as with any modular item in the hardware space, is need. The SN750 SE, for gaming and general storage works a treat. I had, in fact, zero issue with it. And as you can see with the image embedded above, running it through CrystalDiskMark netted close to “as advertised” read speeds. But it is a capped item and stands more as a stop gap between Gen3 and Gen4 adoption and Western Digital’s own forays further down the track. With that said though, it’s an affordable item that serves a purpose, and serves it well. A Five Year Warranty also helps, alongside the trusted namesake in Western Digital anyway, so this still comes highly recommended, just check your intended long-term usage for it before you make any definitive plunge.