Best SSD for gaming 2024

The WD Black SN850X is the fastest SSD you can buy, fully making use of its PCIe 4.0 interface with lightning-fast sequential read and write speeds of 7,300MB/s and 6,600MB/s, respectively.

This level of performance not only improves game loading times, but you should notice your gaming PC boots faster and more quickly handles general tasks. You’ll always get the most out of the drive while playing games, thanks to its Game Mode 2.0 toggle in the included software.

If you’re worried about potential thermal throttling impacting the WD Black SN850X, you can pick it up with an optional heatsink for peace of mind. Better still, the heatsink comes with a splash of RGB, so it can look cool while staying cool.

Read our WD Black SN850X review.

Now a long-standing veteran of the SSD market, the Samsung 980 Pro can often be found at a bargain price, and it’s still fast enough for most people’s needs. Making full use of the PCIe 4.0 interface, Samsung says this drive can read at up to 7,000MB/s, and it hit a solid 6,866MB/s in our tests.

The WD Black SN850X above is quicker for write speeds and game loading times, but the 980 Pro is often available for a cheaper price, and you’ll barely notice the difference between the two drives in most real-world use. Besides, the top write speed of 5,000MB/s still puts the Samsung 980 Pro well ahead of any PCIe 3.0 SSDs. Samsung offers a useful software package, including migration software for easy transfers from your existing Windows installation to your new drive.

This drive throttled without a heatsink in our tests, so make sure you either buy a model with a heatsink pre-fitted or use one of your motherboard’s M2 heatsinks if it has them. Keep an eye on prices, though, as they often fluctuate. If the WD Black SN850X is on offer and cheaper than the Samsung 980 Pro, it’s the better SSD to buy.

Read our Samsung 980 Pro review.

Speed above all else is the priority of the T705, as the Crucial SSD barrels ahead of its competition with power to deliver the fastest speeds we’ve seen yet from PCIe 5.0 storage. While it’s quick, though, it does come with some caveats.

The T705 is staggeringly speedy, with read and write performance of up to 14,500MB/s (14.5GB/s) and 12,700MB/s (12.7GB/s), respectively. While it can hit these speeds in short bursts, prolonged stress can see the passive heatsink falter, bringing the Crucial SSD’s sky-high ambitions crashing down in an Icarus-like fashion.

These problems don’t affect gaming performance, which is naturally of a high standard. That said, the T705 suffers from the same problem as all other PCIe 5.0 SSDs, in that higher speeds don’t have any tangible benefit in games relative to PCIe 4.0 drives (at least for now).

Class-leading performance naturally comes with a higher price too, and the T705 is no exception, with its price coming in much higher than slower PCIe 5.0 SSDs. You can knock off a few bucks by opting for a model without a heatsink, but this drive needs some form of cooling to be considered worth using.

Read our Crucial T705 review.

NVMe SSDs will undoubtedly replace their SATA brethren, but there’s still plenty of value to be had in drives that use the ageing interface like the Samsung 870 EVO. While its sequential read and write speeds may seem paltry in the face of PCIe storage, it’s still plenty fast for most games and is undeniably faster than any hard drive.

If you prioritize capacity over speed, opting for the Samsung 870 EVO could be a smart move. You can pick it up in sizes that go all the way up to 4TB, meaning you won’t have to worry about rehoming your Steam library and it costs much less than any M.2 SSD with the same amount of space.

PCIe 5.0 SSDs like the MP700 Pro push storage speeds well above PCIe 4.0 but, for the moment, their performance often comes with added cost and thermal considerations. Corsair’s MP700 Pro makes dealing with these difficulties the easiest of any drive we’ve tested, with active cooling in place of an enormous passive heatsink and a price that doesn’t break the bank.

Featuring respective read and write speeds of up to 12,400MB/s (12.4GB/s) and 11,800MB/s (11.8GB/s), the MP700 Pro is one of the fastest SSDs you can slot into your system. These specs naturally make the drive an excellent choice for gaming, but improvements compared to cheaper, competing PCIe 4.0 drives are minimal, even in games that support DirectStorage.

For those that require a dual-purpose drive, though, particularly for scenarios where prolonged read and write speeds are a priority, the MP700 Pro emerges a cut above all other PCIe 5.0 SSDs thanks to its active heatsink. While its fan curve sadly can’t be configured, the out-of-the-box performance ensured the temperature of Corsair’s drive peaked at just 65°C in our testing.

Corsair also offers the MP700 Pro with a Hydro X Series water block, for enthusiast builders rocking a custom water-cooling loop. While there is sadly no passive heatsink available for the SSD, you can grab it without any heatsink whatsoever and place your speeds at the mercy of your motherboard heatsinks if you wish. However, given how hot PCIe 5.0 storage gets, we strongly recommend opting for the model with the active cooler, especially as it only costs $10-20 extra.

Read our Corsair MP700 Pro review.

WD is here to show that you can (almost) have it all, as the Blue SN570 NVMe SSD boasts up to 2TB of storage, a solid 900TBW endurance, and respectable read and write speeds for one of the lowest prices on the market.

During testing, our reviewer found that the random 4K performance saw read and write speeds of 1,890MB/s and 1,723MB/sec respectively, which are faster than the results from the Samsung 980. Of course, it’s not the fastest drive out there, but it’s the best you can get under $100 without sacrificing capacity, speed, or both. It’s the perfect option for building a gaming PC on a budget.

Read our WD Blue SN570 review.

Even the best gaming laptop benefits from more storage, and the SK Hynix Platinum P41 SSD is perfect for increasing your on-the-go storage without compromising on spec. Featuring an in-house Aries controller, this drive is capable of read speeds up to 7,000MB/s, meaning it’ll run rings around SATA SSDs and many NVMe options.

Despite its impressive speeds, the Platinum P41 features an equally impressive power efficiency rating, something that helps maintain peak performance within a toasty laptop environment. Naturally, this also means it’ll be kinder to your portable powerhouse’s battery, which could help you spend less time gaming next to a power outlet.

If you’ve already had a peek inside Valve’s handheld, you’ll already know that a standard M.2 SSD isn’t going to fit. Thankfully, the Sabrent Rocket 2230 is exactly the right size, so you won’t have to make any weird modifications to expand your on-the-go storage.

The Sabrent Rocket 2230 might be dinky enough to fit inside the Steam Deck, but it still packs a solid-state punch. The PCIe 4.0 drive boasts up to 4,750MB/s read speeds, and you’ll be able to write up to 4,300MB/s to the compact SSD. Despite its size, 1TB models are also available, meaning you could bring an even greater chunk of your Steam library with you on your travels. It’s one of the best Steam Deck accessories list to increase the storage on your handheld gaming PC.