The demand for fast and reliable SSDs continues to rise, brought on by AI adoption. SSDs have become more coveted as users need high-performance drives for fast transfers and quick loading times for work, gaming, and AI workloads. Sandisk’s latest SSD lineup brings various options to consumers depending on their use case and values. In this review, we have the Sandisk Optimus GX 7100 1TB SSD, a PCI-E Gen 4 SSD aimed at mainstream consumers.
Sandisk is a known storage brand specializing in the SD card format and portable storage. Not too long ago, Western Digital acquired SanDisk years ago to build up its flash memory division, but the recent corporate restructuring has officially separated the companies. As part of this transition, the consumer flash storage and solid-state lineups are fully consolidating back under the standalone SanDisk name. This means the enthusiast favorite WD_BLACK and WD Blue SSDs that we’ve known for years are now being rebranded under the Sandisk family.
SANDISK SSD Product Lineup
Sandisk has segmented its SSD lineup into three distinct tiers: Optimus, Optimus GX, and Optimus GX Pro.
SANDISK Optimus
SANDISK Optimus SSDs serve as your entry-level SSDs for every performance, with a main focus on value similar to the old WD Blue SN5xxx series.
SANDISK Optimus GX
SANDISK Optimus GX line, which is where our Optimus GX 7100 SSD is classified, is the mainstream gaming and enthusiast lineup from the brand. It’s Sandisk’s competitive offering for those looking for high speed and consistent performance.
SANDISK Optimus GX Pro
SANDISK Optimus GX Pro SSDs are the flagship lineup featuring max-out speeds of the latest PCIe architecture, with the current flagship models supporting PCI-E 5.0 and 4.0 interfaces. These SSDs are ideal for those who have extreme workflows or those who want the best available SSDs for their PCs. For the older people out there, these are basically your WD_Black SN8xxx series SSDs.
SANDISK Optimus GX 7100 Unboxing and First Impressions
The SANDISK Optimus GX 7100 SSD comes in Sandisk’s modern packaging similar to what we’ve seen in their microSDs, SD cards, and flash storage. Its speeds and storage configuration are written on the top left side, with more details on the lower part. Moving to the back, you can see the SSD’s classification among Sandisk’s product tiers.
The SANDISK Optimus GX 7100 is an above-average SSD, using a PCI-E 4 x4 interface with speeds up to 7,250 MB/s read and up to 6,900 MB/s write. It uses Sandisk’s 8th Generation BiCS TLC 3D NAND for a power-efficient solution that is ideal for laptops.
The SANDISK Optimus GX 7100 has integrated Sandisk nCache technology, the brand’s proprietary SLC writing cache that improves performance for consumer applications and workloads such as multitasking and copying large files. It also fully supports Microsoft DirectStorage, which eliminates game lag and asset streaming bottlenecks in supported games.
SANDISK Dashboard Software
SANDISK dashboard lets you monitor your SSD’s health, attributes. You can also use the software to update your drive’s firmware or test it for errors. That said, not all Sandisk SSDs are supported, and non-Sandisk and WD SSDs are not supported for drive analysis, testing, or firmware updates.
Benchmark Setup and Test Methodology
Gadget Pilipinas’ testing philosophy is to provide detail-oriented results as accurately as possible so that our readers can replicate our tests, given that these conditions are met. Different benchmarking apps and sequences are used depending on the component or device being tested.
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D |
| COOLER | RYUJIN II 360mm V2 – NT-H2 Thermal Paste |
| MOTHERBOARD | Gigabyte X870E Aorus Master |
| MEMORY | GSkill Trident Z Neo 32GB(2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL28 |
| GPUs | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition |
| STORAGE | |
| POWER SUPPLY | FSP VITA GM1000W Gold ATX 3.1 |
| OPERATING SYSTEM | Windows 11 Pro Build 25H2 |
| CASE | Open Benchtable V2 |
We use CapFrameX 1.9 BETA as our primary FPS capture and analysis tool for all our gaming benchmarks. We use the latest Windows 11 Pro build and WHQL-certified drivers for our benchmarks. Readings such as temperatures and power draws are recorded using HWINFO64, and other relevant software for cross-checking.
For our Storage benchmarks, we use the latest versions of CrystalDiskMark, AS SSD, PCMark10, and OCCT. Each benchmark application measures a specific aspect of the device being benchmarked and also serves as a counter-check for our results, as some tests overlap. We use CrystalDiskInfo and HWinfo for monitoring the SSD’s health and temperatures
We are currently expanding our SSD benchmark suite with the addition of 3DMark, Procyon, and SSD Slowmark Benchmarks. You may see incomplete DATA compared to our throughput, IOPS, and Access time benchmarks, as we are still expanding our database.
For more information, read our Benchmark Methodology article.
SANDISK Optimus GX 7100 Benchmarks
THROUGHPUT Performance
Developed by Noriyuki Miyazaki, CrystalDiskMark is a free benchmark tool that is used by thousands of experts. This tool measures SSDs’ sequential read and write speeds. That means how fast files can be read from and written to the drive, usually measured in MB/s.
IOPS Performance
IOPS, or Input/Output Operations Per Second, is a measure of how many inputs or outputs an SSD can perform in a short period. IOPS is a useful parameter for measuring how fast it can process small amounts of workload similar to real-world usage, such as loading a webpage and launching apps.
ACCESS TIME
Access time or latency is just as crucial as sequential, random, and IOPS for an SSD. It wraps up all the values from the previous performance and shows the SSD’s responsiveness, whether it be for small or heavy workloads. AS SSD’s Copy benchmark simulates copying various file types, namely, ISOs, Games, and applications. Different file types result in different transfer speeds.
PCMark10 Storage Benchmark
PCMark 10 Quick System Drive and Data Drive benchmarks use diverse workloads for sustained and random performance, which gives a more rounded “overall” performance of the drive being tested, as these test suites simulate day-to-day “snappiness” and common workloads.
OCCT Enterprise Storage Benchmark
OCCT is a popular benchmark and analysis tool among enthusiasts. While commonly used for overclocking and testing system stability, OCCT recently added support for storage benchmarks, which we’ve added to our suite, serving as a secondary reference for our storage benchmarks.
SANDISK Optimus GX 7100 SSD Temperatures
Temperature-wise, the SANDISK Optimus GX 7100 caps at 86 °C peak recorded temperature during our benchmark run. Considering it’s a heatsink-less drive, the 57°C idle and 86°C peak temps are normal, not to mention the singular NAND flash meaning that there are no other cells to spread out the workload and thus the generated heat.
Performance Summary and Conclusion
The SANDISK Optimus GX 7100 1TB SSD is competitively priced (as of writing this review) at $400, or roughly around Php 20,000. Considering today’s market, most SSDs sporting similar specs to the Optimus GX 7100 are priced closer to Php 25,000, making Sandisk’s offering a more viable option for those looking for a low-cost, high-performance drive.
Its performance, given its DRAMless nature, can sustain longer file sizes and transfers thanks to the proprietary nCache technology. The SANDISK Optimus GX 7100 1TB NVMe SSD establishes itself as a highly complete package for modern workloads. Whether you’re using the SANDISK Optimus GX 7100 as your OS drive, secondary game drive, PS5 or console drive, or even as an external SSD, you’re sure to get high-speed, consistent performance regardless of workload.
Grant is a Financial Management graduate from UST. His passion for gadgets and tech crossed him over in the industry where he could apply his knowledge as an enthusiast and in-depth analytic skills as a Finance Major. His passion allows him to earn at the same time help Gadget Pilipinas' readers in making smart, value-based decisions and purchases with his reviews and guides.
