Western digital wd solid state drive. WD Green SSD drive - enable turbo mode on an old computer

Undoubtedly, one of the most significant events in the IT industry in 2016 was Western Digital's acquisition of SanDisk, a major manufacturer of flash memory-based storage devices. This lucrative deal not only ensured WD's presence in the market for solid-state drives and memory cards, but also gave access to SanDisk assets, including the joint production of NAND chips with Toshiba, which is already actively preparing to supply multi-layer 3D NAND on an industrial scale. Thus, the prospects for the alliance between Western Digital and SanDisk look very promising and the first fruits of this alliance can be considered the release of SSDs under the Western Digital brand. Currently, the vendor offers Green and Blue lines of solid-state drives. “Green” SSDs are positioned as inexpensive, universal entry-level solutions, while “blue” series devices are intended for more affluent users who place increased demands on the performance of the disk subsystem. Who knows, perhaps in the future we will see drives from the Black line for enthusiasts or specialized Red modifications for data storage systems. Thanks to the efforts of the Ukrainian representative office of Western Digital, our test laboratory included Green PC SSD 240GB and Blue PC SSD 250GB storage devices, a detailed review of which we will introduce you to today.

The current lineup of WD SSDs includes only five items, the main characteristics of which are shown in the following table.

	WDS120G1G0A	WDS240G1G0A	WDS250G1B0A	WDS500G1B0A	WDS100T1B0A
Products webpage	wdc.com
Capacity	120 GB	240 GB	250 GB	500 GB	1000 GB
	540			545
	430	465	500	525
	37 000	63 000	97 000	100 000
	63 000	68 000	79 000	80 000
Total Bytes Written (TBW)	40	80	100	200	400
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)	1 750 000
Connection interface	SATA 6 Gb/s
Power consumption (read/write)	2/2 W	2/2.5 W	2.35/3.4 W	2.85/4.0 W	2.85/4.4 W
Form factor	2.5″
Dimensions	7 x 69.85 x 100.5 mm
Weight, g	32		37,4		59,7
Cost, $	50	82	91	170	315

It should be noted here that each model can have one of two designs: in a 2.5″ case or M.2 2280 format. As for the range, the “green” line contains only two modifications with a capacity of 120 and 240 GB, while “blue” drives are offered in three sizes: 250, 500 and 1000 GB. Traditionally, the higher the capacity, the higher the speed performance and resource, while the average time between failures of 1.75 million hours is the same for all devices, and the warranty period is also the same - 36 months from the date of purchase. Regardless of the form factor, all SSDs are compatible with the SATA 6 Gb/s interface.

We received the older of the two “green” SSDs for testing, namely the WDS240G1G0A, which arrived at the test laboratory in retail packaging decorated in a white and green color scheme. All details, including the model name, its volume, production date and serial number of the device are printed on a sticker located on the back of the box.

As for the delivery package, it is actually absent: inside the package there is nothing except the drive itself, wrapped in an antistatic bag and placed in a plastic blister, so I suggest moving straight to the design of the new product. The SSD case is entirely made of plastic, which ensures a low weight of the product - only 32 g. Dimensions are typical for the 2.5″ form factor - 7x69.85x100.5 mm. This is good when using the drive in thin laptops, but when installing it in a standard laptop compartment, a frame that increases the height to 9 mm would not hurt.

Most of the back side of the WD Green PC SSD 240GB is occupied by a sticker with service information. One of the ends of the SSD is dedicated to the SATA 6 Gb/s interface, combined with a power connector. By the way, the maximum power consumption of the drive in read and write mode does not exceed 2 and 2.5 W, respectively, while the average value is about 0.05 W.

Inside the case, the halves of which are connected without screws using a number of latches, there is a miniature printed circuit board, occupying barely 1/3 of the total usable area. By the way, the turquoise SanDisk inscription on the RSV reveals the true origin of the solid-state drive. On the front surface there was a place for a pair of SanDisk 05498 064G chips, which are based on 15-nm TLC NAND semiconductor crystals, manufactured at a joint venture between Toshiba and WD (SanDisk).

On the reverse side of the printed circuit board there are two more of the same flash memory chips and an SM2258XT microcontroller manufactured by SiliconMotion. This chip, optimized for TLC NAND flash memory, is designed to build low-cost, energy-efficient drives for both consumer and industrial grades. The SM2258XT provides quad-channel connectivity of 16 TLC and 3D NAND storage devices with ONFI 3.0 and Toggle 2.0 interfaces, TRIM command and DEVSLP hardware power management are supported. To ensure data integrity, a special cyclic code with NANDXtend error correction is used, and the only thing that distinguishes this microcontroller from more advanced solutions is the lack of hardware encryption. However, the absence of the latter can be accepted if you take into account the positioning of the device. The SSD is running firmware Z3311000, the latest version available at the time of testing.

Four TLC NAND chips with a capacity of 64 GB each provide a total volume of 256 GB, of which 240 GB is available to the user, and the remaining space is used to level out uneven cell wear. In addition, the WD Green PC SSD 240GB allows a small portion of the total disk space to operate in SLC mode, which significantly improves write speed, which is usually a weak point for TLC flash memory. Judging by the readings in the AIDA64 Disk Benchmark test, the size of such an “SLC buffer” depends on the nature of the load: with continuous recording within the first 4-5 GB, the speed is about 450 MB/s, after which the average performance is set at 147 MB/s, which can be considered a very worthy result for an SSD in the entry-level price range. When randomly writing 4K blocks, the drive can write about a quarter of the volume at a stable speed of 130 MB/s, after which the average productivity decreases to 107 MB/s, but dips of up to 30 MB/s occur. However, in real conditions this type of load does not occur often, and besides, the drive needs very little time to rebuild the data and prepare the “SLC buffer” for writing the next portion of data.

