Hey, remember when SSDs didn't cost an arm and your least liked limb? I've been tracking SSD deals for some time now, so I definitely do—good times. Alas, that's a distant past thanks to the AI-induced memory supply crisis driving up SSD prices. That said, I have just found a far from terrible price on a nippy little 1 TB drive that's well worth sharing.
I've had my beady little eyes set on tracking down the best cheap SSD deals today for a wee while now, so trust me when I say you can do far worse than the drive I'm chatting about today. The 1 TB version of the Teamgroup MP44Q is not only speedy, but it's also down to the best price I've seen for it since June. Right now, you can pick up this SSD from Amazon for $167.
Boasting read and write speeds of 7000/5900 MB/s, this is a decently speedy PCIe 4.0 SSD. Whether you choose to use this as your rig's main SSD, storing your OS alongside a few games, or more as supplemental storage, this SSD won't leave you waiting around on file transfers.
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As Zak notes in his Teamgroup MP44Q review, though, this SSD's more game-specific performance is a little lacking. Specifically, the random 4K performance is a bit of a let-down, with Zak writing, "The MP44Q really struggles here, delivering just 70 MB/s on the read and 288 MB/s on the write, making it slower than even Lexar's latest NQ780 QLC drive as well. Compare that to the 107 and 308 MB/s from the SN5100, and there's almost no contest."
In short, this may not be the fastest drive for anyone wanting to play the latest and greatest with lots of swish textures and dense levels to load in. As for me and all of my indie darlings, though, that's not really a deal breaker. After all, I've already sunk over 40-hours into Dressmaker—what's 40-hours more on this reasonably priced SSD?
Speaking of that price point, it's also worth mentioning this is a QLC SSD. QLC doesn't have the best track record when it comes to write endurance, but this little guy offers a welcome surprise. Zak writes, "Teamgroup's got this clocked at 1000 TBW, which for a budget QLC drive is quite impressive. The default rating for most SSDs these days is 600 TBW for 1 TB, and practically all manufacturers abide by that, so it's nice to see an improvement here. Although you still get the same 5-year warranty anyway."
In this economy, I will definitely be poring over the fine print of that warranty policy. Otherwise, you can do a lot worse for the money.
1. Best overall:
WD_Black SN7100
2. Best budget:
Biwin Black Opal NV7400
3. Best PCIe 5.0:
WD_Black SN8100
4. Best budget PCIe 5.0:
Crucial P510
5. Best 4 TB:
TeamGroup MP44
6. Best 8 TB:
WD_Black SN850X
7. Best M.2 2230:
Lexar Play 2230
8. Best for PS5:
Silicon Power XS70
