A solid-state drive (SSD) is one of the best upgrades you can make in technology. It might not be glamorous but it can rejuvenate your PR or laptop in a flash (pun unintended). And don’t forget that these drives are now more popular and relevant with things like compatibility with the PlayStation 5.
This isn’t about go-faster bragging rights though. Yes, you can copy enormous files to an SSD in record time, but it’s the massive boost that the drive will give you your computer’s responsiveness that will shock you most: applications launch almost instantly, web pages load faster, and Windows simply feels a lot faster.
SSDs come in different sizes and shapes so we’ve tested a range of different types, predominantly modern M.2 NVMe (PCIe) drives but you might also see traditional SATA and others. Many are even compatible with the PlayStation 5 console and Steam Deak.
Those looking for the latest and greatest tech should get a PCIe 5.0 model but you’ll need a compatible slot and the drive will cost you an arm and a leg right now so PCIe 4.0 remains the best value choice for most users for now.
We’re testing internal drives here but we also have a chart of the best portable hard drives and SSDs if that’s what you’re after.
Best SSDs 2024
1. Crucial T500 – Best Overall
Pros
- Excellent PCIe 4.0 performance
- Very affordable for an NVMe SSD with DRAM
- Up to 2TB of capacity
- Available with low-profile heatsink
Cons
- Very slow when secondary cache runs out
- Average TBW rating
Until PCIe 5.0 becomes the norm, an excellent all-rounder PCIe 4.0 SSD will be the best drive for most people, and right now that’s the T500.
It’s not perfect but that’s hardly unusual and there’s very little to dislike here, and the main issue is a speed drop-off when writing larger files but it’s not significant enough to be a problem.
Otherwise, this drive ticks all the boxes of being one of the fastest PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs we’ve tested. It’s also affordable and available with a low-profile heatsink for another £10/$10 making it versatile.
With DRAM it’s a particularly good value choice to run your operating system from.
2. WD Blue SN580 – Best Value SSD
Pros
- Fantastically affordable
- Super fast real world transfers
- Single-sided for laptop upgrades
Cons
- Slows to less than 300MBps when writing off secondary cache
- Slightly low endurance rating
The SN580 was extremely close to getting a rare five star review, only falling minorly short of full marks on the basis that its writing speed from secondary cache is a little low and it doesn’t have the best endurance rating.
However, don’t let those tiny caveats put you off because this is the best bargain in the SSD world right now and the competition isn’t even that close.
Not only is it affordable, but the SN580 shines in various benchmarks, even beating some PCEe 5.0 rivals in some tests. You’re best off getting a capacity larger than you think you need but it’s extremely unlikely you’ll be disappointed with this drive.
3. Crucial T700 – Best PCIe 5.0 SSD
Pros
- Breathtaking performance
- Available with or without heatsink
- Up to 4TB in capacity
Cons
- Pricey
- Requires the still rare PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot
In many ways, the Crucial T700 is the best SSD you can buy right now. However, that’s specifically to do with it running the latest PCIe 5.0 technology.
While it’s unbelievably fast in terms of raw performance (almost double the sequential read and write speeds of the WD Black SN850X), not many people out there will have a machine capable of utlising its full potential.
If you do have a 5.0 M.2 slot then you will not be disappointed with the T700, although your bank manager might not be too pleased about your purchase since it’s roughly twice the price as various PCIe 4.0 rvials. Those with enough cash to splash can go all the way up to 4TB with an optional heatsink.
4. Solidigm P44 Pro – Best PCIe 4.0 Performance
Pros
- Fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD to date
- DRAM facilitates excellent random performance
- Synergy low-level Windows driver improves random performance further
Cons
- Inconsistent pricing on web
- No heatsink option
There’s not a lot to say about the P44 Pro and we mean that in a truly positive way.
It’s simply the fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD we’ve tested to date and the only one we know of with a low-level Windows driver that can speed up random operations further.
Although pricing is somewhat wayward, you can find it for similar prices as HMD (Host Memory Buffer) alternatives despite the P44 Pro offering preferred DRAM.