Thus, the WD Green PC SSD 240GB is a typical representative of inexpensive SSDs based on TLC NAND with all its operating features. As for reliability, the manufacturer has set the storage device resource at 80 TBW, which means that up to 1/3 of the drive’s capacity can be rewritten daily during the 3-year warranty period.

Despite formally belonging to a higher class, the box of the “blue” series solid-state drive is no different from the WD Green PC SSD 240GB except for the color scheme. The design of the packaging is also laconic: the most necessary information is indicated on the reverse side, and the delivery package is just as ascetic.

As for the design of the device itself, unlike the younger model, the top cover of the case is made of aluminum alloy. At the same time, the 2.5″ form factor and dimensions 7x69.85x100.5 remained the same, while the weight of the drive increased slightly - only by 5.4 g to 37.4 g.

The front surface of the SSD is occupied by a colorful sticker, and the back cover is entirely devoted to a sticker with service information. Underneath there are four Phillips-head screws that hold the case halves together, so it’s most likely impossible to disassemble the devices without voiding the warranty. The WD Blue PC SSD 250GB is equipped with a SATA 6 Gb/s interface; in read mode it consumes 2.35 W, while in write mode the power consumption increases to 3.4 W.

After opening the case, the structure of the newcomer becomes visible. As in the case of the WD Green PC SSD 240GB product, all components fit on a small printed circuit board of the same azure color, on which the SanDisk inscription proudly flaunts. The drive is based on a Marvell 88SS1074 microcontroller, which is in contact with the metal top cover through a thermal interface gasket. The control chip has four channels for connecting MLC/TLC and 3D NAND flash memory with Toggle Mode 2.0 and ONFI 3.0 interfaces, and the maximum number of storage devices reaches eight per channel. The controller supports DEVSLP low-level power management and hardware encryption with the AES-256 algorithm, and LDPC code is responsible for data integrity and error correction. A 256 MB DDR3-1600 SDRAM chip is used to store the address translation table. In addition, on the front surface of the RSV there are two SanDisk 05478 064G chips of 64 GB each, inside of which there is 15 nm TLC NAND manufactured by Toshiba.

Two more TLC NAND chips with a capacity of 64 GB are installed on the back side of the RSV, so the total amount of flash memory of the newcomer is 256 GB, with 250 GB available to users. Despite the fact that less than 2.5% of the total capacity is allocated to level out the wear of memory cells, for the Blue PC SSD 250GB the vendor claims an impressive resource of 100 TBW, which allows you to rewrite the contents of the drive at least 400 times!

As for compensating for the low write speed of TLC flash memory, as in the case of the WD Green PC SSD 240GB, some cells operate in SLC mode. According to the results of the AIDA64 Disk Benchmark in linear operations, the drive is capable of writing the first 5 GB at a maximum speed of 504 MB/s, after which the performance level drops to 197 MB/s, while when randomly writing 4K blocks, performance remains relatively stable throughout the entire disk space, which is strikingly different from the model of the “green” series. However, the operating algorithm of the “SLC buffer” may change with the release of updates to the control firmware, so the above described only applies to the firmware version X41000WD.

As an intermediate result, it can be noted that, judging by the hardware capabilities, the WD Blue PC SSD 250GB can take its rightful place among drives of a similar class. We will find out how justified these hopes are very soon, after getting acquainted with the proprietary WD SSD Dashboard software.

Software

One of the strong competitive advantages of Western Digital solid-state drives is the availability of a powerful SSD Dashboard software product, which can be used to solve many problems related to the maintenance and operation of storage devices. In general, this program is freely available, but all features, of course, are available only for systems equipped with WD products. In terms of the capabilities offered, SSD Dashboard is a leader among similar software, second perhaps only to Samsung Magician, which can still be considered the standard of functionality. The utility's interface is laconic and pleasant, devoid of the clumsiness that many vendors from Asia are guilty of. The upper part of the window displays the name of the drive model and firmware version, as well as indicators of the status of the storage device, while in the lower right corner there are buttons for calling the system functions “Disk Management”, “System Properties” and “Device Manager”. On the “Status” tab, the user can monitor the use and layout of disk space, obtain information about the quantitative indicator of the device’s state and its temperature, as well as the operating mode of the interface.

The “Execution” tab allows you to view performance indicators; to do this, you need to activate the “System Monitor” built into Windows. This tool allows you to monitor with great accuracy the actual performance when performing various tasks.

In addition to monitoring productivity, the “Performance” tab allows you to manage the TRIM command, which is used to return the drive’s performance to its original state. Users can enable or force this command, or schedule it to run periodically using the OS System Scheduler feature.

The “Service” section, as the name suggests, is responsible for maintaining the drive. Here you can check for firmware updates on the support server or specify the path to a local firmware file, create a bootable USB drive to perform the Secure Erase and Sanitize procedures. Both procedures are aimed at guaranteed destruction of data on the SSD, only in the first case the table with markup is deleted, and in the second case the data is completely erased.

The Tools tab allows users to run quick and advanced S.M.A.R.T tests. to determine the status of the drive, and also view current internal monitoring indicators. It also displays comprehensive information about the storage device and brief information about the system configuration.

And finally, the “Settings” menu is responsible for checking for updates to the application itself, selecting the interface language, and setting up alerts via email or SMS, for example, if there are new firmware versions or problems with the SSD.

Thus, the WD SSD Dashboard software offers a complete set of tools for monitoring and maintaining SSDs, eliminating the need to use third-party utilities, except when migrating data to a new drive.

Test stand

To evaluate the performance of WD Green PC SSD 240GB and Blue PC SSD 250GB solid state drives, a test bench with the following configuration was assembled:

• processor: Intel Core i5-4690K (3.5 GHz, 6 MB);
• cooler: Intel Box;
• motherboard: MSI Z87M Gaming (Intel Z87);
• RAM: GoodRAM GY1600D364L10/16GDC (2x8 GB, 1866 MHz, 10-10-10-28-1T);
• system disk: WD WD1500HLHX-01JJPV0 (150 GB, SATA 6 Gbit/s);
• power supply: Chieftec CTG-750C (750 W);
• operating system: Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit.

