WD_Black SN850 Archives

The P5 Plus and WD_Black SN850 are both M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 solid state drives. You can check out this comparison guide to see what the major differences are between these Crucial and Western Digital storage drives.

Quick Summary

The Western Digital WD_Black SN850 Solid State Drive is slightly faster than the Crucial P5 Plus Solid State Drive at maximum sequential reading and maximum sequential writing.

So, if you want the best speeds, then we recommend getting the WD_Black SN850 over the P5 Plus.

In terms of reliability, the Crucial P5 Plus is expected to last longer than the WD_Black SN850. With that said, the P5 Plus lacks the repairability of the SN850.

These two solid state drives have the same endurance and warranty coverage length.

You also can see how the P5 Plus compares to the 980 Pro with this guide.

Crucial P5 Plus vs. WD_Black SN850 Comparison Chart

You can take a look at Seeking Tech’s comparison table for the P5 Plus and WD_Black SN850 below.

	Crucial P5 Plus Solid State Drive	Western Digital WD_Black SN850 Solid State Drive
Capacity Options	500 GB 1 TB 2 TB	500 GB 1 TB 2 TB
Model Numbers	500 GB Crucial P5 Plus: CT500P5PSSD8 1 TB Crucial P5 Plus: CT1000P5PSSD8 2 TB Crucial P5 Plus: CT2000P5PSSD8	500 GB WD_Black SN850: WDS500G1X0E-00AFY0 1 TB WD_Black SN850: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 2 TB WD_Black SN850: WDS200T1X0E-00AFY0
Form Factor	M.2 2280	M.2 2280
Memory Components	3D NAND	BiCS4 96L TLC
Interface	PCIe 4.0 NVMe	PCIe 4.0 NVMe
Maximum Sequential Read Speed	500 GB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 6600 MB per second 1 TB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 6600 MB per second 2 TB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 6600 MB per second	500 GB WD_Black SN850: Up to 7000 MB per second 1 TB WD_Black SN850: Up to 7000 MB per second 2 TB WD_Black SN850: Up to 7000 MB per second
Maximum Sequential Write Speed	500 GB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 3600 MB per second 1 TB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 5000 MB per second 2 TB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 5000 MB per second	500 GB WD_Black SN850: Up to 4100 MB per second 1 TB WD_Black SN850: Up to 5300 MB per second 2 TB WD_Black SN850: Up to 5100 MB per second
Endurance	500 GB Crucial P5 Plus: 300 TBW 1 TB Crucial P5 Plus: 600 TBW 2 TB Crucial P5 Plus: 1200 TBW	500 GB WD_Black SN850: 300 TBW 1 TB WD_Black SN850: 600 TBW 2 TB WD_Black SN850: 1200 TBW
Reliability	2,000,000 hours MTTF	1,750,000 hours MTBF
Operating Temperature	32°F to 158°F (or 0°C to 70°C)	32°F to 158°F (or 0°C to 70°C)
Warranty	5-year warranty	5-year warranty
Pricing	Check price on Amazon.(#CommissionsEarned)	Check price on Amazon.(#CommissionsEarned)

Capacity Options

Both the P5 Plus and WD_Black SN850 offer the 500 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB capacity options.

Model Numbers

You can check out the model number associated with each capacity of the two SSDs in this versus guide below:

500 GB Crucial P5 Plus: CT500P5PSSD8
1 TB Crucial P5 Plus: CT1000P5PSSD8
2 TB Crucial P5 Plus: CT2000P5PSSD8

500 GB WD_Black SN850: WDS500G1X0E-00AFY0
1 TB WD_Black SN850: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0
2 TB WD_Black SN850: WDS200T1X0E-00AFY0

Form Factor

The P5 Plus and WD_Black SN850 utilize M.2 2280 as the form factor.

Memory Components

When it comes to memory components, the P5 Plus is equipped with 3D NAND while the WD_Black SN850 is equipped with BiCS4 96L TLC.

Interface

The two internal solid state drives in this comparison use PCIe 4.0 x4 as the interface.

