Best SSD deals for gaming today

This might not be the fastest Gen4 NVMe drive you can find right now, but it's certainly one of the cheapest. And despite not maxing out the spec, it's not exactly a slouch, with 6000 MB/s reads and 5,000 MB/s writes. It's still going to feel plenty fast for many uses, particularly if you're replacing a Gen3 drive or using it as some extra backup space. Great for the cash, I reckon.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 6,000 MB/s read | 5,000 MB/s write

Okay, so our tests demonstrate it's slightly slower than the advertised speeds, but the actual sequential performance still isn't bad. Couple that with a very reasonable price point, plus its practically frosty temps, and you might well be looking at your next upgrade.

Key specs: NVMe | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write

Price check: Newegg $236.00

This SSD is no slouch and still offers some of the best-in-class 4K read performance (read our full review here). Though this drops the DDR4 DRAM cache and instead opts for a single-sided design, it's still got the same versatile form factor that perfectly suits this heat-sinkless drive to PCs, consoles, and laptops.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,250 MB/s read | 6,900 MB/s write

Price check: Amazon $185.34

This DRAM-less drive is well-suited for stashing your operating system alongside a few games from your ever-growing Steam backlog. This is the version with a heatsink, which means you can slot it straight into a console, too.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,100 MB/s read | 6,000 MB/s write

Price Check: Amazon $188.99 | B&H Photo (Discontinued)

Crucial's performance claims are very much peak values, and the real-world numbers are generally lower (as we found when we reviewed the 2 TB version), but it remains one of the best way to boost your Steam Deck's storage and get a handy speed bump, too.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,100 MB/s read | 6,000 MB/s write

Price check: Amazon $200.00

Almost every speedy 2 TB drive (other than the one above) I've found at this point is well north of $300. Some are even cresting $400. Which means this Biwin Black Opal, a Gen4 drive that we gave 87% in our review last year, is brilliant value at $250. Yes, it's a lot more expensive than it used to be, but I'd plump for this nippy customer over most drives with a $300+ price tag.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write

This budget SSD is packing in a lot of space for just under $0.05 per GB, and while it might be QLC memory and comes without DRAM cache, it's still an impressively quick drive for the money, with strong sequential performance.

Key specs: PCIe 4.0 | Up to 7,100 MB/s read | up to 6,000 MB/s write

Price check: Newegg $287.55

It's not be the fastest of drives, but it's difficult to argue with this much storage for this price. 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.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 5,000 MB/s read | 4,500 MB/s write

Price check: Amazon $469.79

What it lacks in outright NVMe speed, this SN5000 more than makes up for with cost-effective capacity. This is the best way to add lots of storage to your gaming PC at a relatively reasonable price given the state of everything.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 5,500 MB/s read | 4,000 MB/s write speed

This is a good drive for bulking out your storage, especially for a Steam library. It uses QLC NAND rather than TLC, which the slightly more expensive MP44 uses, and that means it is a bit slower. Thankfully, that won't really be a problem unless you're moving huge files around on the regular.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | Up to 7,400 MB/s read | Up to 6,200 MB/s write

Price check: Amazon $509.99

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. Read our full review of this SSD for more info.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,900 MB/s write

Price check: Newegg $516.99

Our top pick for the best budget external SSD. Not only does this external drive maintain its peak transfer speed for over six minutes, but it's also dinky enough to attach to the end of your lanyard. Thumb drive, who? But without a hard-wearing, shock-proof shell, or even an IP rating for dust protection, perhaps you're better off treating this budget drive like a little prince.

Key specs: USB 3.2 Gen2 | 1,050 MB/s read and write

Price check: Amazon $146.10 | B&H Photo (Discontinued) | Best Buy (Sold Out)

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.

Key specs: USB 3.2 Gen2x2 | 2,000 MB/s read and write

This monster drive now unfortunately has a monster price, but it's still a whole lot cheaper than just about any other 4 TB model on the market. Think of it as a huge aircraft hanger for your storage, with tons of room for any data you don't need accessed at blisteringly-fast speeds. It's still likely quick enough for the odd indie game, though, and the perfect place to store your file and photo backups.

Key specs: USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C) | 1,050 MB/s read | 1,052 MB/s write

For just storing documents, this small SATA SSD is a lot faster than a traditional HDD, and Lexar makes reliable and robust SSDs. You're still better off getting an NVMe M.2 SSD for games and your operating system, though.

Key specs: 2.5-inch | SATA 6 Gb/s | 550 MB/s read | 520 MB/s write

Okay, so our tests demonstrate it's slightly slower than the advertised speeds, but the actual sequential performance still isn't bad. Couple that with a very reasonable price point, plus its practically frosty temps, and you might well be looking at your next upgrade.

Key specs: NVMe | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write

This SSD is no slouch and still offers some of the best-in-class 4K read performance (read our full review here). Though this drops the DDR4 DRAM cache and instead opts for a single-sided design, it's still got the same versatile form factor that perfectly suits this heat-sinkless drive to PCs, consoles, and laptops.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,250 MB/s read | 6,900 MB/s write

While this is QLC memory and comes without a DRAM cache, it's still an impressively quick drive for the money, with strong sequential performance.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,100 MB/s read | 6,000 MB/s write

This is one of our favourite SSDs 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.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,300 MB/s write

While this is QLC memory and comes without a DRAM cache, it's still an impressively quick drive for the money, with strong sequential performance.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,100 MB/s read | 6,000 MB/s write

Price check: Amazon £359.99

Okay, so our tests demonstrate it's slightly slower than the advertised speeds, but the actual sequential performance still isn't bad. Couple that with a very reasonable price point, plus its practically frosty temps, and you might well be looking at your next upgrade.

Key specs: NVMe | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write

This large capacity SSD is packing in a lot of space, and while it might be QLC memory and comes without DRAM cache, it's still an impressively quick drive for the money, with strong sequential performance.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,100 MB/s read | 6,000 MB/s write

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.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write

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 SD810 is rated to IP68, so it'll fend off dust and water ingress nicely.

Key specs: USB 3.2 Gen2x2 | 2,000 MB/s read | 2,000 MB/s write

This is quite a capacious and reasonably snappy drive for surprisingly little money. It doesn't come with steel bracing, but it does offer shock, vibration, and drop resistance up to 2.29 m, and it comes with a lanyard loop too. This all makes it a solid drive to take out and about.

Key specs: USB 3.2 | 1,050 MB/s read and write

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.

Key specs: USB 3.2 Gen2x2 | 2,100 MB/s read | 2,000 MB/s write