Best cheap SSD deals today

This is still a great example of a high-performance PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD—check out our review.

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

Price check: Amazon $219.99 | Walmart $294.95 | Best Buy $219.99

With a sequential read/write of 5,000 MB/s and 4,800 MB/s, this still isn't 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 | 4,800 MB/s write

Price check: Amazon $165.97

**not worth it next to others on offer**

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 $218.52

**12/6/26 gone up in price**

Samsung's relatively new 990 Evo Plus range has a lot going for it (check out our review), but its launch price was too high. This deal goes a long way to rectify that, and along with Samsung's excellent Magician software, it's a really solid SSD to stick in any gaming PC.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,150 MB/s read | 6,300 MB/s write

Price check: Amazon $248.88

***02/04/2026 - Spenny for 1 TB***

Though this is definitely slower than its newer SN5100 model, it's 1 TB of space for what is these days a 512 GB kind of price. If you're looking for a no-frills SSD for a budget PC build, then this is the one to go for.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 5,150 MB/s read | 4,850 MB/s write speed

Price check: Walmart $239.99

***22/05/2026 - not really a budget drive right now :/***

Even without DRAM, this is a pretty speedy Gen 4.0 drive. Sure, the write speed will only reach up to 6500 MB/s, a few steps behind the advertised read speed of up to 7400 MB/s, but it's still far from the slowest SSD you could pick up for the money—especially right now in the midst of the memory supply crisis.

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

Price check: Newegg $309.99

***It's cleared $200, so no thanks - 10/04/2026***

It's the best PCIe 5.0 gaming SSD money can buy right now, thanks to its blistering speed and excellent power and thermal efficiency. Alas, it's also very expensive compared to a typical, fast Gen4 drive.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 5.0 | 14,900 MB/s read | 14,000 MB/s write

Price check: Best Buy $269.99 | Newegg $292.99

***Very expensive-09/01/2026***

***Still way to expensive for 1 TB!!! - 23/01/2026***

***Expensive - 13/02/2026***

***Pricing down at Newegg and Amazon, but still expensive - 13/03/2026***

***Up in price :/ - 02/03/2026***

***Down in price but still way too expensive for 1TB - 01/05/2026***

Alas, as you reach for those lightning quick PCIe 5.0 speeds, you may end up facing a bit of a bottleneck in the form of this SSD's single NAND package. That said, this drive's random 4K numbers remain a standout, making it the perfect place to store your games.

Key specs: No Heatsink | PCIe 5.0 | 13,600 MB/s read | 10,200 MB/s write

Price check: Amazon $273.84

***Expensive for 1 TB - 13/03/2026***

***Up in price - 02/04/2026***

If you absolutely must have the fastest possible SSD, you need to get a Gen5 model. Team Group's Z540 is ridiculously quick in benchmarks, but no game that takes advantage of that speed exists yet. As with all Gen5 SSDs, it's very expensive and runs really hot, so it's probably best to wait for the next round of PCIe 5.0 SSDs before taking the plunge.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 5.0 | 11,700 MB/s read | 9,500 MB/s write

***08/06/2026 - Expensive. Image needs to be updated***

There are some serious caveats to consider with this drive. As a PCIe 3.0 SSD with a low endurance rating of 520 TBW, we can't recommend gaming on this. However, if you need to hold onto a bunch of big files and don't need them in a hurry, this could be a decent enough 'cold storage' drive. At only $0.09 per GB, it's at least worth considering.

Key Specs: M.2 2280 | PCIe 3.0 | 2,400MB/s read | 1,800MB/s write

Though not as fast nor always as cheap as Biwin's offerings, this drive does happen to be supported by the Biwin Intelligence performance management software. That's some consolation, right? For this capacity at this price point, it's definitely worth considering all the same.

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

It's the best PCIe 5.0 gaming SSD money can buy right now, thanks to its blistering speed and excellent power and thermal efficiency. Alas, it's also very expensive compared to a typical, fast Gen4 drive.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 5.0 | 14,900 MB/s read | 14,000 MB/s write

Price check: Walmart $428.51 | Amazon $399.50 | Best Buy $399.99

It's from the cheaper Blue range, but the idea of affordability with SSDs is long gone. Still, this runs at acceptable speeds for the price—just don't pay any attention to that 'before' price on the product page, it's wildly off.

Key specs: PCIe 4.0 | Up to 7,100 MB/s read | up to 6,700 MB/s write

***16/06/2026 - decent speed but not for that price - $250 would maybe be more like it***

You might not know Silicon Power from Samsung, but this SSD is well-received by our friends at Tom's Hardware. It offers plenty of speed for a Steam library expansion though it's definitely not the fastest SSD out there.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 5,000 MB/s read | 4,800 MB/s write

Price check: B&H Photo $299.99 | Amazon $274.97

**12/6/26 not good versus Biwin**

Though left in the dust by fellow PCIe 5.0 drive, the WD Black SN8100, Crucial still can't be beat when it comes to balancing price against performance. Though not the speediest internal SSD, the P510 still offers proper Gen 5 performance for the cost of a Gen 4 drive—take a look at our full review.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 5.0 | Up to 11,000 MB/s read | Up to 9,500 MB/s write