Maximum Sequential Read Speed

When it comes to maximum sequential reading, the WD_Black SN850 is 400 MB per second faster, or 6.06% faster, than the Crucial P5 Plus.

You can take a look at the maximum sequential read speed specifications by capacity below:

500 GB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 6600 MB per second
1 TB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 6600 MB per second
2 TB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 6600 MB per second

500 GB WD_Black SN850: Up to 7000 MB per second
1 TB WD_Black SN850: Up to 7000 MB per second
2 TB WD_Black SN850: Up to 7000 MB per second

Maximum Sequential Write Speed

As for maximum sequential writing, the 500 GB WD_Black SN850 is 500 MB per second faster, or 13.89% faster, than the 500 GB Crucial P5 Plus when you compare the same capacities.

The 1 TB WD_Black SN850 is also 300 MB per second faster, or 6% faster, than the 1 TB Crucial P5 Plus.

The 2 TB WD_Black SN850 is 100 MB per second faster, or 2% faster, than the 2 TB Crucial P5 Plus.

You can check out the maximum sequential write speed specs below:

500 GB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 3600 MB per second
1 TB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 5000 MB per second
2 TB Crucial P5 Plus: Up to 5000 MB per second

500 GB WD_Black SN850: Up to 4100 MB per second
1 TB WD_Black SN850: Up to 5300 MB per second
2 TB WD_Black SN850: Up to 5100 MB per second

Endurance

When it comes to endurance, the P5 Plus and SN850 have the same endurance rating when you compare the same capacity options.

You can find the Terabytes Written (TBW) specs below:

500 GB Crucial P5 Plus: 300 TBW
1 TB Crucial P5 Plus: 600 TBW
2 TB Crucial P5 Plus: 1200 TBW

500 GB WD_Black SN850: 300 TBW
1 TB WD_Black SN850: 600 TBW
2 TB WD_Black SN850: 1200 TBW

Reliability

As for reliability, the Crucial P5 Plus is expected to last longer than the WD_Black SN850. With that said, the SN850 is repairable while the P5 Plus isn’t.

You can find the reliability ratings below:

Crucial P5 Plus: 2,000,000 hours Mean Time to Failure
WD_Black SN850: 1,750,000 hours Mean Time Between Failures

Operating Temperature

These Crucial and Western Digital SSDs have the same recommend operating temperature range, which is from 32°F to 158°F (or 0°C to 70°C).

Warranty

The Crucial P5 Plus Solid State Drive and Western Digital WD_Black SN850 Solid State Drive each comes with a 5-year warranty.

Resources:

Support for the M.2 solid state drive was finally added to the PlayStation 5 thanks to a firmware update. The internal SSD add-on will allow you to store and play PS5 games.

The list of compatible M.2 storage drives includes the AORUS Gen. 4 7000s as well as the heatsink-equipped versions of the FireCuda 530 and WD_BLACK SN850.

You can check out this guide at Seeking Tech to see how you can install these three SSDs to your PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Digital Edition system.

PS5 Compatible M.2 SSDs

This tutorial should be covering the following M.2 solid state drives that have been confirmed to be compatible with the PlayStation 5:

1 TB GIGABYTE AORUS Gen. 4 7000s with Heatsink (GP-AG70S1TB)
2 TB GIGABYTE AORUS Gen. 4 7000s with Heatsink (GP-AG70S2TB)

500 GB Seagate FireCuda 530 with Heatsink (ZP500GM30023)
1 TB Seagate FireCuda 530 with Heatsink (ZP1000GM30023)
2 TB Seagate FireCuda 530 with Heatsink (ZP2000GM30023)
4 TB Seagate FireCuda 530 with Heatsink (ZP4000GM30023)

500 GB Western Digital WD_BLACK SN850 with Heatsink (WDS500G1XHE-00AFY0)
1 TB Western Digital WD_BLACK SN850 with Heatsink (WDS100T1XHE-00AFY0)
2 TB Western Digital WD_BLACK SN850 with Heatsink (WDS200T1XHE-00AFY0)

Updating to the latest PS5 firmware

Since M.2 solid state drive support was added to the latest firmware update, the first step is to make sure that your PlayStation 5 system is running the latest software version.

