The best SSDs – from budget SATA drives to lightning-fast NVMe.

Based on our extensive testing, we recommend the best SSDs for every need and budget.

Finding the Best SSD (Solid State Drive) to your liking is important, if you want the best gaming computer or laptop, or you just want a fast machine to work with. A slow storage drive is a big bottleneck, forcing the processor to work and changing clock cycles while waiting for data. To speed up reading and writing, you need a fast SSD. That's why we test dozens of drives annually and highlight the best SSDs available.

Because the disks, such as the newest Falcon M.2 from ADATA, 660p Intel and his successor, Intel 665p, displace the main drives on the older one, slower SATA interface, it may be the beginning of the end for our old friend, ATA series. But companies are still doing new things with SATA, for example, a large capacity drive 15,3 TB Team Group. Existing SATA drives will also have to lower prices, to at least compete on price, because they can't hope, that they can keep up with NVMe disks in terms of performance.

You may have heard of blazing-fast PCIe SSDs 4.0 M.2 next generation, such as Gigabyte, Corsair, Patriot inside. These disks do increase the sequential speed considerably (thanks to doubling the bandwidth of the PCIe bus), making them the best SSD options for those, who need the fastest possible speed. But to take advantage of this extra speed today, you'll need an X570 motherboard or one of the newer B550 motherboards, one of these drives to run at maximum speed.

Many new Intel Z490 motherboards also technically support PCIe 4.0. But to take advantage of this feature, you will have to wait, until Intel ships its next-generation Rocket Lake processors, to get PCIe acceleration 4.0. This can only happen in 2021 r. You should also remember, that in many ways, beyond the obvious increase in sequential efficiency, users may not see the real benefits of these drives.

Quick Tips for Buying SSDs

Choosing an SSD, consider the following:

– Choose a compatible interface (M.2 PCIe, SATA, expansion card): refer to the user manual or database, such as Crucial Memory Finder, To define, what types of SSD drives your computer supports.

– 256 GB do 512 GB: don't worry about purchasing an SSD smaller than 256 GB. For most users 512 GB offers a good balance between price and capacity, but the disks 1 TB's are much cheaper, and the disks 2 TBs are available now.

– SATA is the slowest: SATA is not as fast as M.2 PCIe or an add-on PCIe card, but most desktops and many laptops can support 2.5 inch SATA drives, and many users performing common tasks won't notice the difference between a good one, the latest SATA disk and the faster PCIe model.

For more information, see our SSD Buying Guide. And if you are looking for an external SSD, you can check out our page The Best External Hard Drives & SSDs or find out, how to save some money, by building your own external SSD. Below you will find our recommendations for drives with all three main interfaces from 256 GB do 2 TB.

Introducing the best drives, that can be bought today.

1. Adata XPG SX8200 Pro (1 TB)

Best overall / best M.2 SSD

Capacities: 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB | Format: M.2 2280 bilateral | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Readings / sequential records: 3500 MB / s / 3000 MB / s | Warranty / strength: 5 years / 640 TBW – price 600 PLN

The XPG SX8200 Pro from Adata is the best SSD in its class 1 TB for the price. Thanks to the high efficiency, which rivals Samsung drives 970 EVO Plus i PRO SSD, it is a Pro-class drive through and through. It offers best-in-class energy efficiency with very decent durability, and has a price, which won't break the bank. Moreover, Adata also includes black, metal heat sink for self-assembly, thanks to which your XPG SX8200 Pro will be even "cooler" after installation.

2. SK hynix Gold P31 (1 TB)

The best M.2 SSD for laptops

Capacities: 512 GB, 1 TB | Form Factor: M.2 2280 unilateral | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Readings / sequential records: 3500 MB / s / 3200 MB / s | Warranty / strength: 5 years / 750 TBW – price 580 PLN

SK hynix Gold P31 SSDs as the first retail SSD product launched with 128L NAND flash memory. Thanks to the newest SK NAND memory, hynix achieves amazing bit density, The Gold P31 could hit the market at very low cost. Offered for just 75 USD i 135 USD for models 500 GB i 1 TB, The Gold P31 is a fantastic value, which will make, that you think twice about releasing the extra ones 25-50 USD to Samsung 970 EVO Plus.

