1
Western Digital Black SN7100
500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
Best 500GB PCIe 4.0 Western Digital DRAM-less SSDs
500GBPCIe 4.0Western DigitalDRAM-less
There are 6 500GB PCIe 4.0 Western Digital DRAM-less SSDs in our database (6 with a direct Amazon product link). The fastest is the Western Digital Black SN7100 at 7250 MB/s read. Sequential reads across the group span 4150–7250 MB/s.
Why this configuration
A 500GB PCIe 4.0 Western Digital DRAM-less SSD is the value-performance sweet spot. You keep Gen4's high sequential speed — the part game loading and everyday tasks actually use — while dropping the DRAM chip (HMB fills in) trims the price. Western Digital specifically tends to be chosen here for its firmware track record and warranty support.
500GB is a sensible OS-plus-a-few-games size.
Usually chosen for: value-minded gamers and upgraders chasing NVMe speed at the lowest sensible cost.
Good fit: value builds and gaming where cost per gigabyte matters.
Look elsewhere for: databases, virtual machines and other sustained random-write workloads.
Ranked list
Ranked by tier, then link type, then sequential read. Drives we hold a product link for show a price button; the rest open an Amazon search on the manufacturer part number. Stock and prices are not shown here — they change too often.
2
Western Digital Blue SN5100
500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
3
Western Digital Blue SN5000
500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
4
Western Digital Black SN770
250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB
5
Western Digital Black SN770M
500GB, 1TB, 2TB
6
Western Digital Blue SN580
250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB
The parts, explained
500GB is a comfortable OS-and-games starting point.
PCIe 4.0 x4 delivers roughly 7,000 MB/s, the current price-to-performance sweet spot for most builds.
DRAM-less drives use the Host Memory Buffer (HMB) instead — cheaper, and fine for everyday use and gaming, with a small penalty under heavy random writes.
Staying with Western Digital means consistent firmware, tooling and warranty handling across the range.
Common questions
Is a DRAM-less 500GB SSD good enough?
For gaming and everyday use, yes — HMB covers those workloads well. If you run sustained heavy random writes (databases, VMs), a drive with a DRAM cache stays more consistent.
How do the links to Amazon work here?
6 of the 6 drives listed have a direct product link; for the rest we link an Amazon search on the manufacturer part number, which lands on the right listing. We deliberately don't display stock or prices on this page — check both on Amazon, they change constantly.