WD Blue SN500 NVMe SSD (500GB)

[HEXUS]

Good reason to upgrade to NVMe?

Read more.

[chj]

Is there a discernible difference between using a SATA SSD compared to NVME like going from HDD to SATA SSD?

[Tunnah]

Is there a discernible difference between using a SATA SSD compared to NVME like going from HDD to SATA SSD?

Not at all. You'll struggle to notice in 99% of situations, however it's good future proofing, especially for games that come with native 4K support (ie. ginormous textures and whatnot) as it'll help loading, reduce stuttering as stuff is loaded in and out of vram, things like that.

[Troopa]

Cannot understand why you would review such an average product.

[Saracen999]

Cannot understand why you would review such an average product.

The article says why, surely?

Not everybody wants top-end performance, especially at top-end prices.

[Hoonigan]

Cannot understand why you would review such an average product.

What a closed-minded viewpoint. What PC specification are you running?

[Sunderas]

Why is it that the idle and sleep power are in Watts and the Peak one is in Amps?!?

[GrahamC]

Nothing wrong with the drive reviewed but just need the 1 & 2TB size sticks.

[Tarinder]

Why is it that the idle and sleep power are in Watts and the Peak one is in Amps?!?

No good reason, though you just need to multiply the figure by 3.3 (volts) to convert to watts.

[Mlok]

Seems like a perfect choice for those many laptops equipped with x2 m.2 anyway. A bit of a waste for a x4 slot, on the other hand.

[ByteMyAscii]

Cannot understand why you would review such an average product.

What you declare as "average" I do not think reflects what is average in reality.
I do not believe even we are at the point where solid state is "average" yet with SATA devices, let alone NVME even with a x2 interface.

And in my opinion, those benchmark figures speak for themselves as to why this is an important product to review.
Outside of the "theoretical" figures not reflective of likely usage, this drive competes favourably with considerably more expensive x4 interface products.

[banana999]

Looks like a better alternative to the QLC Intel 660p, even without the DRAM

[philehidiot]

Cannot understand why you would review such an average product.

Oi, you. Go out and build me a bridge.

I bet you could as well. It'd be huge, take ages and would be massively expensive. But I bet with enough time and money you could do it.

Making something do the job required CHEAPLY and last well is a far bigger challenge than making the best with a massive budget. These drives are actually a miracle of good design and engineering decisions.

There are some of us who don't go out and buy the best of the best because we do not require it. I've got an M2 slot on my mobo and it hasn't been filled because there has been nothing out there that isn't massively expensive considering the meagre upgrade in real world performance for my use case. There are other use cases where these drives will make a huge difference and solutions in the past have required multiple drives in a massive RAID array.

Also, you might have an enthusiasm for computers and want only the best of the best. I bet a car enthusiast doesn't look at a Fiesta review and go "why would you even bother reviewing it?" Because that's where the market is. Not many people buy the "halo" product. So, maybe for you, this is "average" and not even worth a second look. For the rest of us on planet Earth, it represents a breakthrough in price / performance, filling a gap in the market which was plain to see. I do hope you don't bother slumming it in the world of average with the rest of us anytime soon. I hope you dine at only the best restaurants, drive the best cars, dump in the finest porcelain and buy the finest PC components.

Because no one has any interest in whether the mid range, "average" product that most people are likely to buy is any good, do they?

Idiot.