Name: SANDISK Optimus 5100
Brand: SANDISK

The new label can make the Optimus 5100 look like an upgrade from the WD Blue SN5100 already in your laptop. SANDISK confirms that Optimus 5100 is the new name for the WD Blue SN5100. ² For someone running out of room on an older drive, there is still a good reason to buy one. It depends on whether you mostly read your files or regularly rewrite hundreds of gigabytes at a time.

Sustained Writes

Earlier-label 2 TB SN5100 tested
QLC NAND
Host Memory Buffer

Opening a project and copying an entire video archive ask different things of an SSD. Tom’s Hardware tested the earlier-label 2TB SN5100. In its sustained-write test, the drive wrote at roughly 6.45GB/s for more than 78 seconds before settling near 442MB/s with its cache exhausted. ¹ The 1TB model covered here wasn’t part of that test. The result illustrates why a peak sequential rating is a poor estimate for a large overnight transfer.

Capacity & Compatibility

M.2 2280
1 TB rated at 7,100 / 6,700 MB/s

Check that your notebook accepts an 80mm NVMe drive, then choose enough room for the files you keep locally and the updates that arrive between cleanups. SANDISK rates the 1TB model for sequential reads up to 7,100MB/s and writes up to 6,700MB/s. Its limited warranty ends at five years or 600TB written, whichever comes first. ³ If your job writes large temporary files all day, that limit deserves a closer look.

Endurance by Capacity

500 GB: 300 TBW
1 TB: 600 TBW
2 TB: 900 TBW
4 TB: 1,200 TBW

The write allowance does not increase in proportion to capacity across the whole family. Moving from 1 TB to 2 TB doubles the space but raises the published limit from 600 to 900 TB written. The 4 TB version reaches 1,200 TBW. Someone keeping a photo library gains room for more years of images. Someone repeatedly overwriting large scratch files should compare the actual write allowance for the capacity under consideration. ³

Installation & Peak Speeds

80 × 22 × 2.38 mm
PCIe 4.0 ×4
No bundled heatsink

An Optimus 5100 fits the same 80 mm footprint at every capacity. The speed ratings differ even where the physical fit stays the same. The 500 GB board is rated up to 6,600 MB/s read and 5,600 MB/s write. At 4 TB the figures rise to 6,900 and 6,700 MB/s, so the largest drive still has a lower peak read rating than the middle sizes. Choose 4 TB when the room for files is worth it. ³

Alternatives

If you already have an SN5100 with enough free space, changing the name on the label buys no practical benefit. For frequent, long video ingests or whole-drive transfers, look for independent results after the fast cache fills, preferably at the capacity you intend to buy. The first few seconds of a benchmark tell you little about the rest of a long job.

Verdict

I’d put the Optimus 5100 in a compatible laptop that needs room for applications, games and photos. For a write-heavy scratch drive, I’d prioritize sustained-write testing over its advertised maximum.

SANDISK Optimus 5100 review

Pros

Cons