SK hynix's Gold P31 model is perfect for those, who want to increase the capacity of their laptop, not only to increase the capacity, but also extend the battery life. While the Adata's SX8200 Pro does well compared to the Gold P31 in benchmarks, SK hynix is ​​much more energy efficient, which leads to longer sessions off the charger. But at least I want to say, Adata is a better buy for desktops, and SK hynix for laptops, much stronger write performance and ultra high performance of SK hynix Gold P31 make, that is a better choice for many users.

However, with limited capacity and speeds, which do not quite match the competing drive of our Adat, we leave the SX8200 pro as our favorite M.2 drive. Laptop users, who need no more than a terabyte of storage and prioritize battery life, they should definitely put the new SK hynix Gold P31 at the top of the drive list.

3. Intel Optane 905P SSD (1 TB)

Best performance / the best offered

Capacities: 380 GB, 480 GB, 960 TB, 1,5 TB | Form Factor: half the height, half the length / U.2 15 Mm / M.2 22110 | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Sequential readings / records: 2600 MB / s / 2200 MB / s | Warranty / strength: 5 years / into 27,37 TBW – price 6000 PLN

Looking for the best SSD, and we mean the absolute best, and money is not an object, look no further than the Intel Optane SSD 905P. This SSD is equipped with the latest 3D XPoint memory from Intel, it is free from the many disadvantages of NAND and offers the best responsiveness of any storage device tested to date. And those, who need tremendous endurance, they consider the 905P a device sent by the gods. Thanks to the durability of over 17 petabytes with capacity 960 GB or over 27 WSP at capacity 1,5 TB you will surely update it for years, before it runs out. You need the best and you have money? Don't look at the rest, buy Intel Optane SSD 905P.

M.2 PCIe NVMe drives

The little ones, rectangular disks look like RAM sticks, only smaller. Usually they do 80 mm in length and 22 mm in width, what is described as size 2280, but some may be shorter or longer, so make sure, that you have one, which fits your socket. You can get M.2 drives that support SATA, but most modern desktops and laptops with M.2 slots support the faster PCIe NVMe standard.

4. Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 (2 TB)

PCIe SSD 4.0 with the best value

Capacities: 512 GB, 1 TB | Format: M.2 2280 bilateral | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Readings / sequential records: 5000 MB / s / 4400 MB / s | Warranty / durability: 5 years / 3600 TBW (after registration) – price 1500 PLN.

Offering amazing performance with Phison E16 power, Rocket NVMe 4.0 is definitely a rocket. Capable of delivering to 5,0 / 4,4 Read GB / s / write in sequential transfers and reaching almost 600 000/550 000 Read IOPS / write, it is one of the fastest SSDs, what you can buy. He's so fast, that it even surpasses the models 970 EVO Plus i 970 Samsung Pro in various real-world and application tests, and at the same time it is quite efficient.

With class-leading durability ratings, Sabrents Rocket NVMe 4.0 also it won't wear out any time soon. Constantly navigating through large video files or running various virtual machines, and even testing your equipment to death, Rocket NVMe 4.0 will continue to run. Our main complaint is this, that you need to register your SSD with Sabrent, to receive a longer 5-year warranty, but it's not really a big problem.

5. Samsung 970 PRO (1 TB)

The best M.2 SSD with a capacity 1 TB (or bigger)

Capacities: 512 GB, 1 TB | Form Factor: M.2 2280 unilateral | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 3.1 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Sequential readings / records: 3500 MB / s / 2700 MB / s | Warranty / strength: 5 years / 1200 TBW – price 1500 PLN.

