With games getting bigger and bigger, the need for a fast storage device has become fundamental. Although basic hard drives haven't lost their importance, they are not considered the best storage devices for games anymore. Even the upcoming next-gen consoles have opted for faster storage devices to keep up with modern game sizes. So, if you're looking to build a new gaming PC or upgrade your current PC, you will want to ensure that your slow hard drive isn't holding you back. With that being said, here are the six best NVMe storage solutions that PC gamers should consider.
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WD Black SN750 1 TB NVMe
Western Digital's SN750 is a budget-friendly SSD that offers great performance without putting a hole in your pocket. You can also find variants of the same NVMe with heatsinks that help in keeping the drive's operation cool. However, if you aren't mounting the drive right under your GPU, then you should be good to go with a regular NVMe drive.
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe
The Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe drive is slightly better than the regular 970 EVO in terms of write speeds. However, there isn't a major price difference between the two drives. If you're looking to get the most out of the PCIe 3.0's performance, the Samsung 970 EVO Plus is your best bet under $200.
Crucial MX500 1TB
For just over $100, the Crucial MX500 1TB SSD offers a great cost-to-performance ratio. Various hard drive tests conducted by tech YouTubers and gaming hardware websites have suggested that the Crucial MX500 performs better than most SSDs available at a similar price.
Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 M.2 1TB
With AMD Ryzen 3rd gen CPUs and X570 motherboards, PCIe 4.0 is a thing. PCIe 4.0 allows NVMe SSDs to be even faster. Currently, there are very few NVMe SSDs that support PCIe 4.0, including the Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 M.2. The AORUS NVMe also comes equipped with a stylish heatsink to keep the drive cool.
Corsair Force Series MP510 960GB NVMe
Another great NVMe SSD under $150 is the Corsair Force MP510. While offering similar storage capacity, the MP510 is also quite cheaper than the expensive Samsung 970 EVO. Performance-wise, the MP510 is also quite fast, but not the fastest. The drive offers sequential read and write speeds up to 3,400MB/s and 2,700MB/s, respectively.
Addlink S70 1TB SSD NVMe
Addlink is a new brand that has joined the competitive NVMe market and surprisingly, the company's S70 1TB NVMe is quite impressive. The brand has some remarkable reviews online despite being new to the market. The drive also performs similar to the excellent WD Black SN750.
