5 Best SSD Hard Drives for Gaming

As gamers, we’re constantly trying to upgrade our setups. When it comes to competitive play, every piece of gear matters. If your setup is faster than the competition, you can have a leg up in a major way when you load into a competition match, whether you’re a pro streamer or a casual gamer.

One of the core pieces of your PC setup is your hard drive; these days, SSDs are a must-have. However, with the rise of so many major tech companies that drop new products every year, picking the right SSD can seem impossible.

In this article, we’ve done all the heavy research to give you a selection of the top SSDs on the market right now at various price points. This way, you can find the best one for your gaming setup. Keep reading and take one step closer to the perfect gaming PC.

What Is an SSD?

To pick the best SSD for you, it’s important to know how they work. That way, you’ll be aware of which features you want to prioritize in your selection.

An SSD is a type of hard drive for your computer. Hard drives are the primary long-term data storage units for your computer. All your software, apps, files, photos, games, downloads, and more live on your hard drive.

SSD vs. HDD

SSDs are a newer type of hard drive that has become immensely popular in the past several years, especially in the gaming community. The traditional hard drive is the HDD, which stands for “hard disk drive.”

HDDs are hard drives that use a spinning magnetic disk platter to store and retrieve data and are still commonly used today. They offer massive data storage capabilities and are often cheaper than SSDs. However, the problem with HDDs is their speed.

Because HDDs use a technology that requires physical movement, the data retrieval process can be a bit slow. While you can store massive amounts of data, the data recall will not be the fastest on the market. In gaming, that can be a big deal. Not to mention, the moving parts require a fan to cool them down and can be noisy.

SSD stands for “solid state drive.” As the name suggests, this technology uses solid-state flash storage with no moving parts. This makes the data retrieval process lightning quick, far faster than the traditional HDD.

Why Are SSDs Better for Gamers?

While it’s true that HDDs will be far cheaper than SSDs, SSDs are the far superior option for gamers. It’s definitely worth shelling out the extra cash to make your PC so much better.

When it comes to gaming, data retrieval is everything. For starters, if you have a quality, high-speed SSD, your game loading times will dramatically shrink. Less waiting around means more time gaming.

SSDs will also make your gameplay smoother, especially in open-world environments that render significant amounts of data in real time. No more hitches or freezing! SSDs also boost your speed so that your resolution can stay high as you move throughout the world.

Additionally, SSDs can improve the overall performance of your Windows PC. Because of the improved data retrieval, your PC's other parts can run more efficiently. SSDs also use less power than HDDs, so it takes a bit of the load off your computer.

With SSDs, you can count on a faster PC and a superior gaming experience. That’s why all the new gaming consoles and PCs use SSDs. They’re the industry standard when it comes to gameplay.

Finally, because SSDs have become more mass-produced, their prices have plummeted. In fact, the new NVMe SSDs are faster and cheaper than ever before, making SSDs the clear choice for gamers everywhere.

What Are the Best SSDs for Gaming?

Now, let’s discuss which SSDs are best for your gaming PC. When buying, consider price, read-write speeds, capacity, and compatibility with your current hardware. We’ve put together a broad list of options below, so you should be able to find one that fits your needs.

Without further ado, here are the best SSDs for gaming in 2024:

Best Overall SSD: WD Black SN850X

If you’re looking for an absolute workhorse SSD at a reasonable price, the SN850X from Western Digital is about as good as it gets. This Gen 4 NVMe drive is lightning-fast, with a 7,300 MB/s read speed.

Sure, it’s been around for a while, but it’s still one of the top fourth-gen SSDs on the market. It runs much cooler than its SN850 sister, and it’s available in 500GB, 1TB, or 2TB, so you can get exactly the amount of storage you need.

It’s also reasonably affordable, with the 1TB version with no heat sink costing about $115. Also, because this model has been around for a while, there are often discounts and promotions. You might be able to find it for even less now that Gen 5 models are rolling out.

Best Affordable SSD: Lexar NM790

Lexar is a renowned brand in the PC world, and this PCIe 4.0 SSD is a perfect example of why. They manage to squeeze incredible speed and capacity out of this gaming SSD while still making it super affordable.

With 7400/6500 MB/s read/write speeds, this SSD is no joke. You can get it in 2280 or 2230 form factors, and it’s also an M.2 SSD, compatible with newer connection types. It’s a fantastic way to upgrade your gaming performance if you’re on a budget.

What’s more, the 1TB model costs just $90 on Amazon with no heat sink. Those speeds are difficult to find at this price point, making it a fantastic find. It’s even compatible with the PS5 for PlayStation gamers.

Finally, if you’re looking for something even more affordable, consider a PCIe 3.0. However, the price-to-performance ratio of the 4.0 provides more value.

Best High-End SSD: Crucial T500

If you’re willing to spend more money on a new SSD, you could go with a new PCIe 5.0 drive. However, while Gen 5 drives have incredible specs, they don’t translate to markedly better gaming experiences at this point in time. Because of that, we still recommend sticking with Gen 4 to save a little money without sacrificing speed.

The Crucial T500 delivers those speeds. By all benchmarks, it’s the fastest drive on the market. It offers incredibly low load times even on some of the highest-fidelity games and has remarkable sequential read/write times of 7400/7000 MB/s and a random read speed of up to 1.44 million IOPs.

What’s more, you can get the fastest SSD on the market for only $120 for 1TB with no heat sink. We’re truly living in the future with SSDs like these.

Best SATA SSD: Samsung 870 EVO

If you don’t have a newer motherboard compatible with NVMe, you’re going to need to opt for a SATA drive. While these drives are a bit slower than the newer NVMe models, they’re still incredibly quick and will be worth the upgrade.

This Samsung SSD achieves the highest specs possible with the SATA interface, with 560 sequential read speeds. This drive costs around $145, but with NVMe models becoming the norm, the prices of SATA SSDs are always dropping.

An honorable mention in this category is the Crucial MX500. While the 870 EVO has more durability, the MX500 is slightly more affordable. The former provides more overall value, but the latter can boast a better price.

Best External SSD: Crucial X9 Pro

If you’re looking to expand your storage but don’t have room inside your PC cabinet, you might need an external SSD to upgrade the bandwidth of your PC gaming. External SSDs simply use a short cable to plug into one of your existing USB ports. You can also easily transfer data to a different PC or gaming laptop.

The X9 Pro is a fantastic option here. It has surprisingly high capacity, with up to 4TB of storage, and read/write speeds of 1050 MB/s each. That, coupled with its super small and lightweight design, makes it the perfect external drive. The only downside is that it requires a USB-C port on your computer or a converter cable.

The 1TB version of the X9 Pro costs around $120, so it’s not the cheapest. But this drive's flexibility, mobility, and speed make it well worth the price.

Determine the Best Drive for Your PC

Whether you’re upgrading your drive or starting a new build, these SSDs are the best of the best. But there are even more incredible brands to consider: Corsair, Intel, AMD Ryzen, Micron, Sabrent, Phison, and Kingston, to name just a few.

There’s a whole world of PC building to explore, so take your newfound knowledge and upgrade your PC to get the most out of your gaming experience.

If you want to learn more about other PC parts like CPUs, graphics cards (GPUs), and RAM, check out the Powder blog. And if you’re looking for tools to help you take your streaming and content creation to the next level, explore our top-of-the-line AI content creation tool, Powder.

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