Western Digital Accelerates the PC Gaming Experience with New WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) today introduced its second-generation, high-performance WD Black® SN750 NVMe™ SSD with up to 2TB capacity on a single-sided M.2 form factor, and will be showcasing a version for desktop systems or custom-built gaming rigs, which has an integrated heatsink that helps maintain speed and temperature. This enhanced drive enables gamers and hardware enthusiasts to snag a tangible, next-level competitive boost during intense PC gameplay.

Advancements in PC and graphics technologies are taking PC gaming to new heights. To take advantage of the increasingly immersive and responsive in-game experiences, gamers must navigate several challenges, including higher performance demands and large file sizes, with some games approaching file sizes exceeding 100GB. Top-level transfer speeds give users near-instant access to their games and files, getting them back into game action more quickly and boosting the system's overall responsiveness.

To support very fast read and write data speeds, traditional NVMe SSDs are designed to throttle performance in order to keep the drive's operating temperature within acceptable parameters. In collaboration with EKWB, a leader in PC cooling technology, the WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD will offer an option for a sleek EKWB-designed heatsink for capacities ranging from 500GB to 2TB, with estimated availability in Spring 2019. The heatsink dissipates heat from the drive during intense operation, allowing the SSD to run for longer periods of sustained read and write performance, compared with non-heatsink versions.

Western Digital also has added a Gaming Mode feature to a WD Black-exclusive SSD Dashboard, allowing users the flexibility to disable low power mode and keep the SSD running at peak levels for longer sustained execution when they want non-stop, consistent high performance.

"VR, immersive features and larger game file sizes mean longer load times for levels, maps and other in-game actions. All of these require faster storage and higher capacity," said Eyal Bek, vice president marketing, data center and client computing, Western Digital. "More intense, longer game play also requires well-managed thermal performance, particularly for high-performance NVMe SSDs. The new WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD delivers unrivaled performance with an architecture designed for gaming, built-in passive cooling and gaming-mode features with heatsink options to be incorporated. We have pushed the boundaries of storage to give hardcore gamers the competitive edge they desire."

Level Up with the WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD

The second-generation NVMe SSD to be built on Western Digital's own 3D NAND technology, firmware and controller, the WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD features a vertically integrated SSD platform designed to maximize NVMe SSD performance for gaming and hardware enthusiasts looking to build or upgrade their gaming PC or a custom PC. Delivering exceptional sequential read (up to 3,470 MB/s¹ for 500GB and 1TB model) and write performance (up to 3,000MB/s¹ for 1TB model), combined with large capacity, the new drive reduces the time required for users to access their programs and files, load games and transfer large games, 4K/8K videos and other data-intensive content. Additionally, the SSD features up to 515,000 random-read and 560,000 random-write IOPs (for 1TB model) for extreme throughput, allowing the SSD to manage multi-threaded applications and data-intensive environments. This enables higher responsiveness when accessing multiple files in various locations to load new levels or games, with less time required to save in-game progress during gameplay.

Pricing and Availability

Western Digital will be showcasing the new products at PAX South (Booth #10683) in San Antonio. The WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD offers a five-year limited warranty with up to 600TBW endurance for the 1TB model and up to 1200TBW for the upcoming 2TB model. With a single-sided M.2 2280 form factor, the WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD comes in capacities from 250GB up to 2TB² and ranges in price in the United States from $79.99 up to $499.99 MSRP USD, depending on model and capacity, and will be available in select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers, system integrators, as well as the WD store. Ideal for enthusiasts building custom desktops or gaming rigs, the heatsink version will be available globally in Spring 2019 in select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers, system integrators and distributors.

Enabling the possibilities of data, Western Digital offers the industry's broadest portfolio of products and solutions to help people capture, preserve, access and transform their content. For more information, visit our website: Western Digital.

About Western Digital

Western Digital creates environments for data to thrive. The company is driving the innovation needed to help customers capture, preserve, access and transform an ever-increasing diversity of data. Everywhere data lives, from advanced data centers to mobile sensors to personal devices, our industry-leading solutions deliver the possibilities of data. Western Digital® data-centric solutions are marketed under the G-Technology™, HGST, SanDisk®, Tegile™, Upthere™, and WD® brands.

###

Western Digital, the Western Digital logo and WD Black are registered trademarks or trademarks of Western Digital Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and/or other countries. The NVMe™ mark is a registered trademark of NVM Express, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. As used for storage capacity, one gigabyte (GB) = one billion bytes and one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Actual user capacity may be less, depending on operating environment. Pictures shown may vary from actual products. Product specifications subject to change without notice. © 2019 Western Digital Corporation or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including the expected availability, benefits, capacities, features, performance, pricing and versions of the WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate including, among others: changes to specifications from standards organizations, volatility in global economic conditions; business conditions and growth in the storage ecosystem; impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance and cost of commodity materials and specialized product components; actions by competitors; unexpected advances in competing technologies; our development and introduction of products based on new technologies and expansion into new data storage markets; risks associated with acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties listed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the company's most recently filed periodic report, to which your attention is directed. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

¹One megabyte per second (MB/s) = one million bytes per second. Based on internal testing; performance may vary depending on host device, usage conditions, drive capacity, and other factors
²WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD 2TB estimated availability Feb. 2019