REVIEW: WD Black D30 Game Drive SSD is a great addition to your gamer setup

With the new generation of consoles made up of M.2 Nvme SSD, we have entered the age of video games where loading screens are the exception. For that, the Western Digital launched a line of external SSDs focused and optimized for the best gaming experience.

A Western Digital kindly sent a unit of SSD WD Black D30 GameDrive with a capacity of 500 GB to Showmetech, and after a week of use and testing, we have commented on our evaluations of the drive external in this review.

Design

The design of the SSD WD Black D30 GameDrive clearly was one of the priorities. In the company's own description of the product, it says that it was "designed with style to sit next to your console". 

The external SSD comes with a base that fits into the drive, leaving it standing, to make it an active piece of any setup. The finish is all plastic, but the sides have texture and the model also appears on one of the sides in white text. 

In addition to having the finish and a removable base that add to the charm of the device, the matte finish works perfectly on the SSD, which, despite having its charm, is super discreet. 

It is not even 10 centimeters long, 4,5 cm wide and only 6 cm high, all with the base fitted. As it is created to be placed on view, it is not a drive ideal to use in computers in the case, but as an external component. 

Hardware and performance

It is worth remembering that, because it is an SSD, it naturally works faster than the famous conventional HD's. The big difference is that a HD is mechanical, that is, it uses a disk and a needle to read and copy the files in real time. An SSD, on the other hand, works completely without mechanical parts.

O SSD WD Black D30 GameDrive it's already formatted from the factory and, with less than 10 minutes, I had already installed my first game on it and was ready to start playing. This SSD comes with a USB Type-C to Type-A 3.2 input, allowing it to be connected to consoles and computers. It is worth mentioning that all tests and benchmarks were made on a computer, although the device was also tested on PS4 Slim. 

In the box information and on the website, it is specifically said that the device is optimized for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC, and can get read speeds of up to 900 MB/s, very high speed for any external device. 

Using it on PC for a week, the first test I did was to transfer some large files and install games. Copying a 4GB video took just 5 seconds, with an average speed of 350MB/s. The games were installed quickly too and without any problems.

In the product description on the website, it says that it operates up to 45?°C; during a 2 hour session playing Fall Guys, the device did not exceed 39?°C, allowing the game to run smoothly without any thermal acceleration. 

To close the tests, I ran a benchmarking do DiskMark to verify that the SSD would reach the speed of 900 MB/s that is in the description and on the product box. However, the SSD didn't even come close, barely reaching half the read speed.

Despite the description stating that the speed can vary and reach _up to_ 900 MB/s, I ended up waiting a little longer in this synthetic test. However, in general, at no time does the SSD WD Black D30 GameDrive let me down when playing games, keeping loading screens fast and smooth. Another game I put to the test was Call of Duty Balck Ops Cold War, to test the first phase of the campaign mode and see how it would handle transitions from cutscenes for gameplay. The result was very positive and I hardly felt any difference from the experience I had with my internal SSD that I use on a daily basis. 

Price

O SSD WD Black D30 GameDrive can be found in most online resale stores of technological devices with storage of 500 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB. 

• The WD Black D30 Game Drive 500 GB SSD: From R$966,90 at Kabum
• The WD Black D30 Game Drive 1 TB SSD: From R$ 1399,90 at Kabum
• The WD Black D30 Game Drive 2 TB SSD: From R$ 2399,90 at Kabum

The price is the biggest downside of the product at the end of the day. Even though it is an aesthetically pleasing device, with good performance, it ends up offering, in general, an imbalance in the price/performance balance. As it is a line focused on consoles, I ended up expecting a little more speed in the readings during the synthetic tests, however, as we said, these speeds can vary from console to console and from PC to PC. 

See also other features

Also check out other SSDs from the gaming lineup that we've reviewed.