Actual drives inside external SSDs


MisterEd

MisterEd

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I bought a WD Elements SE external SSD (2TB). I ran CrystalDiskInfo and it shows "WDC SN350QE 2TB 2000.3 GB". Is WD taking SN350 SSDs that failed testing and repackaged them into external SSDs?

For example, SN350s are rated at 3200MB/s for sequential reads/writes where WD Elements SE SSDs are rated for 400MB/s for sequencial reads. Are the chips for the M.2 NVME drives that aren't fast enough being repackaged to be used in external drives?

WD Elements SE SSD (2TB)

WD Green SN350 NVMe SSD (2TB)
 

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The images on the links you show different types of drives therefore the specifications will be different between them so it's useless to make specific comparisons between them. The top drive is pretty much the same as the 2.5" SATA SSD drives used in Notebooks, just put in a USB case, and can't interchange with the drive in the bottom image, different types of connections on the motherboard. I have a few of the 2.5" drives I've put in cases, 500GB through 1TB, and a 1TB of the NVMe M.2 type in a case for portability.
 

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    Win11 Pro RTM
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MisterEd said:
Is WD taking SN350 SSDs that failed testing and repackaged them into external SSDs?
Click to expand...
No one knows the direct answer to that question except WD.
I never buy drives sold as external drives. I make my own with the drive of my choice and an external drive enclosure.
 

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    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26100.3775
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    500w
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    Dell factory
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    still not telling
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    Defender+MWB Premium
glasskuter said:
I never buy drives sold as external drives. I make my own with the drive of my choice and an external drive enclosure.
Click to expand...
Completely agreed. I have four externals currently, each of them homemade with a drive of my choice and a top quality external enclosure. Not only are they all less expensive than their pre-built counterparts, but they are all known good before I start using them, and there is no question what's inside.
 

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    11 Pro 24H2 26100.2454
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    i7-9700 @ 3.00GHz
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    Lenovo 3132
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    32GBDDR4 @ 2666MHz
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    Intel HD 630 Graphics onboard
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    Realtek HD Audio
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    LG E2442
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    1920x1080
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    1 x Samsung 970 EVO PLUS 500GB NVMe SSD, 1 x WD_BLACK SN770
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    11 Pro 24H2 26100.2454
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    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkCentre M920S SFF
    CPU
    i5-8400 @ 2.80GHz
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    Lenovo 3132
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 @ 2600MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD 630 Graphics onboard
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    Realtek High Definition Audio onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG FULL HD (1920x1080@59Hz)
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    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    1 x Samsung 970 EVO PLUS NVMe; 1 x Samsung 980 NVMe SSD
    Case
    Lenovo Think Centre SFF
    Mouse
    LogiTech M510 wireless
    Keyboard
    Cherry Stream TKL JK-8600US-2 Wired
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    Fast (for fixed wireless!)
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    Chrome
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    Malwarebytes Premium and MS Defender, beautiful together
To add, I salvage computers for parts I can possibly use and find a $15-25 case for the 2.5" drives from Notebooks much cheaper than the commercial offerings such as by WDC, Seagate, Toshiba and others. I clean such drives with GPARTED on Linux where Windows may not remove all the partitions on them.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro RTM
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe M.2
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 4TB Seagate HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
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