Overall and Final Verdict
Going into this I thought this would mostly be an aesthetic upgrade and that didn’t end up being the case. The EK heatsink on the SN750 is the best looking SSD on the market bar none and it does perfectly fit the WD Black look. But what impressed me the most was that the heatsink did end up helping significantly with cooling performance. Even more than that, the heatsink showed a noticeable improvement when the drive was heatsoaked. The heatsink ends up truly feeling of the best quality as well, mostly because of the weight it adds but also because it runs the full length of the drive where a lot of the new M.2 drives with heatsinks don’t cover everything.
Its main downside comes down to fitment. There is a reason Western Digital was careful to confirm what I would be testing it on. The list of confirmed motherboards that it fits on right now isn’t that long. Any motherboard with its own heatsink, shield, or cover isn’t going to support this version of the drive unless you don’t reinstall the cover (which might also be the drive hold down on a lot of them). Back mounted M.2 slots are also not going to work in most situations but that depends on your case. So for higher end boards, which is what most people looking for a high-end SSD like this would want to use, that leaves a small number with support. Not to mention laptops aren’t going to fit it as well.
My other con isn’t a big one, but I do have to point out that doing my normal SSD tests didn’t show any performance improvement by going with the heatsink. It was only when I did more extreme long term tests that it showed. So if you aren’t slamming your SSD for extended periods of time you might not even need this version. The original SN750 is extremely fast either way, which I showed in my original review.
What I was also really concerned with was with the added cost. The EK heatsink doesn’t feel like it would be cheap to make, just in raw aluminum alone. This is a much nicer design than their aftermarket M.2 heatsink that they sell for $15 as well. A few weeks ago the price gap between the heatsink and no heatsink was smaller but the price of the SN750 has dropped a little. You can now get the 1TB model I have tested for $223 where the heatsink model showed today is still $250. The 500GB models are $108 or $130 w/heatsink so you are paying $22-$27 more for the heatsink. Is that worth it? Aesthetically, hell yes it is. Performance wise it depends on how you plan on using the drive. As a scratch drive for huge modeling, video, or photo projects I think you will see the value. If you are just putting windows on it you might not. That said you can’t really go wrong with either version. The Samsung 970 Evo 1TB with similar performance and no heatsink runs the same price as the heatsink model and the 970 Pro 1TB is in a price class of its own well above the SN750 making both options a good value in the high-end market.
Live Pricing: HERE
