Best SSD for gaming 2024

The WD Black SN850X is the quickest SSD you should purchase, totally making use of its PCIe 4.0 interface with lightning-fast sequential learn and write speeds of seven,300MB/s and 6,600MB/s, respectively.

This stage of efficiency not solely improves recreation loading occasions, however it’s best to discover your gaming PC boots quicker and extra rapidly handles basic duties. You’ll all the time get essentially the most out of the drive whereas taking part in video games, because of its Recreation Mode 2.0 toggle within the included software program.

In case you’re frightened about potential thermal throttling impacting the WD Black SN850X, you may choose it up with an non-compulsory heatsink for peace of thoughts. Higher nonetheless, the heatsink comes with a splash of RGB, so it will probably look cool whereas staying cool.

Learn our WD Black SN850X assessment.

Now a long-standing veteran of the SSD market, the Samsung 980 Professional can usually be discovered at a cut price value, and it’s nonetheless quick sufficient for most individuals’s wants. Making full use of the PCIe 4.0 interface, Samsung says this drive can learn at as much as 7,000MB/s, and it hit a strong 6,866MB/s in our exams.

The WD Black SN850X above is faster for write speeds and recreation loading occasions, however the 980 Professional is commonly accessible for a less expensive value, and also you’ll barely discover the distinction between the 2 drives in most real-world use. Moreover, the highest write pace of 5,000MB/s nonetheless places the Samsung 980 Professional effectively forward of any PCIe 3.0 SSDs. Samsung provides a helpful software program package deal, together with migration software program for simple transfers out of your current Home windows set up to your new drive.

This drive throttled and not using a heatsink in our exams, so be sure you both purchase a mannequin with a heatsink pre-fitted or use one in every of your motherboard’s M2 heatsinks if it has them. Keep watch over costs, although, as they usually fluctuate. If the WD Black SN850X is on supply and cheaper than the Samsung 980 Professional, it’s the higher SSD to purchase.

Learn our Samsung 980 Professional assessment.

In case you don’t have a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot in your motherboard, and also you need to push your PCIe 4.0 M.2 connector so far as it’ll go, then the Samsung 990 Professional is the drive for you. Whereas this drive couldn’t meet Samsung’s 7,450MB/s claims in our exams, its high pace of seven,198MB/s nonetheless makes it quicker than some other PCIe 4.0 drive we’ve reviewed. If efficiency is your high precedence, it is a nice SSD.

After we first reviewed the 990 Professional, we gave it a little bit of a kicking for its excessive value, however the fee has since come crashing down, to the purpose the place it’s usually going for beneath $100 for a 1TB capability. That’s an incredible value for the efficiency on supply.

Nonetheless, this drive does get sizzling when it’s operating at full pace, so we suggest both shopping for the heatsink model or utilizing not less than a fundamental M.2 heatsink in your motherboard. By way of recreation load occasions, there’s additionally no profit to purchasing this drive over the WD Black SN850X, however in the event you usually shift round massive quantities of knowledge, that is now a quick drive for an inexpensive value.

Learn our full Samsung 990 Professional assessment.

Velocity above all else is the precedence of the T705, because the Essential SSD barrels forward of its competitors with energy to ship the quickest speeds we’ve seen but from PCIe 5.0 storage. Whereas it’s fast, although, it does include some caveats.

The T705 is staggeringly speedy, with learn and write efficiency of as much as 14,500MB/s (14.5GB/s) and 12,700MB/s (12.7GB/s), respectively. Whereas it will probably hit these speeds briefly bursts, extended stress can see the passive heatsink falter, bringing the Essential SSD’s sky-high ambitions crashing down in an Icarus-like trend.

These issues don’t have an effect on gaming efficiency, which is of course of a excessive customary. That mentioned, the T705 suffers from the identical downside as all different PCIe 5.0 SSDs, in that increased speeds don’t have any tangible profit in video games relative to PCIe 4.0 drives (not less than for now).

Class-leading efficiency naturally comes with the next value too, and the T705 is not any exception, with its value coming in a lot increased than slower PCIe 5.0 SSDs. You may knock off a couple of bucks by choosing a mannequin and not using a heatsink, however this drive wants some type of cooling to be thought of value utilizing.

Learn our Essential T705 assessment.

NVMe SSDs will undoubtedly exchange their SATA brethren, however there’s nonetheless loads of worth available in drives that use the ageing interface just like the Samsung 870 EVO. Whereas its sequential learn and write speeds could seem paltry within the face of PCIe storage, it’s nonetheless lots quick for many video games and is undeniably quicker than any arduous drive.

