SanDisk just announced pricing for its new Optimus GX PRO SSD line, and the 8TB heatsink model will cost you $3,828.99 at full price — nearly $3,000 more than the PlayStation 5 Pro console it's officially licensed to slot into.
The price alone would be bad enough, but users on ResetEra quickly noticed something worse: the Optimus GX PRO's specs are identical to the WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe SSD, a four-year-old drive made by SanDisk's own parent company, Western Digital. Sequential read speeds, TBW endurance rating of 4,800, 1,200K IOPS — even the weight and physical dimensions match exactly. The WD_BLACK SN850X 8TB with heatsink currently runs around $3,100 at full price, meaning the Optimus GX PRO costs roughly $700 more for what appears to be the same hardware. For extra context: SanDisk was selling that same WD_BLACK SN850X 8TB heatsink model for $579.99 back in November 2024.
SanDisk Corporation's stock valuation has increased more than tenfold since October 2025, so this isn't a company in financial distress passing costs onto consumers out of necessity. The broader trend is real — AI datacenter demand is driving up SSD and RAM prices across the board — but a rebranded older drive with an "officially licensed" PS5 sticker slapped on it, priced at nearly seven times what it sold for 18 months ago, is a hard sell on any justification.
Reaction across social media and gaming forums has been universally negative. If storage pricing keeps moving in this direction, building a gaming PC in 2027 is going to require some serious financial planning.
Sources (2)
AI-assisted summary, reviewed by our editors — how we work.
Get the daily digest
Top gaming news in Lithuanian — every day at 9:00.
Related on PlayStation Move Heroes
PS5 Sales Hit Worst May for Sony in Over 25 Years Despite Price Hike
PS5 just had its worst May sales performance for Sony in more than 25 years, and that's with a price hike already in effect. The numbers pai...