To ensure stability of the results, the EIST and C1 State energy saving technologies, as well as Turbo Boost, were disabled in the UEFI Setup of the motherboard. The paging file and the built-in Windows Defender antivirus were deactivated in the operating system settings. The tested drives were connected to the SATA 6 Gb/s chipset port of the motherboard, after which standard Windows tools created a partition formatted in NTFS with the default cluster size on the entire disk space, after which the alignment relative to 4K was checked.

To evaluate performance, the following set of software tools was used:

• AIDA64 5.80.4000 (Storage Benchmark);
• AS SSD Benchmark 1.9.5986.35387;
• CrystalDiskMark 5.2.0 x64;
• Futuremark PCMark 8 2.7.613 (Storage test).

New products from Western Digital will compete with GeIL Zenith R3 240 GB and Kingston SSDNow UV400 480 GB solid state drives, and the former will have to compete with the WD Green PC SSD 240GB, while the Kingston product will compete with the WD Blue PC SSD 250GB. The specifications of today's test participants are below:

Storage device	WD Green PC SSD	WD Blue PC SSD	GeIL Zenith R3	Kingston SSDNow UV400
Capacity	240 GB	250 GB	240 GB	480 GB
Sequential read speed, MB/s	540	540	550	550
Sequential write speed, MB/s	465	500	510	500
Maximum random read speed (4 KB blocks), IOPS	63 000	97 000	n/a	90 000
Maximum random write speed (4 KB blocks), IOPS	68 000	79 000	n/a	35 000
Controller	Silicon Motion SM2258XT	Marvell 88SS1074	Silicon Motion SM2256K	Marvell 88SS1074-BSW2
Memory type	TLC, 16 nm, SK Hynix	TLC, 15 nm, Toshiba	TLC, 16 nm, SK Hynix	TLC, 15 nm, Toshiba
DRAM	-	256 MB, DDR3-1600	128 MB, DDR3L-1600	512 MB, DDR3L-1600
Total number of bytes written (TBW), TB	80	100	n/a	200
Connection interface	SATA 6Gb/s	SATA 6Gb/s	SATA 6Gb/s	SATA 6Gb/s
Cost, $	82	91	72	127
Price per gigabyte, $	0,34	0,36	0,3	0,27

Test results

Our testing today opens with the CrystalDiskMark 5.2.0 x64 program, which allows you to evaluate the performance of drives when working with various types of data

In linear read operations, all drives demonstrate equally high results, lying at the upper limit of the throughput of the SATA 6 Gb/s interface. As for working with 4K blocks, when forming a queue of requests, the WD Green PC SSD turned out to be an outsider, obviously due to the lack of SDRAM buffer memory. In a random reading, the best results came from the WD Blue PC SSD, which outperformed even the Kingston SSDNow UV400, and third place was shared by GeIL and the WD “green” series.

Since the test data volume of 1 GiB was selected in the CrystalDiskMark settings, which completely fits into the “SLC buffers” of storage devices, the results in the recording tests were very high. When forming the queue of commands, the WD Green PC SSD again turned out to be an outsider, while its more advanced brother took first place, and in linear operations, drives based on Silicon Motion controllers shared third place. As for recording 4K blocks, the Kingston SSDNow UV400 was the best at processing the request queue, followed by the WD Blue PC SSD with a minimal margin, and its younger brother again rounded out the top four competitors. At the same time, in the operations of randomly recording 4K blocks, the difference between the leader and the outsider did not exceed 5%, so here we can talk about approximate parity.

Another synthetic test optimized for testing solid-state drives, AS SSD Benchmark 1.9.5986.35387, showed the following results.

In the linear reading subtest, the last place unexpectedly went to the WD “blue” series drive, while in the other three disciplines it took a well-deserved first place. As for the results of the WD Green PC SSD, it has nothing to brag about, especially when measuring access time.

The situation is completely different in the recording subtests, where the “green” WD model performed decently, taking third place in scenarios operating with 4K blocks, but again set an anti-record when assessing access time. As for the WD Blue PC SSD, it looked much more confident, sharing the victory with the Kingston SSDNow UV400 in two disciplines, and demonstrated an advantage in the random write subtest.

In addition to measuring throughput, AS SSD Benchmark allows you to measure the copying speed of various sets of files.

When copying large files, all drives, with the exception of the WD Green PC SSD, which managed to lag behind the other participants by 10%, showed more or less the same performance, while when moving the folder with installed software, the pedestal went to the GeIL Zenith R3 drive, followed by “ green" Western Digital, and SSDs based on Marvell controllers round out the peloton. In the game folder copying subtest, the Kingston SSDNow UV400 was the fastest, followed by the WD Green PC SSD and WD Blue PC SSD, the firmware of which requires optimization when working with a mixed load.

Our testing ends with a performance assessment in the Storage test from the comprehensive Futuremark PCMark benchmark. First of all, we suggest taking a look at the integral productivity indicator and the average throughput that the competitors provided.

Despite the fact that the spread in points between the leader and the outsider did not reach 4%, the difference in performance turned out to be very significant. Now, let's see what ensured the WD Blue PC SSD a landslide victory, and what the WD Green PC SSD lacked for worthy competition with its classmates.

As they say, comments are unnecessary: ​​in most disciplines, the “blue” WD demonstrated an overwhelming superiority over its rivals, but its younger brother just as confidently settled at the bottom of the standings. There is nothing to add here; programmers need to work on the WD Green PC SSD firmware to improve its performance.

conclusions

Considering that at this stage Western Digital brought the well-known SanDisk solid-state drives to the market under their brand, the debut could not fail. This was especially successful in the case of the WD Blue PC SSD 250GB, which provides excellent performance in most disciplines, has a decent resource, and at the same time offers a cost of 1 GB of disk space at $0.36. If you add to this excellent software support and a 3-year warranty from a reputable manufacturer, you get a good candidate for purchase as the main drive in a “charged” laptop or productive PC.

