Western Digitial is one of the most reliable brands in the world of storage devices. With the rise in technology, PCIe Gen 3.0 NVMe SSDs have become more popular in the market. For faster data access, there is no parallel to an NVMe drive.
There’s been a lot of talk going between a WD Blue SN550 vs WD Black SN750 NVMe SSDs from Western Digital. Both of these drives have been released way back in the year 2019, still, these are highly preferred by hardcore gamers and PC enthusiasts.
With WD Blue SN550, the company has targeted the low-budget PC builders who don’t need a high transfer drive. The WD Black SN750 being a bit more expensive is meant for complex workstations that depend upon higher data transfer rates.
Also, the WD Black SN750 is backed by PCIe Gen 3 interface for faster performance. So which one of these NVMe drives gives you the right value for the money. Let’s break it down in detail.
Therefore, to compare both of these NVMe drives, we will start from the general specifications provided by the manufacturer. After we will find the real performance of these drives by running the different benchmarks.
Comparison Between WD Blue SN550 & WD Black SN750
| WD Blue SN550 | WD Black SN750 | |
| Available in Sizes | 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB |
| Sequential Write Speed | 950MB/s, 1750MB/s, 1950MB/s | 1600MB/s, 2600MB/s, 3000MB/s, 2900MB/s |
| Sequential Read Speed | Around 2400MB/s | 3100MB/s, 3470MB/s, 3470MB/s, 3400MB/s |
| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x4 | PCIe 3.0 x4 |
| NAND | WD 96L 3D TLC | SanDisk 64-Layer 3D TLC |
| Main Controller | WD | WD |
| TBW | 150 TBW, 300 TBW, 600 TBW | 200 TBW, 300 TBW, 600 TBW, 1200 TBW |
| Warranty | 5 Years | 5 Years |
| MSRP Price | $55, $65, $100 | $80, $130, $250, $500 |
| x | x | x |
Apart from sharing a few similarities like 5 years of warranty, NAND technology, and bus type, there is a vast difference between the price and performance of WD Blue SN550 & WD Black SN750 SSDs. It’s clear that you are getting a price to performance ratio in both SSDs.
Difference in Sequential Read/Write Speed
The 250GB WD Blue SN550 SSD comes with a sequential write speed of 950MB/s whereas the same capacity SSD in WD Black SN750 Series holds a write speed of 1600MB/s.
Up to 1TB, all the SSDs in the WD Blue SN550 series are locked at a read speed of 2400MB/s. However, the SSD with the least capacity (250GB) in the WD Black SN750 takes off from a read speed of 3100MB/s.
So it is obvious that the WD Black SN750 is going to perform way faster than the WD Blue SN550. So, if your intention is to buy an NVMe with a higher read/write speed, then you must go with WD Black SN750.
Price Comparison
With more performance, comes a higher price tag. The WD Blue SN550 is inferior to that of a WD SN750, but the former is cheaper to get. The WD Blue SN550 NVMe drive with 250GB capacity comes at a price of $55. However, the same capacity drive in WD Black SN750 costs you around $80.
The most expensive NVMe in WD Blue SN550 (1TB) is around $100 whereas a 2TB NVMe in WD Black SN750 comes at a $500 price tag.
So in terms of price, the WD Blue SN 750 is an affordable option to go with. At the same time, by paying more cash for a WD Black SN750 drive, you get more performance. So there’s a great strategy adopted by Western Digital to compel consumers to go for a high-end storage device.
Benchmark Scores WD Blue SN550 & WD Black SN750
For the purpose of benchmarking, we’ve opted for 256 GB SSDs from both versions.
Peak Score:
| WD Blue SN550 256GB | WD Black SN750 256GB | |
| Read | 1488 MB/s | 1791 MB/s |
| Write | 990 MB/s | 2085 MB/s |
| 4K Read | 54.6 MB/s | 5.2 MB/s |
| 4K Write | 209 MB/s | 217 MB/s |
| Mixed | 1001 MB/s | 1544 MB/s |
| 4K Mixed | 79.1 MB/s | 80.7 MB/s |
| SusWrite | 259 MB/s | 543 MB/s |
Conclusion
So the benchmark results justify the specifications given by Western Digital. Under peak load, the WD Black SN750 shows 28 to 30% more performance as compared to the Western Digital SN550.
But when it comes to lighter tasks, the WD Blue SN550 outperforms WD Black SN750. If you run PC Mark 10 benchmark on both of these SSDs, then you will see WD Blue SN550 performing slightly better than the SN750. But when it comes to high-end transfer rates, the WD Black SN750 is the winner.
The WD’s Blue SN550 still remains as one of the best NVMe SSD for low-budget PC builds. Even if you throw a heavy write load on this drive, its slow performance won’t bother you at all.
Even if you are not tight on budget, the WD Blue SN550 gives you the best bang for your buck. Most low-budget prebuilt gaming PCs are now equipped with wallet-friendly NVMe SSDs like the WD Blue SN550.
If you need absolutely the best endurance and performance, the WD Black SN750 is the right deal for you. WD Black SN750 is a safe bet for hardcore PC gamers. No matter which one of these SSDs you choose, WD Blue SN550 vs WD Black SN750, one thing is for sure, you’ll get reliability and performance in both.
So, if it’s just about gaming and browsing files on the internet, then the Western Digital Blue SN550 packs the right value to accomplish these tasks. And if you deal with complex workloads that need a faster file transfer rate, then WD Black SN750 packs the best value.
