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3D MARK STORAGE GAMING BENCHMARK
UL Solutions has created a new storage gaming benchmark that we will start to use as new SSDs come in. The 3DMark Storage Benchmark DLC extends 3DMark Advanced Edition with a dedicated component test for measuring the gaming performance of SSDs and other storage hardware. It supports all the latest storage technologies and tests practical, real-world gaming performance for activities such as loading games, saving progress, installing game files, and recording gameplay video streams.
The SanDisk 8100 Gen5 8TB SSD placed third of SSDs tested to date in our 3DMark Storage Benchmark
3D MARK MS DIRECT STORAGE FEATURE TEST
As our SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 Gen5 8TB SSD is MS DirectStorage compatible, we thought we might take advantage of the 3DMark DirectStorage Feature Test and see how this SSD fared. MS DirectStorage, in very basic terms, allows direct transfer of data from your SSD storage directly to your GPU, eliminating its historical necessary passage from the SSD through the CPU to RAM, back through the CPU and finally to the GPU VRAM. This is, for the most part at this time, intended on faster game load times,reducing CPU overhead and providing more detailed graphics.
In our testing, data transfer achieved a 140.1% faster transfer of data than with MS DirectStorage disabled.
SanDisk provides, totally free of charge, an SSD utility named the SanDisk SSD Dashboard which allows for maintenance and upkeep of your SanDisk SSD. SanDisk also provides Acronis True Image free of charge to allow for a totally seamless migration to your new SanDisk SSD. Simply click the title above which contains the link!
REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
Having previously reviewed the WD_Black SN8100, we had a good idea of what to expect from the new SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 Gen5 8TB SSD. It didn’t disappoint. Performance was consistently among the best we have tested, placing in our Top 10 across every benchmark with peak speeds of 14GB/s read, 13GB/s write, and more than 2.2 million IOPS. In today’s market, where value-oriented DRAMless SSDs have become increasingly common, flagship drives of this caliber are becoming increasingly rare. Rarer still is the opportunity to evaluate an 8TB consumer SSD, making the Optimus GX Pro 8100 a refreshing reminder of what a true no-compromise Gen5 SSD can deliver.
SanDisk can’t take all the credit though. The Silicon Motion SM2508 8-channel Gen5 SSD NVMe controller has shown itself as the industry leader in this category and we have seen very similar results in everty SSD tested with this controller.
We wanted to throw in a very interesting picture that was sent to us in press materials and it depicts how NAND is layered to increase its density…or capacity.
The truly remarkable achievement is that each additional NAND layer is so incredibly thin that the overall package height remains virtually unchanged. SanDisk’s BiCS8 218-layer 3D TLC NAND is a perfect example of just how far flash technology has advanced. Because 3D NAND stacks memory cells vertically rather than relying solely on shrinking them horizontally, manufacturers can dramatically increase storage density without increasing the physical footprint.
Each individual layer measures just 40-50nm in thickness, making it approximately 2,000 times thinner than a human hair, which typically measures 80,000-100,000nm. Take a look at the whole picture, structured as one might see an apartment building:
Last but not least is pricing. The reality is that the retail SSD market is increasingly being overshadowed by enterprise demand, with AI-driven deployments fueling dramatic NAND price increases. Unfortunately, that trend appears unavoidable, and it is difficult to imagine retail pricing ever returning to the levels we saw when the WD_Black SN8100 first launched.
That said, there still needs to be greater consistency in regional pricing. At the time of writing, the 8TB SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 carries a U.S. MSRP of $2,149.99, which converts to roughly $3,028 CAD. There is simply no justification for the same drive being listed at $5,799.99 CAD on Amazon Canada. Even more puzzling is the fact that the identical SSD under its previous WD_Black SN8100 branding is currently available for $2,579.99 CAD (approximately $1,832 USD). Such a massive pricing disparity for what is essentially the same product is difficult to understand and even harder to justify.
With this in mind, the SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 Gen5 8TB SSD cannot be penalized for what they cannot control with respect to the industries NAND pricing. The 8100 is deserving of our Editor’s Choice Award.
CHECK OUT SANDISK OPTIMUS GX PRO 8100 PRICING AT AMAZON
