Best cheap SSD deals for gaming today

HP FX900 Pro | 512 GB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,700 MB/s write | $54.99 $49.49 at Amazon (save $5.50)
It's not flashy, but honestly, do you need anything more than a fast and reliable drive from a good brand at a great price? HP's FX900 Pro certainly fits all those parameters, and with these kinds of speeds on offer, this SSD is no slouch. It has all the specs you might want at this level, including 1 GB of DRAM for heavy workloads.

Price check: Newegg $49.49

XPG Gammix S55 M.2 2230 | 512 GB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 5,000 MB/s read | 3,700 MB/s writes | $49.99 at Newegg
Buy the cheapest Steam Deck you can find and then slap one of these into it for a welcome boost in storage capacity and performance. It's as basic as they come but in this case, that's a good thing as you're not paying for anything you won't need.

Price check: Walmart $49.99

Nextorage NEM-PAB | 1 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s Read | 6,100 MB/s write | $149.99 $74.99 at Newegg (save $75)
Nextorage may be a relatively new name in the world of NMVe SSDs but don't be fooled by appearances. This drive uses the ubiquitous Phison E18 controller, and the 1 TB version represents excellent price/performance value here. This is the version without a DRAM cache, making it a little less responsive than the DRAM-equipped NEM-PA model, despite having a slight advantage in stated straight-line performance. Check out our review of the NEM-PA for more.

Price check: Amazon $84.99

WD Black SN850X | 1 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,300 MB/s write | $114.99 $79.99 at Amazon (save $35)
This is still our favorite SSD for gaming right now. Unlike the cheaper SN770, the SN850X encapsulates the best PCIe 4.0 offers in terms of performance (check out our review). That makes it a great fit for a boot drive with space to spare for your game library, and at this price, we're happy to pay the premium for its higher speed.

Price check: Best Buy $82.99

Crucial MX500 | 1 TB | 2.5" | SATA 6 Gb/s | 560 MB/s read | 510 MB/s write | $86.95 $81.87 at Newegg (save $5.08)
Not enough M.2 NVMe slots on your motherboard for more storage? No problem—you can still install a speedy SSD via a SATA port. The Crucial MX500 is pretty much the best out there, as nothing else offers the same blend of performance and value for money as the MX500. It's also available in 2 TB and 4 TB sizes, with the prices scaling on par with the storage capacity.

Price check: Best Buy $86.99

Lexar NM790| 1 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write | $90.75 at Newegg
For anyone looking for a cheap, spacious drive offering serious performance, here you're getting a genuinely brilliant SSD for the money, and you can see this for yourself with our review of the 4 TB version.

Price check: Amazon $99.99

Lexar Play 2230 | 1 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 5,200 MB/s read | 4,700 MB/s write | $109.66 at Amazon
For Steam Deck upgrades, the Lexar Play is our new favorite and you can see why in our full review. It's fast for a 2230 size format, with great sustained performance. It also runs cool, even under a heavy load. The only negative is the fact that 1 TB is the largest capacity available and its price is volatile.

Crucial T700 | 1 TB | NVMe | PCIe 5.0 | 11,700 MB/s read | 9,500 MB/s write | $151.99 $124.99 at Newegg (save $15)
If you absolutely must have the fastest possible SSD then you need to get a Gen5 model. Crucial's T700 is ridiculously quick, as we found when we tested a preview sample, but the high price and running temperatures spoil the picture somewhat. Probably best to wait for the next round of Gen5 SSDs before taking the plunge.

Price check: Amazon $162.99 (w/ heatsink)

Silicon Power UD90 | 2 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 5,000 MB/s read | 4,800 MB/s write | $144.97 $98.97 at B&H (save $46)
You might not know Silicon Power from Samsung, but this SSD comes well-reviewed by our friends at Tom's Hardware. It offers plenty of speed for a Steam library expansion but with a frightfully low cost per gigabyte of just five cents. Definitely not the fastest SSD out there, though.

Price check: Newegg $99.97

Team Group MP44L | 2 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 4,800 MB/s read | 4,400 MB/s write | $139.99 $107.99 at Newegg (save $32.00)
There's no DRAM to boost sustained performance and the SLC cache isn't especially big, either. But the speed is good enough for most workloads and when 1 TB of storage costs this much, who cares that it's not flash or fancy? Not us, that's for sure.

Price check: Amazon $107.99

Nextorage G-LE | 2 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,400 MB/s write | $249.99 $114.99 at Newegg (save $135)
This DRAM-less Nextorage drive still has plenty of pace about it, and if you're just using it as an extra game library SSD to contend with your expanding library, but still need some storage speed, it's a great option. The extra cache can come in handy as a boot drive, increasing responsiveness for smaller write operations, but for games, this more affordable option can be a good way to save some cash on a new build or upgrade.