As for the younger model WD Green PC SSD 240GB, not everything is so simple with it. On the one hand, the drive provides performance, which will be sufficient for the vast majority of users, especially in the case of a transition from a traditional HDD, a resource slightly shorter than that of a “blue” SSD, powerful software support and a 36-month warranty, but on the other hand, its cost seems unreasonably high. With a ratio of $0.34 per 1 GB, it is advisable to turn your attention to the same WD Blue PC SSD 250GB, which is capable of providing much higher performance and even a slightly larger volume. In general, for the WD Green PC SSD 240GB to become a bestseller, you need to either significantly improve productivity by optimizing the firmware, or revise its retail price downwards.

Today we will be studying Western Digital's junior line of SSDs - Green. In the hard drive market, let us remember, this “color” was abolished quite a long time ago - WD Green was too similar to the formally “cooler” WD Blue, and in the end they simply joined the older family. But you shouldn’t expect the same from SSDs: here the presence of two lines in the lower class is quite justified, since they differ significantly in their elemental base, using, in particular, different controllers. Their purpose is also different: if Blue, as shown in the previous article, is a device “for everything,” then Green is an inexpensive SSD for use in a desktop computer together with hard drives and/or in a budget laptop. The model line, accordingly, is very short - only 120 and 240 GB. But in many cases this is enough, and the history of WD Green SSD drives is longer and more interesting than it might seem based on the date of their announcement, so we have no right to ignore this family.

WD Green SSD 240 GB

As you would expect, this family of WD drives is also identical to one of the SanDisk lines, but at the same time it well illustrates many of the processes taking place in the SSD market - often quite reminiscent of semi-detective stories...

This story began back in 2015, when a special ultra-budget line from SanDisk entered the market - SanDisk SSD Plus, the senior representative of which we tested. At that time, TLC memory was just beginning to be used in this market segment, so when creating the line, the company chose to save money in another way: using a cheap Silicon Motion SM2246XT controller. SM2246XT was a variant of the popular and also inexpensive (and therefore popular) SM2246EN, lacking an interface for working with a DRAM buffer. As a result, it was sold even cheaper, and it was possible to save money on the LPDDR chip. In addition, SanDisk always had a cheap MLC flash on hand second freshness, of which only 120 or 240 GB were installed in the SSD Plus, and the result was a very cheap device that could compete with SSDs on TLC memory. Of course, the most spoiled users passed it by because it was little and slow, but for many, price was more important, so SSD Plus became quite popular.

The company announced the use of the latest Silicon Motion SM2258, but after the devices became freely available, they discovered the SM2256S, which was not on the developer’s website. And no wonder, since it was quietly decided to give this name to the SM2258XT controller. The latter was also not advertised too much, since it is, in principle, an SM2258, but... it was mocked in the same way as the SM2246EN was once: by completely removing the DRAM controller and the memory interface altogether. For what? And in order to make a solution that is fully pin-compatible with the SM2246XT (i.e., suitable for working on older boards without changing the layout), but with corrected errors and support for the latest improvements, such as error correction algorithms based on LDPC codes and generally “high-quality” 3D TLC NAND services. But you can’t expect performance from this solution at least at the level of SM2256, let alone SM2258, so the renaming is logical. It's a pity that it's quiet. But it will always have superiority over the SM2246XT, and when using high-quality TLC memory, you can get “endurance” no worse than that of a cheap MLC, so such an “upgrade” of SSD Plus is still an upgrade.

And why we remembered about it, everyone has probably already guessed: WD Green is the updated SanDisk SSD Plus with a capacity of 120 or 240 GB. Just on the SM2256S and 15nm TLC memory, and similar to WD Blue. But there is only one overlap in capacity between the WD lines, and with the same three-year warranty, TBW for Green 240 GB is limited to only 80 TB - versus 200 TB for Blue 250 GB. On the other hand, the OCZ TR150 of the same capacity has a total TBW of 60 TB, which is not surprising: the Phison PS3110 controller used there (and still popular) does not support LDPC codes with all that it implies. In general, the Green family is also interesting in its own way - not to enthusiasts, of course, but to many budget-conscious users. All the advantages of the brand are evident here; similar to the older line, two form factors are available (“laptop” hard drives 7 mm thick and “card” format M.2 2280), but the prices are low. A 120 GB drive, however, is too small for the retail market today, in our opinion, but we tested the older modification.

It only remains to mention that we tested all drives with firmware version Z3311000, and we can move on to practical testing.

Competitors

First of all, we need the WD Blue 250 GB - to directly compare the two WD lines at similar capacities. Of course, we couldn’t do without the “old” SanDisk SSD Plus, since today we are testing it to a certain extent, just under a different name. And as a third reference point, we will use Kingston SSDNow UV400 480 GB, which is more similar in design to Blue (Marvell 88SS1074 controller with 15-nanometer TLC memory of a joint venture between SanDisk and Toshiba), but quite slow. However, due to the larger capacity (and, accordingly, greater potential utilization of controller channels), it has a certain head start over Green, but hardly much. In any case, it is obvious that this Western Digital SSD family does not lay claim to performance records, so the main question is to evaluate its performance - both in absolute values ​​and in comparison with well-known reference points.

Testing

Testing methodology

The technique is described in detail in a separate section. There you can get acquainted with the hardware and software used.

Application Performance

As has been noted more than once, the orientation of the PCMark family of test packages towards “real” loads in a typical hardware and software environment for a personal computer greatly favors budget devices. Green, however, turned out to be the slowest of the subjects, but was only slightly behind the other participants.

At a slightly lower level, its lag behind Blue is clearly visible, corresponding to the positioning of these two lines. The gap from the other two drives is much smaller.

