Best SSD for gaming 2019 (February)

Picking the perfect SSD to your gaming rig can rework your PC expertise, getting you into the game quicker than any outdated spinning platter round and, extra importantly, quicker than your gaming buddies. Competition is vital, proper? It may even make your common pc use a slicker, extra instantaneous expertise too.

And strong state drives are now not simply the protect of the PC gaming elite – even the perfect SSDs are actually extra inexpensive than they’ve ever been. And quicker too… approach, approach quicker. The prime of the tech tree remains to be dominated by Samsung SSDs, however Crucial, SanDisk/WD, Intel, and HyperX have all nonetheless obtained one thing so as to add to the storage dialog too, whether or not it’s about capability or value.

Our SSD benchmarking gauntlet is ruthless, and solely the perfect gaming drives make it by means of the exams alive. We’ve beasted the highest SATA and NVMe drives round to search out the perfect SSDs accessible. It is, nevertheless, straightforward to spend greater than you might want to on the priciest of NAND Flash drives, however you don’t essentially want to interrupt open your piggy financial institution for severely speedy storage anymore.

There are, nevertheless, so many alternative SSD applied sciences, interfaces, kind elements, and protocols that selecting the perfect strong state drive to your PC will be difficult. So we’ve chosen the highest drives round proper now to assist discover the perfect SSD for you.

The finest SSDs are:

Check out the perfect SSD offers at Amazon US and Amazon UK.

Winner: Best SSD for gaming

Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB

Approx. $130 | £122

Pros
Same value as 970 EVO
Generally larger efficiency
 Improved endurance

Cons
Somewhat off the rated speeds

The new Samsung 970 EVO Plus isn’t a brand new era of SSD, however it’s the drive which probably marks the final PCIe 3.zero model earlier than we transfer onto the upper spec PCIe 4.zero drives when AMD’s third Gen Ryzen rolls round in the summertime. Thanks to the drastic drop in reminiscence pricing – a development which seems set to proceed – the brand new 970 EVO Plus has launched at nearly half the value of the 970 EVO when it arrived lower than a 12 months in the past.

So you’ve an SSD which is mostly quicker, particularly within the write efficiency enabled by that enhanced Phoenix controller, and one that’s no less than the identical value because the drive that it’s changing. That’s the way you do iterative {hardware} updates, individuals.

Read our full Samsung 970 EVO Plus review.

RUNNER-UP

WD Black SN750 1TB

Approx. $250 | £235

Pros
 Similar efficiency to the 1TB 970 Evo Plus
 Competitive value
 Fantastic sequential efficiency

Cons
 You’d nonetheless purchase the Samsung on the similar value

The WD Black SN750 doesn’t fairly match the Samsung’s tempo, however getting awfully close to that’s its nearly negligible is a severe feat in and of itself. With sequential speeds to match Samsung’s finest MLC silicon, and real-world efficiency that’s all however equivalent, if you happen to ever discover the WD drive on sale you’d higher transfer fast.

After all, each this drive and the Samsung are two of the perfect NVMe drives you may screw into your PC as of at this time. The WD Black maxes out at a gentle 65°C underneath sustained workloads, so that you needn’t trouble with the EKWB warmth sink, both. Not except you actually plan on pushing this drive to the bounds with out a case fan in sight, that’s.

Read our full WD Black SN750 review.

 

Runner-up

Intel SSD 600p 512GB

Approx. $139 | £103

Pros
 NVMe efficiency
 Affordable different to SATA
 Five 12 months guarantee

Cons
 Slow learn/write speeds for PCIe

Intel’s SSD 600p is a quite un-Intel sort of drive. Where they normally intention to provide high-spec, high-price and high-performance components the SSD 600p is taking intention on the extra mainstream market. It’s kitted out with a less expensive controller and stacked TLC reminiscence to make it one of the crucial inexpensive PCIe drives round at this time.

It will not be the quickest, but it surely’s obtained equivalently-priced SATA drives licked and with far better technological longevity too. The Intel 600p is a superb little entry-level NVMe SSD.

Read our full Intel SSD 600p 512GB overview.

Runner-up

Samsung 860 EVO 500GB

Approx. $84 | £75

Pros
 One of the quickest SATA drives
 Great endurance
 Five 12 months guarantee

Cons
 Not a lot quicker than the 850 EVO

The newest Samsung SATA SSD reveals the present considering from the storage kingpin is that even if you happen to can’t massively enhance efficiency you may beef up the endurance and guarantee ranges because of mature NAND reminiscence tech.

The 860 EVO’s 3-bit MLC is on the stage the place Samsung can provide a full 5 12 months guarantee on this SATA SSD. It’s additionally one of many quickest SATA drives available on the market, however not rather more so than the outdated 850 EVO. The solely concern is Crucial’s newest drive…

Read our full Samsung 860 EVO review.

Runner-up

Crucial MX500 500GB

Approx. $68 | £67

Pros
 Competitive value
 Top learn/write efficiency
 Good endurance

Cons
 Warranty falls wanting opponents

Samsung may rule the roost on the prime of the strong state tech tree, however Crucial is ready to give it a little bit of a headache on the extra inexpensive SATA SSD degree.

Because of its Micron mother or father firm, Crucial is ready to provide SSDs utilizing its personal high-quality reminiscence for an incredible value. The MX500 severely undercuts the competing 860 EVO, and is ready to provide nearly equivalent SSD efficiency – that’s not stunning given the pace restrict imposed by the outdated SATA interface. The solely purpose the 860 EVO will get the nod is due to that improved endurance – the MX500 nonetheless solely has a Three 12 months guarantee to offer you peace of thoughts.