Price check: Amazon $134.99

Nextorage NEM-PAB | 2 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,900 MB/s write | $249.99 $119.99 at Newegg (save $130)
You can expect top performance out of this drive, which is impressive for the price. This is the version without a DRAM cache, making it a little less responsive than the DRAM-equipped NEM-PA model, despite having a slight advantage in stated straight-line performance. Unfortunately, this drive's price is volatile, but it's still one of the better-value 2 TB drives with a heatsink right now.

Price check: Amazon $139.99

Lexar NM790 | 2 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write | $134.99 at Amazon
This SSD is a great deal right now and Lexar has put together a superb SSD in the NM790. Thanks to high-layer NAND and a low-power controller, you get tons of storage here on an energy-efficient and great-performing drive for not much cash and often much less cash than the competition. Read our Lexar NM790 (4 TB) review for more.

Price check: Newegg $149.99

Team Group MP44S M.2 2230 | 2 TB | PCIe 4.0 | 5,000 MB/s read | 3,500 MB/s write | Steam Deck + ROG Ally compatible | $148.99 at Amazon
This Team Group drive isn't the fastest compact SSD you can stick in your Steam Deck, but it is one of the cheapest 2TB drive you'll be able to find for your wee handheld gaming PC. And it will also be a little quicker than the stock drive the Deck ships with, too.

Price check: Newegg $148.99

WD Black SN850X | 2 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,300 MB/s write | $164.29 $149.99 at Amazon (save $14.30)
Our favorite SSD for gaming right now encapsulates the best PCIe 4.0 offers in terms of performance (check out our review). That makes it a great fit for a boot drive with space to spare for your game library but while it's super fast and reliable, prices are really volatile.

Price check: Newegg $149.99 | Best Buy $158.99

Silicon Power XS70 | 2 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,800 MB/s write | $179.99 $149.99 at Amazon (save $40)
Prices for the XS70 are some of the most variable I've seen for an SSD, so it's perhaps worth waiting to see if the price dips again before picking one up. It packs rather a large bang for your buck with its fast read and write times, at least. While the software side of things may be a little lacking, we were impressed with this drive's overall performance and value proposition.

Price check: Newegg $230.60

Silicon Power UD90 | 4 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 5,000 MB/s read | 4,500 MB/s write | $239.99 $199.99 at Amazon (save $40)
This Silicon Power might not be the fastest of drives, but it's difficult to argue with this much storage for this sort of money. With a sequential read/write of 5,000 MB/s and 4,500 MB/s, it's still not what you'd call slow and should be fine for gaming, plus it comes from a reliable brand.

Team Group MP44 | 4 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,900 MB/s write | $299.99 $232.99 at Amazon (save $67)
This Team Group boasts some mighty specs for the money, though it's actually the same hardware as in the Lexar NM790. The sequential read/write speeds are extremely high but it can only sustain them over short bursts. At this price, it's well worth putting up with that limitation.

Silicon Power XS70 | 4 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,200 MB/s read | 6,800 MB/s write | $309.99 $276.31 at Amazon (save $33.68)
High-performance 4TB SSDs are starting to rocket in price but if you absolutely must have one, this is an excellent choice. Mountains of storage, blistering speed—this XS70 has them both, but you'll be paying a pretty penny for it. At least it comes with a decent heatsink to keep temperatures under control.

Team Group PD20M | 1 TB | USB 3.2 Gen2x2 | 2,000 MB/s read | 2,000 MB/s write | $99.99 $82.99 at Newegg (save $17)
Not all external SSDs need to be big and bulky. This Team Group PD20M is just 40 g in weight and 8.2 mm thick, making it very portable. It's also MagSafe-compatible so you can attach it to the back of an iPhone and extend its storage, with an appropriate cable. As with all fast external SSDs, you'll need a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20 Gbps) port to get the full speed.

Price check: Amazon $82.99

Adata SE810 | 1 TB | USB 3.2 Gen2x2 | 2,000 MB/s read | 2,000 MB/s write | $89.99 at Amazon
Small, light, and very fast in the right USB port, this little SSD might be all you need for your external storage requirements. While we didn't think it offered a great amount of drop resistance in our review, the SE810 is rated to IP68, so it'll fend off dust and water ingress nicely.

Samsung T7 Shield | 1 TB | USB 3.2 Gen2 | 1,050 MB/s read | 1,000 MB/s write | $109.99 $106.99 at Newegg (save $3 with promo code TTBDXA5324)
Samsung's external drives have a better recent history than its internal SSDs, so we've no hesitation in recommending the T7 for any professional looking for a large amount of storage that can be safely taken from place to place. They're designed to be rugged and fast, a potent combo. Oh, and they're available in three colors. Don't forget that you'll need to have a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port in your PC to get the best speed.