Moreover, the previous version of the package (operating with somewhat “lighter” loads) allows Green to be no longer the slowest, but at least faster than its actual predecessor. And the gap with UV400 is relatively small, and the difference with Blue is more than predictable - it’s not for nothing that these are two different lines from the same company.

	Kingston SSDNow UV400 480 GB	SanDisk SSD Plus (G25) 240 GB	WD Blue 250 GB	W.D. Green 240 GB
Windows Defender (RAW), MB/s	5,51 (51,09)	5,47 (48,32)	5,73 (79,59)	5,53 (52,35)
Importing Pictures (RAW), MB/s	29,46 (126,35)	25,92 (79,80)	29,35 (124,67)	27,47 (96,37)
Video Editing (RAW), MB/s	22,54 (177,59)	22,44 (172,07)	23,53 (266,58)	22,44 (171,95)
Windows Media Center (RAW), MB/s	8,25 (340,83)	8,21 (281,09)	8,29 (418,87)	8,24 (318,19)
Adding Music (RAW), MB/s	1,40 (85,50)	1,41 (103,62)	1,41 (149,95)	1,41 (117,41)
Starting Application (RAW), MB/s	49,28 (79,12)	33,54 (45,51)	64,10 (125,81)	38,56 (54,71)
Gaming (RAW), MB/s	16,53 (101,74)	15,70 (77,27)	17,42 (148,10)	16,22 (91,06)

And, as usual, we state the fact that, in general, modern solid-state drives almost never turn out to be a bottleneck in typical user scenarios - other system components limit their execution speed in a much more noticeable way.

Sequential Operations

As for the linear reading speed, then again, almost any drives with a SATA interface have had no problems with it for a long time: it is not so difficult to “get” to the limitations of the interface itself. In any case, when data is read in one thread, a more complex load, as we see, causes similar problems for “cacheless” modifications of Silicon Motion controllers.

Writing small amounts of data effectively hijacks the SLC cache. We'll see what happens when you go beyond its dimensions a little later.

Random access

When there is not enough (remember that in this program we are working with 12 GB of data, and not with just 1 GB, as in AS SSD), all other things being equal, it is immediately clear that TLC memory turns out to be slower in write operations than MLC. It is a well-known fact, of course, as well as the fact that this happens precisely “all other things being equal”: the example of Blue clearly shows that a high-performance controller and “well-developed” firmware allow in this case to obtain good (in its class) speed. The truth is that you have to work hard on this - UV400, for example, on the same controller is noticeably slower. As for our main character, it was initially clear that such load scenarios were not his path at all.

Simply because a low-capacity budget drive is not required to “be able” to perform a huge number of write operations with a “deep” command queue. The main purpose of such models is the “system” storage of a personal computer or laptop. That is, a device for storing the operating system itself, application programs and, possibly, a certain amount of data - for example, a mail database, browser cache, small work documents, etc. Read operations from (pseudo )random access with a unit command queue depth, but in blocks of different sizes. Green copes well with this scenario, which is why it looks good in high-level tests: it is precisely such operations that are most typical of modern application software.

Working with large files

For drives of this class (especially if we remember the limited capacity), such loads are purely synthetic, but they allow, for example, to understand what is happening with the write speed in cases where it is determined precisely by the flash memory array, “breaking through” all the tricks of the SLC type. caching. It’s not surprising that in such scenarios, the fastest SSD among the tested is the one based on MLC memory. TLC itself is slower. However, interestingly, using a budget WD Green controller with a capacity of only 240 GB (and in such scenarios, as already mentioned, it usually matters) is not at all as bad as one might assume based on the technical characteristics alone: ​​160 MB/s is a normal result for this class. Blue of similar capacity is, of course, even faster, but that’s how it should be - the main thing is that some potential competitors are even slower :)

Ratings

As one might initially assume, compared to other solid-state drives we have tested so far, the WD Green is a fairly slow device. But that’s how it’s positioned.

The most important thing, taking into account its intended purpose, is that “on a mixture” of high and low level tests, the drive is quite comparable to “classmates”, i.e. in this case everything will be decided by the price and other related factors. It’s also interesting to compare the performance of our today’s hero with the “historical” X25-M - once one of the best and most expensive SSDs on the market. However, cheap SSDs of “reasonable” capacity simply did not exist in those years, but now they exist - and faster than the best models of the era the beginning of its heyday this market segment. Actually, largely because of this, the “beginning” began to flow into “heyday”.

Prices

The table lists the average retail prices of SSD drives tested today in Moscow, current at the time you read this article:

Kingston SSDNow UV400 480 GB	WD Blue 250 GB	W.D. Green 240 GB
T-13910773	T-1714644030	T-1714616819

Total

So, what do we have in the bottom line? Firstly, formally the regiment arrived budget drives, although this device became available under the SanDisk brand a little earlier. In comparison with its predecessor, one can note a slight deterioration in some speed indicators (which is still inevitable when changing the type of flash memory), but in secondary indicators - taking into account the intended purpose of drives of this class. But the known shortcomings of the “old” models have been corrected by the updated controller.

There is no confusion in the range of products under the Western Digital brand; both lines are separated according to their intended purpose simply and logically. WD Blue is a universal family “for everyone” (except, perhaps, enthusiasts, but we wouldn’t be surprised if a special offer soon appears for them too - it’s not for nothing that the “black” color has not yet been used) and “for everything”, whose representatives are capable “cover” many scenarios for using a computer, even in splendid isolation. WD Green is a basic level, primarily aimed at budget-conscious users who will use these devices in conjunction with, for example, a hard drive, so large capacities are not required. The models of this family are also limited because the flash memory in both WD lines is the same - savings are achieved only through the controller and the DRAM chip. As a result, even with a capacity of 240/250 GB, the savings are not too significant, which is noticeable at retail prices, so the “junior” Blue is, in our opinion, a better purchase. But with a capacity of 120 GB, such savings should not be neglected, even at the cost of some deterioration in warranty conditions (TBW is more limited) and, especially, speed indicators, since the latter are still sufficient for the main purpose of such devices. In general, we are inclined to consider both WD lines to be successful and promising; SanDisk’s experience in them combines well with Western Digital’s ability to work specifically in the mass market.

