Photos and Features
The packaging for the SN750 w/Heatsink isn’t a big departure from the normal SN750. The box is all blacked out just like before with WD_Blacvk in the background also in black but with a gloss to set it from the flat backdrop. The drive capacity is up in the top right corner, in this case, this is a 1TB drive just like our other SN750. Then down in the bottom right corner, they have the Western Digital logo and the model name. Above that, they tease the potential read speed of the drive as well. Then across the entire front is a zoomed in picture of the drive, just like before, only this time with the heatsink on it. The back of the packaging doesn’t have too much going on. There is another photo of the drive and the same information from the front like the read speed and model name is listed here. They use icons to show that this is a 3D NAND drive which I don’t think most people buying would care. The 5-year warranty is nice though and the NVMe logo below that does help remind some people that this is an NVMe drive if the read speed wasn’t enough of an indication. The back of the box also has a small window cut in it that lets you look at the drive inside to confirm the capacity and to be able to scan the serial number.
Inside of the box is a foam tray that you pull out. This has a cutout to hold the SSD in it. The non-heatsink SN750 used a plastic clamshell tray here, this foam design is needed because of the extra thickness of the heatsink drive. The top of the foam also is cut out to fit the folded up documentation. It is just a paper with support and warranty information. The foam tray with the drive out shows that Western Digital even went to the trouble to put a plastic layer in between the foam to protect the drive on the window that is needed to see the serial through the packaging.
Now when I wrote about the original SN750 and even the new WD Blue SN500 I loved the what Western Digital is doing their drive aesthetics. But let's be real, this is without a doubt the best looking M.2 drive out there. They worked with EK to design the heatsink and it runs the length of the drive and handles the simple blacked out look of the original drive and of the WD Black lineup as a whole. Most of the drive has small V cut groves in it and is all blacked out. The top edge of each groove is machined to give the silver accents against the anodized black finish. Then down in the bottom right ¼, they have a flat area with the WD_BLACK branding and the SN750 model name. Also, there is the smallest EK logo I’ve ever seen, just enough to show that EK designed this heatsink while not being large enough to make this look like an EK drive.
The heatsink design is two parts with the machined heatsink section in the front then sheet metal on the back that wraps around to the top and bottom edges of the drive as well. The back also is where they tucked the sticker away as well, this is the same sticker that would go on the normal SN750. This is where you have the capacity, serial number, and model number. It is also where you will find a few certification logos as well.
Taking a look at the ends of the drive really help put the thickness of the EK cooler into perspective. The original SN750 is 2.38mm thick but with the heatsink, it expands out to 8.1mm. Because of this Western Digital even had to confirm that our test system would fit the drive. Obviously, you can’t use this version in laptops but you have to also remember not to use it on motherboards with their own built-in covers or heatsinks. Small Form Factor fans like myself also have to be concerned with clearance with back mounted locations as well. Officially ATX specifications only require the motherboard standoffs to be 6.4mm tall. Most are better than that and cases with a huge access window won’t have a problem, but planning on using the SN750 with the heatsink in that situation requires being extra careful. Those are the situations you would most want the extra cooling as well ironically.
I also spanned a few pictures of the SN750 with heatsink alongside the normal SN750 as well. I also grabbed one of the drive next to a keychain that Western Digital made for PAX during the WD SN750 launch and I was really impressed how close to scale it ended up being. In fact, I posted up a similar picture on twitter and some people didn’t even catch that it was a keychain right away lol.
