SSDs are probably the most popular devices among users, storage drives that are much faster than traditional hard drives and consume less power. The market is full of the best SSDs. So we decided to write this guide to help our readers choose the best possible option.
Seagate FireCuda 530
| Seagate FireCuda 530 | |
|---|---|
 | $80.99 |
The FireCuda 530 offers everything an SSD should, with outstanding performance, incredible durability, and effective thermal management if a heatsink is used.
There’s even a special three-year warranty for data recovery in the event of drive failure, which is normally reserved for enterprise-class devices.
This is a great option for PC and console owners who want a top-notch PCIe 4.0 drive. But you might have a hard time buying it, especially with the 4TB capacity.
Corsair MP600 Pro LPX
There is very little to dislike about the MP600 Pro LPX, at any time to avoid the slower speed of the smaller 500GB capacity.
It comes with a heatsink and, unlike the MP600 Pro, it fits the PS5. The performance is actually better than what Sony’s console can take advantage of, but the price is lower than the FireCuda 530, so it doesn’t matter.
For PC users, firmware improvements and hardware encryption make the LPX even more tempting.
Kingston KC3000
Kingston’s latest effort is another good option with Seagate and Corsair for those who want a Gen 4 drive in a PC or PS5.
The KC3000 offers excellent performance across a range of demanding use cases, and the heatsink is thin enough to fit neatly into Sony’s next-generation console.
There are only minor points that put it behind the competition, such as price, lack of hardware encryption, and a small power consumption issue. Nevertheless, if you see it on offer somewhere, it will be a good choice.
Corsair Force Series MP510
The MP510 is a drive that offers everything you could ask for in an SSD. It combines performance, endurance, capacity and price.
PCI bus-connected NVMe cards have historically been expensive and low capacity, but not anymore. The new, faster PCIe 4.0 standard is available elsewhere, but it remains a solid choice for many users.
It’s even available in 4TB, but the price is high enough to consider switching to PCIe 4.0.
| Corsair Force Series MP510 | |
|---|---|
| $454.99 |
WD Blue SN550
WD has done a great job of designing an SSD that downplays features to make it cheap enough for most PC owners to consider it an affordable upgrade.
It doesn’t offer maximum speed or hardware encryption, but it’s still much faster than any SATA drive. We’d like a 2TB model and it’s best to go for the higher capacities, but we highly recommend the Blue SN550.
It’s the easiest way to upgrade to NVMe if you’re on a budget.
Samsung 980 Pro
Thanks to PCIe 4.0 technology, the Samsung 980 Pro is super fast and offers twice the speed of PCIe 3.0 drives.
While the 980 Pro can work in older PCIe 3.0 slots, you won’t get the full speed, and you may need to upgrade your motherboard. Speaking of which, you’ll need an AMD Ryzen processor in a B550 or X570 chipset slot.
As expected for a new standard, the price per GB is high, so upgrading is expensive. Especially if you go for higher capacities, which is advisable in this case, as Samsung does not offer consistent specifications across the range.
WD Black SN850X
| WD Black SN850X | |
|---|---|
| $122.53 |
It’s not the most affordable PCIe 4.0 drive, but it’s easy to see why the SN850X is a successful successor to the SN850.
The drive now expands to 4TB and performance is much improved with read speeds of 7,300MB/s and write speeds not far behind. It is PC and PS5 compatible, but there are a few caveats.
While the drive has a sophisticated heat sink, it’s not available on the 4TB option, making it a hindrance for PlayStation 5 owners who want that much space. You’ll also want to avoid paying full retail price and having hardware encryption not work.
Samsung 970 Evo Plus
| Samsung 970 Evo Plus | |
|---|---|
| $419.99 |
The 970 Evo Plus is an unusual addition to Samsung’s SSD lineup, but a welcome one.
It’s an even better version of the 970 Evo for the same price, so it’s a no-brainer. If it’s NVMe performance you want, this Plus model is incredible.
However, the Corsair MP510 and Kingston KC2500 are cheaper, making them more cost-effective if you don’t need the highest PCIe 3.0 performance.
Crucial P3
There’s not much to be excited about here, but the P3 is a solid NVMe drive from Crucial. It’s really what the P2 should have been in the first place, and counterintuitively, it also replaced the P5.
It’s an affordable PCIe 4.0 SSD, available in a range of capacities and offering solid performance. Note that the P3 Plus doesn’t cost much more if you want more speed.
Still, the P3 is a good option for those who want a no-frills SSD for devices like laptops or to build a PC that doesn’t want to cost a lot of money.
AORUS RGB M.2 NVMe
| AORUS RGB M.2 NVMe | |
|---|---|
| $97.21 |
AORUS also does a great job with their SSDs, and deserves a place among the best of the 3rd generation with their AORUS RGB M.2 NVMe. This 2280-sized drive features an eye-catching copper heatsink and integrated RGB lighting to complete our gaming setup.
Inside, we have 96-layer Toshiba BiCS3 TLC memory, a powerful Phison PS5012-E12 controller, and 512MB of DDR4 cache memory to give us transfer speeds of 3480MB/s sequential read and 2000MB/s sequential write. This drive is available in 256GB and 512GB sizes.
Discover also :