To update to the latest PS5 firmware, you can do the following:

1. Turn on the PlayStation 5. If the system is connected to the Internet and detects a firmware update, then you should get a pop-up when you arrive at the Home Screen (which is the main menu where you can select a game to play).

2. If you don’t see a pop-up message, you can force a manual update by going to Settings, which is located at the upper right corner in the Home Screen.

3. In the Settings menu, head to System.

4. In the System menu, select System Software on the left side and then System Software Update and Settings on the right side.

5. In the System Software Update and Settings menu, select Update System Software.

6. In the System Software Update menu, select Update Using Internet.

How to insert FireCuda 530, WD_BLACK SN850 and AORUS 7000S to PS5

After updating the firmware, the next step is to physically insert your FireCuda 530, WD_BLACK SN850 or AORUS 7000S SSD to the PlayStation 5.

To do so, you need to do the following:

1. Turn off the PlayStation 5.

2. Wait until the system is no longer displaying any lights to confirm that the system is completely powered down. Afterwards, unplug any cables you have connected to your PS5.

3. You should also remove the stand from the console if you have it installed.

4. Next, you need to lay the PlayStation 5 down. The side with the PlayStation logo should be underneath. The base of the system, which is where you connect the included stand to if you were to put your PS5 vertical position, should be facing you.

5. From your vantage point, grab the top right corner of the system. Afterwards, gently pull the cover up and then towards you to remove the cover from the system.

6. With the cover off, you should see the long rectangular M.2 slot. Using a #1 Phillips or cross-head screwdriver, you need to unscrew the screw holding the slot cover and then remove the cover.

7. Next, you need to unscrew and remove the screw and spacer from inside the M.2 slot.

8. Place the spacer into the 80 screw hole in the M.2 slot.

9. You can now insert your FireCuda 530, WD_BLACK SN850 or AORUS 7000S solid state drive.

To do so, you need to first make sure that the connectors of your SSD is aligned to the connectors of the M.2 slot on the PlayStation 5 system.

You can then insert the connector side of your drive to the M.2 slot from a diagonally upwards position. This means that the other end should be pointing upwards when you connect the drive to the system.

10. After connecting the drive to the slot, push the other end of the FireCuda 530, WD_BLACK SN850 or AORUS 7000S downwards. You then need to use the screw you previously removed from inside the M.2 slot on the end of the SSD to keep it fastened to the motherboard of the PS5.

11. Afterwards, put the cover of the M.2 slot back on. Make sure you use the screw you previously removed from the cover to fasten the slot cover.

12. Slide the previously removed outer cover of the PlayStation 5 system right back into place.

How to format FireCuda 530, WD_BLACK SN850 and AORUS 7000S for PS5

After you physically insert your FireCuda 530, WD_BLACK SN850 or AORUS 7000S to the PlayStation 5, it’s time to format it.

To do so, you need to do the following:

1. Plug in the power cable of your PlayStation 5 and then turn the system on.

2. You should get a message about the newly installed M.2 SSD Storage.

Here, you need to select the Format M2. SSD option.

Keep in mind that formatting will delete all data from your FireCuda 530, WD_BLACK SN850 or AORUS 7000S. So, if you have any important data stored on the solid state drive, make sure you copy the file to somewhere else before formatting the drive for use with the PlayStation 5.

3. After the formatting has been completed, you will see the sequential read speed of the M.2 drive. Here, you need to select the OK option to continue.

Where to find FireCuda 530, WD_BLACK SN850 and AORUS 7000S in the PS5 menu

To find your newly formatted solid state drive, you need to take the following steps:

1. From the Home Screen, go into Settings.

2. In the Settings menu, you need to select the Storage option.

3. In the Storage menu, you need to select the M.2 SSD Storage option on the left side.

4. On the right side of the same Storage menu, you should find your FireCuda 530, WD_BLACK SN850 or AORUS 7000S.

You should be able to see the amount of free space available overall. Furthermore, you will also find how much space is being used by “Games and Apps” as well as “Other” files.

Lastly, you can also reformat the drive in this menu.

What’s the difference between the Crucial P5 Plus and WD_Black SN850?