First Look: WD SiliconEdge-Blue

Western Digital, the company behind the WD brand name, have joined into the foray of Solid State Drive manufacturers. Long known for their popular WD VelociRaptor series of high-performance Hard Disk Drive (HDD) products, the WD SiliconEdge-Blue now joins the family in 64, 128, and 256GB capacities.

In addition to notebook and desktop computer installations, the 256GB WD SiliconEdge-Blue SSD could also be utilized for mission-critical backups or high-abuse data systems; but its real focus is on high-performance data transfer speeds. Although the Western Digital SSC-D0256SC-2100 model does not offer an integrated USB Mini-B port, several new enclosures utilize the SuperSpeed USB-3.0 standard for high-performance file transfers.

Standard 2.5" drive bay mounting points are pre-drilled and threaded into the WD SiliconEdge-Blue, which allows for quick upgrade or addition into any existing notebook or desktop system. The mounting positions matched up to the drive bracket on my notebook computer, and after only a few minutes of drive cloning I was quickly loading the Windows O/S.

Unlike most Hard Disk Drive (HDD) storage products, SSDs are nearly impervious to impact damage and do not require (or benefit from) any kind of special vibration dampening or shock-proof enclosures. WD utilizes an anodized metal enclosure for their SSC-D0256SC-2100 model, which reveals the internal components after removing just four small counter-sunk Phillips-head screws from the top side. The WD SiliconEdge-Blue has a warranty-void sticker along the seam, and removing the enclosure cover will remove consumer protection with it. Benchmark Reviews will reveal all of the internal components on our next section anyway, so just be patient.

Thanks to the JMicron JMF612 SSD controller architecture (detailed in the next section), the WD SiliconEdge-Blue Solid State Drive suggests transfer speeds around 250/170 MBps read/write for high-performance enthusiasts. Now that you're acquainted with the basic exterior features for the SiliconEdge-Blue SSD, it's time to peek inside the metal enclosure and inspect the internal components...

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