In case you prioritize capability over pace, choosing the Samsung 870 EVO could possibly be a wise transfer. You may choose it up in sizes that go all the way in which as much as 4TB, which means you gained’t have to fret about rehoming your Steam library and it prices a lot lower than any M.2 SSD with the identical quantity of house.

PCIe 5.0 SSDs just like the MP700 Professional push storage speeds effectively above PCIe 4.0 however, for the second, their efficiency usually comes with added value and thermal concerns. Corsair’s MP700 Professional makes coping with these difficulties the best of any drive we’ve examined, with energetic cooling rather than an infinite passive heatsink and a value that doesn’t break the financial institution.

That includes respective learn and write speeds of as much as 12,400MB/s (12.4GB/s) and 11,800MB/s (11.8GB/s), the MP700 Professional is among the quickest SSDs you may slot into your system. These specs naturally make the drive a superb selection for gaming, however enhancements in comparison with cheaper, competing PCIe 4.0 drives are minimal, even in video games that assist DirectStorage.

For those who require a dual-purpose drive, although, significantly for eventualities the place extended learn and write speeds are a precedence, the MP700 Professional emerges a lower above all different PCIe 5.0 SSDs because of its energetic heatsink. Whereas its fan curve sadly can’t be configured, the out-of-the-box efficiency ensured the temperature of Corsair’s drive peaked at simply 65°C in our testing.

Corsair additionally provides the MP700 Professional with a Hydro X Sequence water block, for fanatic builders rocking a customized water-cooling loop. Whereas there’s sadly no passive heatsink accessible for the SSD, you may seize it with none heatsink by any means and place your speeds on the mercy of your motherboard heatsinks if you want. Nonetheless, given how sizzling PCIe 5.0 storage will get, we strongly suggest choosing the mannequin with the energetic cooler, particularly because it solely prices $10-20 additional.

Learn our Corsair MP700 Professional assessment.

Constructing on the inexpensive SN570, Western Digital’s Blue SN580 NVMe SSD is a succesful gaming SSD with as much as 2TB of storage and a strong 900TBW endurance. It provides you respectable learn and write speeds for one of many lowest costs available on the market.

Throughout testing, our reviewer discovered that the random 4K efficiency of the SN580 was a good bit slower than the quickest PCIe 4.0 SSDs we examined. Nevertheless it’s one of the best you will get beneath $100 with out sacrificing capability, pace, or each. It’s the highest possibility for constructing a gaming PC on a funds.

Learn our WD Blue SN580 assessment.

Once you’re seeking to improve to one of the best gaming laptop computer SSD, you need to hit a stability between thermals and efficiency. You don’t need a drive that may find yourself throttling as a result of it’s getting too sizzling contained in the tight confines of your laptop computer, however you additionally don’t need to be caught with sluggish speeds. That is the place the Samsung 990 Evo hits simply the fitting stability.

Don’t be fooled by the PCIe 5.0 claims Samsung makes about this drive, because it solely makes use of two PCIe 5.0 lanes, which defeats the article of it. Nonetheless, it does work effectively as a power-efficient 4x PCIe 4.0 SSD that doesn’t want a heatsink, making it excellent for putting in in a laptop computer. It could actually learn at as much as 5,000MB/s, which is quicker than any PCIe 3.0 SSD, and its 4,200MB/s write pace is strong too.

What’s extra, this drive is commonly closely discounted, which means you may usually choose up a 2TB drive for beneath $120, which is a cut price for that stage of capability. Add the truth that doesn’t want a heatsink to stop it from throttling, and you’ve got a perfect laptop computer SSD improve.

As you in all probability already know, there’s not sufficient room to squeeze a typical 2280 M.2 SSD inside your Steam Deck, or one other gaming handheld for that matter. You may nonetheless reap the advantages of quick storage in your deck, although, because of its M.2 2230 connector, and the TeamGroup MP44S is simply the fitting dimension for it.

What’s extra, this drive’s use of the 4x PCIe 4.0 interface means its efficiency is faster than you’d count on for such a small drive. In our exams, it fortunately reads at 5,089MB/s and writes at 3,702MB/s, which is even faster than TeamGroup’s claims, and that’s and not using a heatsink too. What’s extra, you should purchase this drive in an enormous 2TB capability, supplying you with a great deal of house to put in one of the best Steam Deck video games.

The draw back to this, in fact, is that the Steam Deck’s PCIe 3.0 interface means you may’t run this drive at its full pace within the deck, but it surely nonetheless runs as quick as some other top-end PCIe 3.0 drive, and its PCIe 4.0 assist provides it some future proofing for the Steam Deck 2, whereas additionally making it a perfect improve for the Asus ROG Ally X. This drive provides you a great deal of high-speed handheld storage, and it’s additionally fairly priced.