With one of the world's youngest population, India is poised to be among the top gaming markets globally. In their quest for an immersive experience, gamers are quickly graduating to PC-based gaming, as per the 'Next-Gen Gamers' research1 conducted by Western Digital. Excitement, fun, and challenge are the key motivators for PC gaming, however, more than half (57%) have cited slow storage as a key factor for poor game experience. To help gamers enhance their gameplay experience and adapt to the evolving gaming landscape heralded by the next generation of games, Western Digital introduced a series of new products under its WD_BLACK portfolio of storage solutions. These include the WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD, Western Digital's first NVMe solid-state drive (SSD), and the WD_BLACK AN1500 NVMe SSD Add-in-Card, each offering eye-catching RGB lighting options (Windows® only).
Additionally, Western Digital will also be introducing three new Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War-themed SSDs in early January 2021: the WD_BLACK™ Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War Special Edition SN850 NVMe SSSD, P10 Game Drive and P50 Game Drive SSD. These limited editions are designed for Call of Duty (COD) fans, and, as an added bonus, come with a free voucher to redeem COD points.”
A majority of gamers responding to the survey also highlighted slow game loading (51%) and bandwidth issues (51%) as main pain points. While the slow storage remains the biggest bottleneck for fast game loading, gamers feel that RAM (52%), Graphics Card (43%), and Processor (41%) also have a role to play in the overall gaming experience. The ‘Next-Gen Indian Gamer’ survey reveals that for 59% of gamers slow loading times have impacted their gameplay. Two in every five gamers have made the unbearable decision of deleting their old titles due to running out of storage.
Khalid Wani, Director – Sales, India, Western Digital, said, “As the gaming landscape evolves and more immersive gaming titles emerge, gamers require higher performance to stay up-to-speed. Our latest WD_BLACK SSD portfolio is innovative and offers high-performance storage solutions, specially designed for the gamers to help them stay ahead of the game. We’ve optimized both internal and portable SSDs and these products not only provide more storage for gamers but elevate the gaming experience as a whole.”
Jaganathan Chelliah, Director – Marketing, India, Western Digital, said, “There is a strong sense of accomplishment amongst gamers as PC gaming allows them to express their creativity and provides an opportunity to learn. As PC gamers graduate from casual gaming to serious gaming, slow storage performance has become one of the key pain-points for them. Gamers need NVMe powered high-performance SSDs to enjoy demanding and immersive 3D games. Our WD_BLACK portfolio is designed to do just that! Our latest WD_BLACK SSD portfolio is purpose-built to allow gamers to meet the increasingly high standards of future games and gaming platforms.”
“The WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD enables gamers to keep up with their high-performance needs with PCIe Gen4 technology and allows them to experience lightning-fast gameplay; and the WD_BLACK AN1500 NVMe SSD Add-in-Card offers them outstanding performance on a PCIe Gen3 interface,” he added.
The newly launched solutions are aligned to help resolve many PC gaming issues that disrupt the experience, such as slow boot time, less storage, laggard performance, and visuals stuttering. The survey found, every three in five gamers store their game libraries within their PCs and every 3 in 10 gamers store more than 10 titles in their PCs. Delving deeper into what qualifies as a great gaming experience, nearly 72% of serious gamers felt that quick load times were crucial. 44% of gamers enjoyed games that loaded seamlessly, and 54% of gamers look for good quality graphics that offer a realistic gaming experience. These data points further underline the need for high-performing storage solutions to provide a better gaming experience.
The latest and upcoming WD_BLACK gaming portfolio includes:
The WD_BLACK™ SN850 NVMe SSD – Designed to feature the unprecedented performance of PCIe Gen4 technology, this future-ready product will deliver fast read/write speeds up to 7000/5300MB/s2 (1TB model). Built with the WD_BLACK G2 controller and optimized for top-tier and high-intensive gaming (not intended for NAS or server environments), the WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD will enable gamers to achieve supreme PC performance. It reduces game load times and transfers files faster than its predecessor while using brand new cache technology. In addition to high performance, the WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD also delivers improved low queue-depth performance over its predecessor, allowing both gaming and everyday users to experience smoother loading of applications. And, for the ultimate in aesthetics and customization, there will be an optional RGB-enabled (Windows® only) heatsink model that cuts down on thermal throttling. The WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD non-heatsink version will be available in 500GB3, 1TB3, and 2TB3 capacities starting at Rs14,490/-.
The WD_BLACK™ AN1500 NVMe SSD Add-in-Card – For gamers looking to achieve next-gen performance in a current-gen setup, this fully bootable plug and play add-in card is one of the fastest PCIe Gen3 x8 solutions on the market. Powered by two internal SSDs in RAID 0 and PCIe Gen3 x8 technology, gamers can experience read speeds up to 6500 MB/s2 and write speeds up to 4100MB/s2 (2TB3 and 4TB3 models), giving them fast gameplay so they can spend less time waiting and more time playing. Customizable RGB lighting (Windows® only) complements your current rig while an integrated heatsink combats thermal throttling to help maintain peak performance. The WD_BLACK AN1500 NVMe SSD Add-in-Card is available in 1TB3, 2TB3, and 4TB3 capacities starting at Rs30,990/-
The portable gaming drives include the WD_BLACK™ P10 Game Drive, P10 Game Drive for Xbox™ and P50 Game Drive SSD.
– The WD_Black™ P50 Game Drive SSD offers read speeds of up to 2000MB/s2 and up to 2TB3 of storage, so you spend less time waiting to get back in the game and more time actually playing your game collection. Designed from the ground up with gamers in mind, it is designed with a SuperSpeed USB (20Gb/s) interface to be fully compatible with new gaming components released with the same connectivity.
– The WD_BLACK™ P10 Game Drive gives your console or PC the performance-enhancing tools it needs to keep your competitive edge. Its a top-tier external HDD in capacities up to 5TB3, built specifically for gamers looking to expand the potential of their console or PC by saving their game library in an on-the-go form factor.
– WD_BLACK™ P10 Game Drive for Xbox™ is built specifically for gamers looking to expand the potential of their Xbox and comes in capacities up to 5TB3 to save up to 125 games5.
Availability
WD_BLACK™ SN850 NVMe SSD,WD_BLACK™ AN1500 NVMe SSD Add-in-Card, WD_BLACK™ P10, P10 for Xbox™ and P50 are available with leading IT Retailers and Etail across India, starting 8th Dec, 2020.
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