Western Digital have been doing hard drives since ages ago (51 years) and know their stuff, they also know what gamers require.

Less loading, more playing, no drive lag to initiate more fragging.

The digital storage producer has just released their WD Black SN750 SE NVMe SSD Game Drive for PC and mod-able laptops.

Coming in three size options of 256GB, 512GB and 1TB it is not to be confused with their prior released, yet similarly named SN750 which we reviewed here.

Even I was confused at first, thinking that we had already covered this drive, but nope – this one is the ‘SE’ version.

And lower spec than the the more standard named one. Western Digital really need to work on their product names.

With that now cleared up the SN750 SE boasts read speed of up to 3600MBps. It’s a NVMe stick, so before you get yourself in to the fast lane, check the specs of your laptop or PC’s motherboard to make sure it can fit one of these.

Installed as a secondary drive in my test PC Windows 10 detected the drive straight away and formatted.

Installing a couple of titles from Steam and Microsoft store (Borderlands 3 and Forza 7) it was time to play.

And play I did. I remembered how quick the SN750 from 2019 was, there was little to no notable difference between the SE and the previous drive’s performance with gaming.

While the WD Black SN750 SE is built for gaming (hence it’s name) it wont just cater for gamers – it’s also a viable utility for content creators.

Transferring large 4K files from a regular SSD over to the SE saw write speeds go up to 3.1GBps.

This surprised me alot as usually the trip up can be the lower speed drive your copying from – it was almost as though the SN750 SE was sucking the data from the PC’s main SSD before it even had time to write it over.

Rendering large videos and After Effects work to the SN750 SE didn’t even break a sweat.

As a main (Windows / Operating system) drive, in my case, installing a Windows image on to it, was an immediate load, from power on to Windows login screen.

You do have a tools dashboard that is an optional install from Western Digital. Here you can check the SN750 SE’s health and tweak it’s settings to make sure you’re getting the optimal performance from it that you can.

Perhaps one of the best bits about the SN750 SE is pricing.

While the pricing tier differences between the 250GB, 512Gb and 1TB aren’t all that dissimilar, going for the top storage of 1TB (which is the one being reviewed here) comes in at well under $200 NZD.

Bargain!

I totally recommend the SN750 SE as a solid investment. Priced right, giving optimal performance any mid to high level gamer or serious content creator should kit themselves out with at least one of these.

The post WD Black SN750 SE SSD Game Drive review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Apple has announced thier iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus RED Special Edition, the new generation of iPhone in a stunning red finish.

Both phones sport a beautiful glass enclosure, now in red, with a matching aluminium band and a sleek black front. The special edition RED iPhone will be available to order online in select countries and regions tomorrow and in stores beginning Friday, 13th of April 2018.

Apple also introduced a new RED iPhone X Leather Folio. Crafted from specially tanned and finished European leather for a luxurious look and feel, the new folio joins other RED devices and accessories available for customers to purchase.

A portion of proceeds for all RED purchases go directly to Global Fund HIV / AIDS grants that provide testing, counselling, treatment and prevention programs with a specific focus on eliminating transmission of the virus from mothers to their babies. Since partnering with (RED) in 2006, Apple has donated more than USD$160 million to the Global Fund, serving as the organisation’s largest corporate donor.

“This special edition RED iPhone features a stunning red and black colour combination and also offers customers the opportunity to make an impact in fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Product Marketing. “iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus improve on everything we love about iPhone, including Retina HD displays that are more beautiful than ever, the most powerful and smartest chip ever in a smartphone with the A11 Bionic and more advanced cameras for unbelievable photos and videos. We are proud to support (RED) with this bold new iPhone and hope customers think it is as special as we do.”

“Today’s announcement is further evidence of Apple’s leadership in and commitment to the AIDS fight since the beginning of (RED) in 2006,” said Deborah Dugan, (RED)’s CEO. “The more than USD$160 million Apple has donated in the last 11 years today equates to more than 800 million days of lifesaving ARV medication that prevents the transmission of HIV from mothers to their babies. We’re honoured that Apple has dedicated its resources to our purpose, and can’t wait to see customers bring our mission to life through the purchase of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus RED Special Edition.”

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are a new generation of iPhone featuring a glass and aluminium design made with the most durable glass ever in a smartphone, Retina HD display, A11 Bionic chip and are designed for the ultimate augmented reality experience. The world’s most popular camera is even better and wireless charging brings a powerful capability to iPhone. iPhone 8 Plus features dual 12-megapixel cameras and introduces Portrait mode with Portrait Lighting, bringing dramatic studio lighting effects to iPhone, allowing customers to capture stunning portraits with a shallow depth of field effect in five different lighting styles.

The post Red iPhone 8 & iPhone 8 Plus SE Announced appeared first on Shane the Gamer.