Read our full Crucial MX500 review.

Winner: Best high-end SSD

Samsung 970 Pro 1TB

Approx. $409 | £350

Pros
 Continuous pace underneath load
 Best-in-class learn/write efficiency
 Impressive endurance

Cons
 Often no need for Pro efficiency

If the Samsung 970 EVO is ready to put up nearly the identical artificial benchmarks because the 970 Pro why must you spend the additional money? For most customers there’s no need for a pro-level SSD, however if you would like absolutely the quickest strong state drive round then the 970 Pro is the one to go for.

The Pro and EVO each have equivalent 5 12 months warranties, though the Pro has an endurance score of 1,200TB, whereas the 1TB EVO has 600TB and the 500GB model solely 300TB. If you’re working a severe workhorse of a machine, one which’s churning by means of giant quantities of knowledge repeatedly, you’re going to need to go for the locked-in reliability of the 970 Pro.

Runner-up

Intel Optane SSD 905P 480GB

Approx. $494 | £567

Pros
 3D XPoint reminiscence
 Quickest random 4k learn/write
 Unbeatable endurance

Cons
 Expensive

The Intel Optane SSD 905P options the newest iteration of the 3D XPoint reminiscence, a brand new sort of NAND flash that delivers real high-end sequential efficiency. It’s not fairly up on the similar degree because the Samsung NVMe SSDs, however that’s not the final phrase in SSD-land.

The Optane SSD’s 3D XPoint reminiscence additionally delivers hands-down the quickest random 4k learn/write efficiency we’ve ever seen in a client drive. But it’s the extent of endurance the drive presents which is completely unprecedented. Where most drives’ lifespans are measured in terabytes the Optane SSD 905P is measured in petabytes, 8.76 of them. The 970 Pro, against this has an endurance score of 1.2PB.

Read our full Intel Optane SSD 905P review.

Winner: Best low cost SSD

Samsung 860 EVO 250GB

Approx. $53 | £47

Pros
 Fantastic value/efficiency
 Great 4k random learn/write speeds
 Responsive

Cons
 Limited capability

Because the whole thing of its SSDs are made in-house – from reminiscence to cache to software program to controller – Samsung is ready to be extremely aggressive on value. And that in flip means its lower-capacity drives are among the many least expensive, in addition to the quickest, strong state drives round.

The 250GB EVO can’t fairly match as much as the speeds of its larger-capacity siblings, sitting beneath the 500MB/s mark for reads and beneath 400MB/s on the writes, but it surely nonetheless stays sturdy in relation to the 4k random learn/write efficiency of the drive. The 250GB mark might be round as small as you need to get for a SSD designed to carry your OS and the games you’re enjoying probably the most proper now.

RUNNER-UP

WD Black NVMe 250GB

Approx. $70 | £56

Pros
 Affordable
 Fantastic real-world efficiency
 Five 12 months guarantee

Cons
 250GB is just a few games away from full

With the efficiency of Samsung’s prime main drives and an inexpensive price ticket as well, the WD Black NVMe is a severely good purchase. While the drive nonetheless falls wanting the Samsung in artificial benchmarks, it closes the hole significantly in real-world efficiency exams. It even topped the Samsung 970 Evo in a 30GB file copy job.

With SanDisk’s 3D NAND know-how and WD’s personal in-house controller – and since SanDisk and WD are actually one and the identical – this 12 months’s Black SSD is now capable of match Samsung’s homebrew SSD strategy that has helped it stick within the prime spot for therefore lengthy. While 250GB remains to be a little bit on the low facet for an SSD nowadays – that’s just a few main game installs – the 500GB model is a tempting different to the humdrum of an SSD market dominated by Samsung.

Read our full WD Black NVMe review.

Runner-up

Crucial MX500 250GB

Approx. $50 | £46

Pros
 Great worth
 Impressive sequential 4K efficiency
 Competitive value

Cons
 Controller over-zealous with provisioning

The Crucial MX500 is already one among our prime picks for the perfect general SSD for gaming. But with a price ticket that low, it’s damn-near the perfect SSD going for price range avid gamers, too.

Manufactured by Micron, the Crucial MX500 is quick, dependable, and improbable worth for cash. Now if solely it might match Samsung on the five-year guarantee….

Read our full Crucial MX500 review.

There has by no means been a greater time to make the transfer to an SSD to your fundamental rig. We’re attending to the stage the place it now not must be a tiny drive that may solely match the barest of OS necessities both, genuinely capacious drives can be found for first rate cash now.

Hell, you may even purchase the quickest 500GB NVMe SSDs for lower than $150 now, which is why Samsung is solely the undisputed king of strong state storage. It’s been on the game lengthy sufficient to know how one can match a high quality own-brand controller with its own-brand NAND flash reminiscence, and make it for an inexpensive value. That’s why the 970 EVO is our SSD decide, and has been since launch.

Look right here: These are the best CPUs to pair with that new SSD

But Micron even have one thing to say. Like Samsung it may combine its personal reminiscence with refined reminiscence controllers, and ship full drives for an incredible value. They don’t fairly have the Samsung efficiency, however they’re not far off.

Intel can also be making nice strides with its 3DXPoint reminiscence, although it delivers unprecedented 4k random efficiency, it’s nonetheless mighty costly… a possible future tech then. As is QLC reminiscence, which presents each worth and capability, and will spell the top for spinning platters in our PCs as soon as the tech matures.