WD-Black D30 SSD Game Drive Impressions
There’s never enough time to play all the games you want, am I right? And if that’s true, so is this: there’s never enough storage to hold all those games. Even though current-gen consoles pack in nearly a terabyte of shelf space, a handful of AAA games can eat that up. The solution: more storage. Gamers have lots of options, but the WD_Black D30 should definitely make your list of contenders.
The WD_Black D30 is a compact and attractive external SSD that measures 4″x2″. Its matte black case, with military-looking/shipping container texture and lettering, looks great next to any console or PC. It connects via an included — though pretty short — USB A/USBC cable. It comes with a small stand/holder as well.
Jack of All Trades, Master of a Few
There are storage solutions that plug into the back of an Xbox Series X/S, and clock in at nearly the same speeds as the internal drive. The WD_Black is more versatile. It can be used with any console or PC, so as your storage needs change, the drive can be reformatted. To get the fastest read/write speeds — up to 900 Mb/sec — with a PC or Mac, the WD_Black needs a USB 3.2, gen 2 port, which older PCs might not have.
While the WD_Black is a jack-of-all trades drive, it has some caveats attached. It runs last-gen Xbox/PS4 games like a champ, but can’t run current Series X/S or PS5 games directly from the drive. That’s thanks to the consoles’ slow USB ports, not the drive. It’s also a bit sluggish when archiving games back and forth from console to drive. It might not be ideal if you’re constantly swapping games around, at least if you’re impatient.
At around $142 for the 1 terabyte version, the WD_Black D30 is an excellent storage solution for older games you still want to play, and/or as a parking garage to help free up space on your console. It’s also a good all-around external drive for PC or Mac. It looks attractive and is solidly built, and runs older games without a hitch. It has the advantage of being system agnostic, so you can move the extra space wherever you need it most.
***WD_Black D30 provided for review***
Thank you for keeping it locked on COGconnected.
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