[ODogg]

As part of the Best Buy Tech Insider program I received the $139.99 MSRP Western Digital Black SN750 500Gb Hard drive in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Here is my review, and my terrible, terrible stupid story:

I originally built my PC with a 250Gb 960 EVO and it has worked great but left very little room for games or other apps. I received this Western Digital Black SN750 500Gb SSD and thought it would be very quick and easy to install like my first m.2 drive was.

Boy was I wrong.

Now make no mistake, none of this was the fault of the drive but rather the fault of a series of unfortunate events driven by bad luck, stupid decisions and just plain strange occurences. This is my tale:

To install the drive I first turned off my PC, disconnected the power cable and grounded myself with a wrist strap. I did not turn my case onto its side so that I was looking straight down into my PC. This would prove later to be a massive mistake. Most motherboards are going to have a riser and a screw that fits into it to mount the m.2 drive. My motherboard is a MSI Krait Z270. It has two m.2 slots and both slots had a riser and a screw on the motherboard. The first drive I removed the screw, repositioned the riser, mounted the m.2 drive, then placed the screw into the riser to hold down the m.2 drive in place. I assumed the second drive would be the same.

However, due to my bad memory I did not remember that the riser and screw would be on the motherboard and spent roughly 30 minutes looking through my motherboard box for the screws. Finally I realized where the riser and screw were located and went to take them off. A small slip of the screwdriver and riser/screw both disappeared into my case. Well if you know much about computers you know you should never start one if you have a screw or any metal pieces in it as it can short them out. So I spent about an hour looking for the riser/screw. No luck.

I then took the computer cables off the machine, all 33,000 of them and sit the PC on its back to look more. Spent another hour or so looking to no avail. Take off the back side cover and look there as well but no luck. At this point decided to pick up the entire thing and move it around and try to shake the screw loose. Nothing. Spent another hour doing this. I also spend a good 10 to 15 minutes looking for this tiny riser/screw all over my computer desk, beside it, behind it, all around the area to no avail. I then remove the power supply thinking it may be behind there: no luck.

At this point I am four hours in, give or take, and decide I've had enough. Not only am I in trouble because the riser/screw is somewhere in the case, er I think, I also now have no riser/screw to mount the m.2 drive with. I figure it's time to visit the local Microcenter.

A few days later I head to the local computer store and have them look at it. After about 30 minutes the tech says he does not believe it is in the case but cannot be sure. He said to turn it on at my own risk. At this point I'm ready to try as I agree with him that it's likely not in the case. So I ask him for m.2 mounting screws. He has some, but no riser. So I have to purchase a $10 kit made for MSI motherboards. They do not fit. None of them fit. This is becoming something I never expected it to: mission impossible. Finally we decide to get a PCI card and mount the m.2 drive to it and do it that way. He refunds the $10 for the risers/screws and I pay him $15 for the PCI card. Believe it or not the screws included with the kit don't quite fit the actual card and sometimes the drive pops up. This happens after I mount the card. Very, very exasperated at this point. After much more fiddling around we finally get it to stay and mount it and it's ready to go.

After 3 hours at the PC store I get back into my car with my PC and head home. I'm now about 7 hours into this "simple install".

Get home and it's the moment of truth, to turn on the PC and hope nothing gets fried. I decide to spend a bit more time looking for the riser/screw in the carpet. Spend another 20 minutes on my hands and knees and find nothing. I stand up go to move the case back to reconnect all the 33,000 cables to it and....

there it is....the riser/screw. PLAIN AS DAY ON MY DESK.

How this happened I do not know. I wonder if the universe is messing with me. I call my wife and ask her if this was one big, practical joke. She knows not what I speak of. I'm ecstatic to see the riser/screw. I decide to just roll with the PCI card and turn on the machine, go into Windows 10 and hit up disk management and about 2 minutes later the drive is up and running. Yes the drive is amazing and super fast, no I didn't do benchmarks because I'm already about 8 hours into this whole thing and I'm DONE.

Later, I go to look at the riser/screw and the screw is a bit stripped and wedged into the riser. So I decide to call MSI. They answer relatively quick and the person speaks good English. That's the good news. The bads news is a replacement is $14, which is $4 for the part and $10 for shipping. They can tell me they "think" it's a 3mm screw but when I ask if that is 3mm for the screw, 3mm for the riser or 3mm for both they do not seem to know.

So what's the moral of this story? First of all sit your PC on its back so if you lose a screw it doesn't have gravity come into play. Secondly, realize that m.2 drives do NOT COME WITH THE SCREW. Or the riser. So it's on you before buying to know where those are and have them in your possession. If you don't then buy a PCI card to mount or buy an external case before you get your m.2 drive.

Now, as for the drive itself, I have to recommend it for my time with it in games. It's very fast, I've had no issues with it and I'd recommend it for anyone who is looking for a fast SSD. Just be aware of the installation and issues around it! HIGHLY RECOMMEND