It would be a mistake to call the presented models Western Digital's first intention to produce SSDs - in 2010 there was an unsuccessful attempt to gain a foothold in home computers/laptops using the SiliconEdge Blue family, and in 2013 engineers crossed a hedgehog with a snake and produced a combined drive of 120 - GB SSD and 1 TB HDD in one case. In the first case, there was no excitement due to the high price, and the hybrid was bulky (even then 2.5 inches with a thickness of 9.5 mm did not fit into laptops) and the initiative, as they say, did not take off. There were also industrial-grade WD solid-state drives, but the company’s management prefers not to remember this entire era today. They say, “we tried our best, but all the drives were not initially designed for such a wide audience.” Okay, whoever remembers the past is out of sight. Let's talk about modernity.

New SSD WD Green and WD Blue - budget and mid-range

After several attempts to break into the SSD market on their own, Western Digital went the other way and acquired SanDisk. By the way, it was a very successful purchase, because SanDisk is not just a “logo sticker”, like many SSD manufacturers, but one of the few brands with its own factories that produces memory. In addition, SanDisk has enough experience in developing controllers and optimizing firmware for controllers that have to be purchased externally. In short, WD now has a free hand for wide maneuvers with new SSDs.

You, of course, will ask why WD even decided to introduce a new model line when SanDisk is alive and well-promoted? And all because the company joined the concern recently, so even the retail chains that sell WD and SanDisk drives are completely different retail chains. And in WD, as you might guess, they are much more widespread and powerful. Well, put Seagate in their belt so that life doesn’t seem like honey to them, they also crave WD.

In October 2015, hard drive manufacturer Western Digital announced the acquisition of SanDisk, the third largest global flash memory manufacturer, for $19 billion. After this, the appearance of solid-state drives under the WD brand in the vendor’s product portfolio was only a matter of time. And now, a year later, the company showed the first 2 lines of SSD drives with SATA interface - WD Green and WD Blue. And in Kyiv, these products were officially presented in November 2016. Disk drives are something we couldn’t ignore (especially since among our readers there are probably those who have long been planning to upgrade their laptop or desktop computer).

The main thing about new products

Both product families are based on TLC NAND memory chips and are available in two form factors: 2.5-inch with a thickness of 7 mm and M.2 (22 mm x 80 mm), formerly known as Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF). Both lines use the SATA 6 Gb/s interface. The WD Green series offers drives with capacities 120 and 240 GB- These are entry-level products. In turn, the WD Blue line is positioned as a high-performance solution and differs from WD Green for the better in almost all respects. WD Blue SSD drives are available in capacities 250, 500 and 1000 GB. Maximum sequential read and write performance is 545 and 525 MB/s. The declared recording resource, depending on the storage capacity, is 100, 200 and 400 TB for write operations, respectively.

We received an SSD drive for testing WD Green 240 GB. The form factor of the model is 2.5'', thickness 7 mm, weight does not exceed 20 g. The cost of such a disk in Ukraine is about 2.2 thousand UAH, however, the product has just appeared in the retail network - and it is possible that in the near future Over time, its price will decrease (at least in dollar terms). What could WD Green be of interest to consumers?

First, let's recall some important truths. Solid state drives contain no moving components, so they are not afraid of vibrations, shocks or falls. They can withstand relatively high temperatures (about 60°C and even slightly higher) well for a long time. Note that for a conventional mechanical hard drive, operating temperatures above 45°C are very undesirable and lead to a reduction in service life.

In addition, solid-state drives are characterized by low energy consumption compared to traditional hard drives. In particular, the WD Green series is one of the most economical in the industry, a laptop based on this model will be able to work longer without recharging.

SSD drives are also characterized by an order of magnitude higher performance. Moreover, the editors were repeatedly convinced of the excellent performance characteristics of the WD Green 240 GB during the testing process. But first things first.

Checking in three ways

To determine the performance of the WD Green 240 GB model, we used three test utilities: HD Tune, CrystalDiskMark and AS SSD Benchmark. The test platform is a desktop PC based on Intel Core i5-3570K (3.4 – 3.8 GHz), with a Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3V motherboard with 8 GB of DDR3 RAM on board. The drive was connected via the SATA3 interface.

HD Tune– one of the most popular and universal utilities for testing disks. Allows you not only to evaluate the performance of the drive (data transfer speed, access time, processor load level), but also to scan the drive for errors, view its temperature and other parameters. The program offers the following performance evaluation criteria:

• Transfer Rate (Minimum)). Minimum data transfer rate during testing (MB/sec)
• Transfer Rate Maximum. Maximum data transfer rate during testing (MB/sec)
• Transfer Rate Average. The average hard drive performance indicator obtained during testing (MB/sec) - the higher it is, the better.
• Access Time. File access time (ms) - the lower it is, the better.
• Burst Rate. Interface speed limit (MB/sec) - the higher, the better.
• CPU Usage. CPU load indicator (%) - the lower it is, the better.

Test results using the HD Tune Pro utility. The average data transfer rate is 430 MB/s, access speed is 93 microseconds

For comparison, here are the results of testing a regular Hitachi 500 GB, 7200 rpm hard drive. Data transfer speed at peak does not exceed 139 MB/s, and access time reaches 11.4 milliseconds

CrystalDiskMark- also a very popular utility for checking and testing disk speed, supports both HDD and SSD drives. The program allows you to select the number of write and read cycles (the optimal choice is 5), the file size for testing (the optimal choice is 1 GB). The Read column shows the speed of reading data from the disk, the Write column shows the speed of writing to the disk.

