Everything that decides whether the WD Blue SA510 is the right drive: controller, DRAM, NAND, rated endurance, PS5 and laptop fit, and how it compares with the obvious alternatives. Hardware facts are taken from the reviews and datasheets listed at the bottom; capacities and speeds come from our comparison of 60 drives.
Who it’s for: Laptop and desktop upgrades from a hard drive, including machines with an M.2 SATA slot, where an NVMe drive will not work. Skip it for: Sustained writes and heavy use; forum reports also describe it as a step down from earlier WD Blue SATA drives.
| Controller | Varies by capacity (DRAM-less in-house controller up to 1TB; Silicon Motion SM2259H reported at 2TB) |
| DRAM cache | Mostly no — DRAM-less up to 1TB; the 2TB model is reported to use a controller with DRAM |
| NAND | Kioxia 112-layer TLC |
| Interface | SATA 6 Gb/s, 2.5-inch and M.2 2280 SATA |
| Heatsink version | Not in our data — sold bare |
| Capacity | Seq. read | Seq. write | Endurance | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 GB | 560 MB/s | 510 MB/s | — | 5 yr |
| 2 TB | 560 MB/s | 520 MB/s | — | 5 yr |
| 4 TB | 560 MB/s | 520 MB/s | — | 5 yr |
We could not confirm endurance ratings from a primary source. Speeds are the manufacturer’s sequential ratings.
Every WD Blue SA510 capacity in our comparison, smallest first.
| $/TB | $/GB | Price | Capacity | Interface | Gen | Read | Write | NAND | Warranty | Cond. | Product |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $368.00BEST | $0.368 | $184.00 | 500 GB | M.2 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 510 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Blue SA510 500GB M.2· 3rd-partyAmazon ↗ |
| $138.44 | $0.138 | $276.88 | 2 TB | M.2 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 520 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | |
| $207.90 | $0.208 | $831.59 | 4 TB | 2.5 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 520 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Blue SA510 4TB· 3rd-partyAmazon ↗ |
The WD Blue SA510 is a SATA drive: it fits a 2.5-inch drive bay or, in its M.2 version, an M.2 slot keyed for SATA. It will not work in an M.2 slot that only supports NVMe, and it does not meet the PS5’s NVMe requirement. If your machine has an NVMe slot, an entry NVMe drive is many times faster for about the same price per terabyte.
How to identify your slot: cheapest SSD for a laptop · all SATA SSDs.
Crucial MX500: a SATA drive with DRAM, also sold as M.2 SATA.
| WD Blue SA510 | Crucial MX500 | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | M.2 SATA | 2.5 SATA |
| Seq. read | 560 MB/s | 560 MB/s |
| Seq. write | 520 MB/s | 510 MB/s |
| NAND | TLC | TLC |
| DRAM cache | No | Yes |
| Warranty | 5 yr | 5 yr |
We show retail prices only while we can refresh them at least every 24 hours. For market context: TrendForce’s 16 Oct 2026 retail sample runs $133–$250 per TB for mainstream 1–2TB drives, and NAND contract prices are forecast +15 to +20% for 4Q26. Check any listing against that range with the price per TB calculator, and see the SSD price chart for the trend.
Hardware facts on this page come from:
Where reviews disagreed (for example on NAND layer counts or a capacity’s endurance rating) we state only what the sources agree on.