WD Blue SSD

[Smart Idiot]

I am confused, what is the difference between the WD Blue 2.5" PC SSD and the WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD?

 

[LukeSavenije]

afaik not that much if anything

[Kedohawyr]

3D just means that it's TLC NAND (originals were MLC NAND), basically better price because it can store more bits per cell. All new Blues including the higher capacity ones are TLC so if you see one that doesn't say 3D it either means the website shortened the name or it's old stock.

[seagate_surfer]

I quote the following from the Wikipedia "Multi-level cell":

The memories are named as follows:

1. SLC (1 bit per cell) - fastest, highest cost
2. eMLC (2 bits per cell) - faster than regular mlc
3. MLC (2 bits per cell)
4. TLC (3 bits per cell)
5. QLC (4 bits per cell) - slowest, lowest cost

The endurance of the SLC is much longer, but the TLC, although it makes the programming of the algorithms more difficult, it allows more storage per cell and therefore, is more affordable, therefore it is very economical and it is what is in use for major manufacturers, there are almost no SLC SSD out there available.