The same test for a regular Hitachi 500 GB 7200 rpm hard drive

Finally, the utility AS SSD Benchmark allows you to find out the speed of reading and writing data to an SSD drive in several modes. The "Seq" test determines how quickly a drive can write and read a 1GB file. The “4K” tests measure read/write speed when accessing randomly selected 4K blocks. The “4K-64” mode is similar to the previous one, except that read and write operations are distributed over 64 chains. A test is also available in the Tools menu Copy-Benchmark, which measures how fast an SSD drive is capable of copying files, while the Compression-Benchmark test measures how quickly an SSD compresses data.

Test results using AS SSD Benchmark. The numbers are quite comparable with the two tests above

AS SSD Copy-Benchmark: Copying a 444 MB file in less than 3 seconds

Test results and usage experience

According to testing data, WD Green 240 GB is approximately 4-6 times faster in data transfer speed than traditional hard drives, and in access speed - at least 2 orders of magnitude. But how much of this difference in performance is felt in real-world use? To find out, we decided to install the Windows 7 64-bit operating system on our test sample. So, installing Windows 7 on a “clean hard drive” took about 6 minutes instead of the usual 30-40 minutes. The start of an already installed operating system from the moment the “Starting Windows” message appears on the screen until the hourglass disappears takes about 8-9 seconds. Of course, if, along with loading the OS, various user applications are launched, such as Skype, Viber, anti-virus software, a dictionary and other programs running in the background, then starting the system will take a little longer. But anyway, After switching to SSD, computer performance increases dramatically, and this applies to both launching applications and performing any other operations associated with frequent access to the hard drive.

Full formatting of the WD Green 240 GB (not clearing the table of contents, but full formatting) took about 28 minutes. At the same time, even during such an intense load, the temperature of WD Green did not rise above 35°C; however, provided that the disk was in an open PC case and was well blown with air. When installed inside a laptop, it can become much hotter due to other components, such as the processor.

GPT and MBR - what to choose

It's worth noting that WD Green drives come with GPT markup standard(GUIDE Partition Table). This is a new standard that replaces the classic MBR - Master Boot Record. GPT does not have the limitations of MBR, for example: the latter supports a maximum of 4 primary partitions, in addition, when using MBR, partition information and disk boot information are stored in one place. If they are damaged or overwritten, there may be serious problems with data recovery. GPT stores multiple copies of tables across the entire disk, therefore it works much faster and allows you to restore damaged information.

To install Windows on a GPT disk, you must meet the following conditions: select a 64-bit system and boot in EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) mode, for which you need to enable UEFI boot instead of CSM in BIOS Setup. But if the computer is old and the BIOS does not support EFI mode, then it is better to convert GPT to MBR. This can be done directly during Windows installation by running the “convert mbr” command (a complete list of required commands can be found on the Internet) in the Windows command line.

WD SSD Dashboard

The WD SSD Dashboard, available for download, provides a set of tools with which you can at any time check the available capacity, temperature, SMART attributes (Self-Monitoring, Analysis And Reporting Technology - technology for assessing the condition of the hard drive with built-in self-diagnostic equipment and mechanism predicting the time of its failure) and other parameters of the solid-state drive. The performance monitoring function allows you to determine the data transfer speed and frequency of access to the hard drive. WD SSD Dashboard is very easy to learn, thanks to a clear graphical interface.

To install the WD SSD Dashboard utility, you must first install Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2. and update your Internet Explorer browser to version 9 or higher. Actually, the most important parameter that can be found using this panel is remaining drive life. Otherwise, the application, although it has a number of useful functions, is hardly mandatory for installation on a computer.

Is it worth paying for an upgrade?

Testing has shown that an SSD can really become a powerful accelerator for a system that is still based on mechanical disks. Replacing the not-so-slow Hitachi 500 GB 7200 rpm hard drive with a WD Green 240 GB solid-state drive dramatically increased the computer's productivity. The SSD drive has greatly accelerated operations such as loading the OS and launching applications, and the same can be said for copying files.

As mentioned above, the retail price of WD Green 240 GB is 2,200 UAH, the 120 GB version will cost about 900 UAH cheaper. At the same time, if we are talking about a desktop, then you can limit yourself to a 128 GB drive for installing the OS and basic applications on it, and store all archives on an old hard drive. Installing a second “screw” in a laptop is hardly possible, so it is advisable to choose the 240 GB version. But even 2,200 UAH - a very affordable price for an upgrade that will objectively significantly speed up the operation of the system.

WD Green SSD Line Specifications

Capacity: 240 GB, 120 GB
Interface: SATA 6 Gb/s
Form factor: 2.5 inches (7 mm); M2 22-80
Resource: 240 GB - 80 TB for write operations; 120 GB - 40 TB for write operations. Every WD Green SSD comes with a 3-year limited warranty.

At the end of 2016, Western Digital Corp. (WDC) entered the SSD market with two lines - WD Blue and WD Green. Last year's SSDs were not a breakthrough, but simply filled a gap in the model range of the famous drive manufacturer. Of course, WDC decided not to stop there and continued to develop a new direction for itself.

We saw the result of its work in the spring of 2017, when an update to the WD Blue line was announced, which received new memory with a vertical cell layout (3D NAND). At the same time, the controller remained unchanged - it is a four-channel Marvell 88SS1074 microcircuit. The drives will be supplied in two different formats (2.5 inches and M.2 2280) and with four variations in volume. The new type of memory made it possible to increase the volume to 2 TB even in the compact M.2 2280 format. Let's evaluate their other capabilities and speed potential.

Specification

Episode title
Form factor
Interface		SATA 6 Gb/s
Controller used		Marvell 88SS1074
Type of memory chips
Operating temperature range, °C
Volume, GB
Maximum sequential read/write speed of incompressible data (CrystalDiskMark), MB/s
Random read/write speed of 4 KB data, IOPS
Maximum amount of data recorded (TBW), TB
Typical power consumption, W
Weight, gram
Dimensions, mm		80 x 22 x 2.23
Manufacturer's warranty, years
Product page

Packaging and accessories

The drive comes in a small cardboard box in the WD Blue line's signature colors. On the front side there is a three-year warranty, as well as the amount of memory. The reverse side is reserved for a sticker with service information and a short description of WDC's product lines.