Price check: Newegg $329.00

***NO - 17/04/2026***

The Crucial T710 is a Gen5 NVMe drive, which means it has silly maximum read and write speeds of 14,900 MB/s and 13,800 MB/s respectively. This is the cheapest PCIe 5.0 drive on the market, and while most of you won't feel the benefits of all that extra speed, at least you're getting a super-fast drive for far less than the cost of most Gen4 SSDs right now.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 5.0 | 14,900 MB/s read | 13,800 MB/s write

***Even for the speed, nah - 17/04/2026***

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 | 7,000 MB/s read | 5,900 MB/s write

Price check: Amazon $309.99

***EXPENSIVE - 06/03/2026***

One of 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 plenty of space to spare for your game library. However, while it's super fast and reliable, prices are really volatile.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,600 MB/s write

Price check: Best Buy (Out of Stock) | Amazon $348.00

***Expensive - 13/03/2026***

Samsung's relatively new 990 Evo Plus range has a lot going for it (check out our review), but its launch price was too high. This deal goes some way to rectifying that, but for a DRAM-less SSD, it's still a bit pricey. If you're a fan of Samsung's excellent Magician software, then it's worth considering..

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,250 MB/s read | 6,300 MB/s write

Price check: Amazon $389.99

***No, no, no - 13/02/2026***

Samsung's 990 Pro is a very solid SSD (read our review), albeit pricey for what it is. Its reputation was damaged due to a habit of dying unexpectedly, but that's been resolved with firmware updates. If you really must have a Samsung SSD, then this one is pretty good, but there are better options to be found.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,450 MB/s read | 6,900 MB/s write

Price check: B&H Photo $389.99 | Newegg $388.95

***Broken the $600 sound barrier at B&H and Amazon :/ - 10/04/2026***

Crucial's performance claims are very much peak values, and the real-world numbers are generally lower (as we found when we reviewed this 2 TB version), but it's a great way to boost your Steam Deck's storage and get a handy speed bump. There are cheaper 2230-size SSDs to be found, but they're not as fast as this one.

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

***Nah - 10/04/2026***

To get the most out of this SSD, you'll likely still want to pop a dedicated M.2 heatsink on it or use the ones on your motherboard. Otherwise, you're getting stellar PCIe 5.0 performance—though too often for a pretty penny price to match.

Key specs: No Heatsink | PCIe 5.0 | 13,600 MB/s read | 10,200 MB/s write

Price check: Newegg $392.95

***OOS or EXPENSIVE - 20/02/2026***

For this capacity at this price point, this drive is worth considering. If only because it's pretty fast, pretty reliable, and pretty good value—at a time when all of those things are tough to find together.

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

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 $512.99

**not worth it 12/6/26**

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

Price check: Newegg $518.95

***Even more expensive - 02/04/2026***

The 4 TB version of our historically most-favorite gaming SSDs (check out our review) is very good, but its price tag is very volatile.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,600 MB/s write

Price check: Amazon $599.99 | Best Buy $799.99

***That price just keeps on climbing - 06/03/2026***

At more than twice the price of two 4 TB SSDs, it's only worth considering this Lexar drive if you need huge amounts of fast storage, but don't have enough M.2 slots on your PC's motherboard to have multiple SSDs. As expensive as it is, it's actually the cheapest 8 TB NVMe at the moment.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,000 MB/s read | 6,200 MB/s write

***SO EXPENSIVE - 13/02/2026***

And here's that usually very pricey, larger capacity model. We love the 1 TB version of this SSD (check out our review), but at close to $700, this 8 TB SSD often costs more than double the price of two 4 TB drives.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,600 MB/s write

Price check: B&H Photo $1,599.99 | Best Buy $1,699.00 | Newegg $1,332.05

***Number go up - 06/03/2026***

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

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 and write

***300 bucks? ARE YOU JOKING? - 22/05/2026***

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.

Key specs: USB 3.2 Gen2 | 1,050 MB/s read | 1,000 MB/s write

Price check: B&H Photo $277.99 | Best Buy $287.99

***Expensive for 1 TB - 13/02/2026***

Not only is this a nippy external SSD, but it also sticks darn close to those advertised peak speeds seemingly endlessly. It does this without getting all that toasty either, thanks to Samsung's "Dynamic Thermal Guard."

Key specs: USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 | 2,000 MB/s read and write

Price check: Newegg $199.99

***Down in price, but still too expensive - 22/05/2026***

Though still expensive, the asking price for this high-capacity drive puts some of the other big, beefy external SSDs to shame. 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 get the most out of it.

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

***Even more expensive - 13/02/2026***

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.

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

***08/06/2026 - Spenny. Copy needs updating***

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.

Key specs: NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,800 MB/s write

***OOS again, womp, womp - 22/05/2026***

Presenting only small gains over the SN850X, 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 drive design, it's still got the same versatile form factor that perfectly suits this heat-sinkless drive to PCs, consoles, and laptops.

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

Price check: Amazon $499.99

**Too expensive - 19/12/25**

***Much too expensive or otherwise OOS - 09/01/2026***

***In stock but pricey - 23/01/2026***

***Expensive - 13/02/2026***

***Price keeps climbing - 06/03/2026***

A slower drive but more affordable than most with 2 TB of capacity. If you're not worried about fast transfers, this is well suited to most tasks without a time limit.

Key specs: USB 3.2 Gen2 | 1,050 MB/s read | 1,000 MB/s write

***10/07/2026 - over 300 quid for a slow 2 TB***

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

**June 15 - too expensive for specs**

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 £139.99 on Amazon.

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

***08/06/2026 - OOS***