TLC NAND based SSDs flooded the market and got even better than ever. Even so, MLC NAND performance is just a step higher. You want the most efficient class M.2 NVMe SSD 1 TB, and at the same time one of the best on the market? Equipped with a 64L Samsung MLC V-NAND, 970 PRO is an absolute beast, which is able to provide consistent reading performance / write to 3,5 / 2,7 GB / s. However, this performance usually comes at a cost, usually twice as high as competing products.

6. Silicon Power P34A80 (1 TB)

The best M.2 SSD with a capacity 1 TB (or bigger)

Capacities: 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB | Format: M.2 2280 bilateral | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 3.1 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Sequential readings / records: 3400 MB / s / 3000 MB / s | Warranty / strength: 5 years / 500 TBW.

7. Team Group T-Force Cardea Zero Z340

The best alternative to M.2 SSDs

Capacities: 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB | Form Factor: M.2 2280 unilateral | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Sequential readings / records: 3400 MB / s / 3000 MB / s | Warranty / durability: 5 years / 1665 TBW.

8. Sabrent Rocket Q (8 TB)

The best high-capacity M.2 SSD

Capacities: 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB, 8 TB | Format: M.2 2280 bilateral | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Readings / sequential records: 3300 MB / s / 2900 MB / s | Warranty / durability: 5 years (with registration) / 1800 TBW.

9. Samsung 970 EVO Plus (512 GB)

Best M.2 SSD 500 GB

Capacities: 20 GB, 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB | Form Factor: M.2 2280 unilateral | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Readings / sequential records: 3500 MB / s / 3200 MB / s | Warranty / strength: 5 years / 300 TBW.

10. WD Blue SN550 (250 GB)

The best SSD 250 GB M.2

Capacities: 250 GB, 500 GB, 1 TB | Form Factor: M.2 2280 unilateral | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 3.1 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Sequential readings / records: 2,400 MB / s / 950 MB / s | Warranty / strength: 5 years / 150 TBW

11. Patriot Viper VPR100

The best M.2 RGB SSD

Capacities: 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB | Form Factor: M.2 2280 two-sided with heat sink | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Readings / sequential records: 3300 MB / s / 2900 MB / s | Warranty / strength: 5 years / 1600 TBW.

SATA disks

You can get a SATA drive in M.2 format, but most SATA drives are 2.5 inch models, which allows them to fall into the same recesses, in which there are laptop hard drives. SATA drives are the cheapest and still the most popular.

12. Samsung 860 EVO (250 GB)

The best consumer SATA SSD

Capacities: 250 GB, 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB | Housing: 2,5 ”7 mm / M.2 2280 two-sided | Interface / transfer protocol: SATA 3 / AHCI | Sequential readings / records: into 550 MBps / 520 MBps | Warranty / strength: 5 years / into 2400 TBW.

13. Crucial MX500 (2 TB)

The best alternative to SATA SSDs for individual customers

Capacities: 250 GB, 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB | Shape factor: 2,5 ”7 mm | Interface / transfer protocol: SATA 3 / AHCI | Sequential readings / records: into 560 MB / s / 510 MB / s | Warranty / strength: 5 years / into 700 TBW.

14. Samsung 860 PRO (1 TB)

Best Prosumer SATA SSD

Capacities: 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB | Shape factor: 2,5 ”7 mm | Interface / transfer protocol: SATA 3 / AHCI | Readings / sequential records: 560 MB / s / 530 MB / s | Warranty / strength: 5 years / into 4800 TBW

Additional SSDs

These disks are optional cards, just like graphics cards or sound cards, so they only work with desktops, which have a free PCIe slot 3.0 x4, x8 or x16. However, because they are larger than other formats, they have room for more chips and better cooling, which usually does, that they are the fastest drives.

15. Intel Optane SSD 900P (280 GB)

Best Low Capacity SSD

Capacities: 280 GB, 480 GB | Form Factor: half the height, half the length / U.2 15 Mm | Interface / transfer protocol: PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | Readings / sequential records: 2500 MB / s / 2000 MB / s | Warranty / durability: 5 years / into 8,76 PBW.