Price check: Amazon $109.99

Crucial X9 Pro | 2 TB | USB 3.2 Gen2 | Up to 1,050 MB/s read and write | $169.99 $119.99 at Best Buy (save $50)
Crucial is a big name in SSDs, and the Micron-owned brand is offering a small saving on this 2 TB external model. The drive comes in an anodized aluminium shell with a rubberized base and is just 65 x 50 mm big. There's an integrated lanyard hole too, if you want to wear it, which hides a drive activity light.

Price check: Amazon $119.99 | Newegg $119.99

Samsung T7 Shield | 4 TB | USB 3.2 Gen2 | Up to 1,050 MB/s read and write | $499.99 $295.35 at Amazon (save $204.64)
You might think this is a lot of money for an external SSD, and you'd be right. But that's not to say it's a bad deal. In fact, it's one of the best deals in this list, at just under $0.06 per gigabyte. You're paying less, for more. Now I sound like Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang... "the more you buy, the more you save."

Price check: B&H $296.88 | Newegg $329.99

Crucial BX500 | 480 GB | 2.5" | SATA 6 Gb/s | 550 MB/s read | 500 MB/s write | £49.99 £29.99 at Amazon (save
£20)
For just storing documents, this small SATA SSD is a lot faster than a traditional HDD and Crucial has an excellent reputation for reliability and quality. You're still better off getting an NVMe M.2 SSD for games and your operating system, though.

Lexar NM790 | 1 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write | £71.99 £67.99 at Amazon (save £4)
You'll only find a few 1 TB SSDs going cheaper than this Lexar drive, and none are as good value. We really liked what this drive had to offer in our review, delivering performance right at the top end of what PCIe 4.0 is capable of, all for a low price.

Crucial MX500 | 1 TB | 2.5" | SATA 6 Gb/s | 560 MB/s read | 510 MB/s write | £73.96 at Amazon
If you don't have enough M.2 NVMe slots on your motherboard for more storage, don't worry; you can still install an SSD via a SATA port. The Crucial MX500 is pretty much the best one out there, as nothing else offers the same blend of performance and value for money as the MX500. It's also available in 2 TB and 4 TB sizes, with the prices scaling on par with the storage capacity, though it is much slower than an NVMe drive.

Lexar NM790 | 2 TB | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write | £123.99 £113.49 at Amazon (save £9.93)
Lexar has put together a superb SSD in the NM790, and the best part is that it's surprisingly cheap. Thanks to high-layer NAND and a low-power controller, you can get tons of storage here on an energy-efficient and great-performing drive for not much cash and often for much less cash than the competition. Read our Lexar NM790 (4 TB) review for more.

Silicon Power XS70 | 2 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,800 MB/s write | £124.99 at Amazon
Prices for the XS70 are some of the most variable I've seen for an SSD, so it's perhaps worth waiting to see if the price dips again before picking one up. It packs rather a large bang for your buck with its fast read and write times, at least. While the software side of things may be a little lacking, we were impressed with this drive's overall performance and value proposition.

WD Black SN850X | 2 TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,300 MB/s write | £371.74 £146.59 at Amazon (save £225.15)
This is one of our favourite SSD for gaming right now. Unlike the cheaper SN770, the SN850X encapsulates the best PCIe 4.0 offers in terms of performance (check out our review). That makes it a great fit for a boot drive with space to spare for your game library, and at this price, we're happy to pay the premium for its higher speed.

Price check: Scan £149.99

Lexar NM790 | 4 TB | NVMe | PCIE 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write | £239.99 £219.99 at Amazon (save £20)
It's a lot of money to spend on a storage drive but it's actually great value for money. Trying to find a high-quality 4 TB SSD around £200 in the UK is pretty impossible right now but this Lexar is well worth the extra money. There are cheaper SSDs with the same capacity but they won't have anywhere near the same performance or longevity.

Price check: Scan £223.99

Crucial X9 Pro | 1 TB | USB 3.2 Gen2 | Up to 1,050 MB/s read and write | £82.99 at Amazon
Crucial is a big name in SSDs, and the Micron-owned brand is offering a small saving on this 1TB external model. The drive comes in an anodized aluminium shell with a rubberized base and is just 65 x 50 mm big. There's an integrated lanyard hole too, if you want to wear it, which hides a drive activity light. If this isn't enough storage for you, the 2 TB version is only £119.99 on Amazon.

Crucial X10 Pro | 2 TB | USB 3.2 Gen2x2 | Up to 2,100 MB/s read | Up to 2,000 MB/s write | £154.99 at Scan
If you need a small external SSD but don't want to sacrifice capacity or performance, then Crucial's X10 Pro is a great choice. It's the same size as the X6 model but has double the read/write performance, though you will need to plug it into a 20 Gbps USB port to reach full speed.