Solidigm SSD PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe U.2

The Solidigm D7-P5520 is a 3.84TB datacenter drive with insane 7168 TBW endurance and 7100 MB/s reads. It scores 81.6 overall and 82.2 for workstations, but gaming is a weak 54.6. Worth it for heavy write workloads at the low-end US price, skip it for everything else.

Sequential reads hit 7100 MB/s, which is strong but not top of the charts. Writes at 4200 MB/s are solid for a TLC datacenter drive. The endurance is the real story here: 7168 TBW puts this in the 98th percentile. You could write 3.8TB a day for five years and still be under warranty. Random performance is middle of the pack at the 62nd percentile, so don't expect it to crush consumer drives in everyday tasks. It's built for sustained writes, not snappy app launches.

Against consumer drives like the Samsung 9100 PRO or WD Black SN850X, the D7-P5520 loses on random performance and gaming. Those drives are faster in everyday use and way cheaper per gigabyte. The Kingston FURY Renegade and Crucial T710 also beat it on affordability. But none of them touch the 7168 TBW endurance. The SN850X, for example, is rated for a fraction of that. If you're running a database or doing heavy video editing, the Solidigm wins on longevity. If you're gaming, buy literally any of the competitors.

Pricing is all over the place. US listings range from $1,626 to $3,076, which is a $1,450 spread for the same drive. The lower end is actually reasonable for 3.84TB of enterprise storage. The high end is a hard pass. If you're in the US, shop around and grab the cheaper listing. European buyers are looking at €2,692 to €2,891, which is a tougher pill to swallow. For a workstation that needs write endurance, the low-end US price makes sense. For anything else, it's overkill.

The Solidigm D7-P5520 is a datacenter drive that somehow ended up on a consumer shelf. It's a 3.84TB U.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD with 7100 MB/s reads and 4200 MB/s writes. That's a lot of fast storage, but it's built for servers, not gaming rigs. You'll need a U.2 port or an adapter, and you'll pay a premium for the privilege.

Our database puts this drive at 81.6 out of 100 overall. Workstation use is where it shines, scoring 82.2. Gaming? 54.6. This isn't a drive for your Steam library. It's for people who need massive endurance and don't mind the enterprise tax.

Skip this if you're building a gaming PC or a general home computer. The U.2 form factor is a hassle, the random performance is mediocre, and you'll pay a huge premium for endurance you'll never use. If you need fast storage for games and apps, grab a WD Black SN850X or Samsung 9100 PRO and spend the savings on something fun.

This is a workstation drive, full stop. Buy it if you need 3.84TB of storage that can handle constant writes for years. The endurance rating is best-in-class, and the sequential speeds are plenty fast for large file transfers. But if you're building a gaming PC or just want a fast boot drive, this is the wrong tool. You'll pay more, deal with the U.2 form factor, and get worse random performance than a $200 consumer NVMe.