The WD Blue model (WDS250G2B0B) is securely fixed in a plastic form, designed to protect it from mechanical damage during transportation.

Appearance of the device and its features

The SSD drive is made on a blue printed circuit board in M.2 2280 format. It has a single-sided layout. All microcircuits are covered with a sticker with the name of the manufacturer, the serial number of the device, as well as marks on the passage of various specifications. In turn, the reverse side of the board is completely devoid of any elements.

The controller is a four-channel Marvell 88SS1074 chip, which supports the following technologies:

• NCQ (native command queuing) - hardware installation of command queuing, which allows you to optimize the performance of the drive;
• S.M.A.R.T. (self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology) - a monitoring system that monitors the condition of the drive, thanks to which it is possible to predict the time of its failure;
• DEVSLP - allows you to completely turn off power to the SATA interface, allowing you to save more power than the partial power off or sleep (Slumber) methods, which involve continuing to power the physical layer;
• TRIM allows you to directly delete data stored in flash memory and immediately free up unused space (free blocks) for use by the system for recording information.

As for memory chips, the drive uses four chips in total labeled “SanDisk 05138 064G”. The volume of each of them is 64 GB, which gives a total of 264 GB. At the same time, 14 GB are used for internal system algorithms.

The cache memory is implemented on the basis of a Nanya NT5CC128M16IP-DI DDR3 chip with a capacity of 2 Gbit.

The SSD comes formatted in the NTFS file system. Its effective capacity is 249.9 GB or 232 GiB.

Testing

The following stand was used for testing:

Motherboard	ASUS PRIME Z270-A (Intel Z270, Socket LGA1151, DDR4, ATX)
CPU	Intel Core i7-7700K (Socket LGA1151, 4.5 GHz, L3 8 MB)
RAM	2 x 8 GB DDR4-2400 HyperX Fury HX424C15FBK2/16
Video card	ASUS GeForce GTX 980 4GB GDDR5 Matrix Platinum
HDD	WD Purple (WD10PURX), 1 TB
power unit	Seasonic X-660 Gold (SS-660KM Active PF), 650 W, 120 mm Fan
operating system	Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit

When working with compressed data, the ATTO Disk Benchmark recorded high maximum results - 567 MB/s when reading and 525 MB/s when writing.

The speed of reading and writing 4 KB data in the ATTO Disk Benchmark is at a quite decent level, slightly ahead of last year's WD Blue SSD. Let us remind you that the higher they are, the faster the OS and application applications will work.

As for CrystalDiskMark, we got results almost identical to those in ATTO Disk Benchmark: 564 and 536 MB/s for reading and writing, respectively. The figures declared by the manufacturer are 550 and 525 MB/s.

AS SSD Benchmark, like CrystalDiskMark, evaluates work with incompressible data. It showed 518 and 137 MB/s read and write. The read speed turned out to be higher than that of its predecessor, but the benchmark has obvious problems with the write speed assessment, which we have seen not for the first time.

In general, the speed performance of WD Blue (WDS250G2B0B) cannot be called a record when compared with competitive 2.5” drives. Nevertheless, the drive demonstrates a decent level of performance and low data access latencies. It fits perfectly into a compact laptop or mini-PC, providing the user with fairly fast and capacious storage.

Support for SLC caching technology is not officially announced for this model. However, in the HD Tune Pro 5.60 and AIDA64 tests for recording the entire available volume, we see that at first the speed reaches 280 - 350 MB/s, but after recording approximately 10 GB it falls into the range of 200 - 215 MB/s. Let us remind you that cheaper models, after a drop, can reach 60-80 MB/s, so the WD Blue (WDS250G2B0B) looks decent compared to them.

According to the readings of the built-in sensor, the storage temperature during idle time was about 56°C. The air temperature in the test laboratory did not exceed 25°C.

Softwaresecurity

The proprietary WD SSD Dashboard software boasts not only a pleasant design, but also excellent capabilities, which include monitoring the status of the drive, updating the firmware version, diagnosing performance, remaining service life, temperature and other parameters. There is also the possibility of forcibly wiping the drive without subsequent data recovery and passing S.M.A.R.T. test in fast and normal modes.

conclusions

Let's summarize the review of a compact 250 GB SSD drive. Firstly, it is made in the increasingly popular M.2 2280 format, so it is suitable for ultrabooks or mini-PCs, which simply do not have room for a 2.5-inch model. But if desired, it can also be used in regular desktops or laptops equipped with the appropriate interface. Secondly, it uses 3D NAND chips, thanks to which it was possible to increase the total volume (up to 2 TB) and increase reliability indicators. In particular, the resource of the test model is 100 TB.

Speed ​​indicators are very ambiguous. On the one hand, in ATTO Disk Benchmark and CrystalDiskMark we see more than 500 MB/s for reading and writing data, and on the other hand, in complex tests and other benchmarks the device loses to selected competitors. But overall the performance is very decent, especially when it comes to switching from HDD to SSD. I was also pleased with the relatively high data writing speed under continuous load, which remained at the level of 200 - 215 MB/s, while for models with SLC caching technology it drops to 60-80 MB/s.

Another important advantage of WD Blue (WDS250G2B0B) is the proprietary WD SSD Dashboard software with a pleasant interface and high functionality. As a result, the SSD drive will not have an easy time in the fight against competitors, but it has its own strengths, so it will definitely find its way to buyers.

Advantages:

• 3D NAND memory;
• actual read and write speeds exceed the stated figures;
• decent speed for continuous recording of information;
• support for a number of useful technologies;
• ability to download useful proprietary software.

We express our gratitude to the companyWDC for the drive provided for testing.

We express our gratitude to the companiesASUS, Intel, KingstonAndSea Sonic for the equipment provided for the test bench.

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