WD Blue SA510 - 2.5" SATA SSD - 4TB

The WD Blue SA510 is Western Digital's mainstream SATA SSD, available in both 2.5" and M.2 2280 form factors. It uses Kioxia BiCS5 112-layer 3D TLC NAND with WD's proprietary SDC1 controller, delivering 560/520 MB/s sequential read/write.

DRAMless With a Caveat

The SA510 uses a DRAMless design on most capacities, relying on Host Memory Buffer instead of a dedicated DRAM cache. The 2TB and 4TB models reportedly include DRAM, but WD doesn't prominently spec this. For typical consumer workloads the DRAMless design is adequate, but it puts the SA510 in an awkward middle ground: priced above true budget drives like the BX500 without the consistent write performance of DRAM-equipped competitors.

Dual Form Factor

Availability in both 2.5" and M.2 2280 SATA is genuinely useful. Some older laptops and mini-ITX builds have M.2 slots wired for SATA only (not NVMe), and the SA510 is one of the few current drives that fits those slots. Check your board's M.2 key type before buying.

Endurance and Warranty

Endurance: 100 TBW (250GB), 200 TBW (500GB), 400 TBW (1TB), 500 TBW (2TB), 600 TBW (4TB). The dropoff at higher capacities is notable. The 4TB model's 600 TBW is a quarter of what Samsung's 870 EVO offers at the same size. Five-year limited warranty.

Best for: Systems with M.2 SATA-only slots where NVMe isn't an option, or as a straightforward 2.5" upgrade where the 5-year warranty matters more than peak endurance.

Avoid if: You can get the Samsung 870 EVO or Crucial MX500 for similar money. Both offer DRAM caches and significantly better endurance. The SA510's dual form factor is its main differentiator.