It’s a bargain if you can find the right price. It just doesn’t have a heatsink option if that’s crucial to you.
5. Corsair MP700 Pro – Fast PCIe 5.0 SSD with Fan Cooler
Pros
- Scintillatingly fast
- 2GB-per-TB DRAM cache
- Five-year warranty
Cons
- On the pricey side
The Corsair MP700 Pro is right up there with the best PCIe 5.0 drives and we wouldn’t blame you for picking it over the Crucial T700.
It’s an extremely tight race for performance so it largely comes down to which drive has the best online price for the capacity you want. And this drive is on the pricey side.
If money is no object, it optionally comes with a (chunky) fan-cooler and a decent five-year warranty, although the 700TBW (terabytes that may be written) per 1TB of capacity element pales in comparison to the Seagate FireCuda 540 if longevity is the most important element.
6. Sabrent Rocket Q4 – Best 2230 Form Factor SSD
Pros
- Tiny versatile form factor
- Amazingly fast performance
- Decently affordable
- Unmitigated five-year warranty
Cons
- Writes slow to a crawl when secondary cache is depleted
If you have a device that can’t handle a full-size 2280 SSD then the Sabrent Rocket Q4 is an elegant solution with its tiny 2230 form factor measuring just 30mm in length.
That makes it ideal for owners of the Steam Deck, some Microsoft Surface models and more. It goes up to 2TB in capacity and don’t be fooled by it’s pint-sized nature because performance is very impressive.
Furthermore, it won’t break the bank and you get a long warranty, too. As long as you’re not regularly writing large amounts of data, then it should be considered even if you have space for a larger 2280 drive.
You can consider the WD Black SN770M if you’re looking for an alternative.
7. Lexar NM790 – Good Value PCIe 4.0 SSD
Pros
- HMB 3.0 and Dynamic SLC Caching
- Lower power consumption
- Good TBW
Cons
- No 4TB option, yet
- Lacks hardware encryption
- No heatsink option
If you’re looking for a great all-rounder then the Lexar NM790 is an excellent choice, offering top value for money in spades.
It demonstrates how far Gen 4 NVMe drives have come in the last couple of years. Not only is it more affordable than much older rivals, with similar performance levels, but it also offers exceptional power conservation and good thermal control making it ideal for devices like laptops.
There’s no hardware encryption and those looking for an NVMe drive with 4TB of space and a heatsink will need to look elsewhere.
8. Samsung 990 Pro – Excellent PCIe 4.0 SSD
Pros
- Top-notch performance
- Hardware encryption
- Heatsink an option
Cons
- Not a bargain
- No 4TB option, yet
- TBW surpassed by other drives
The 990 Pro is exceptionally fast. However, as these designs run into the bandwidth limitations of PCIe 4.0, they approach full saturation of the connection to the PC, and there are few genuine gains to make. The 990 Pro is probably the quickest Gen 4 drive, but the differences between this and other recent NVMe launches are subtle.
Being faster than other products is important to Samsung, possibly trading resilience to achieve those raw speeds. The 990 Pro drives are also expensive, and with a max capacity of 2TB at launch this won’t be enough for everyone.
The Samsung 990 Pro is made for those that want the absolute fastest drive available and aren’t overly concerned about the cost or the lack of a larger capacity. It isn’t for those that are looking for the best value or who expect added features like a heatsink to be included by default.
Consider the Solidigm P44 Pro if you’re after an alternative.
9. Kingston KC3000 – High Performance in PC or PS5
Pros
- Great performance
- 5-year warranty
- Ideal for a PS5 & PC
Cons
- Expensive
- Idle power consumption is high
- No hardware encryption
Kingston’s latest effort is another good option – alongside Seagate and Corsair – for those wanting a Gen 4 drive in a PC or PS5.
The KC3000 offers excellent performance in a range of challenging use cases and the heat spreader is thin enough to ensure it fits neatly into Sony’s next-gen console.
There are only minor points putting it behind the competition such as the price, the lack of hardware encryption, and a small power consumption issue.
Still, if you see it on offer somewhere it will make for a decent drive.
10. Seagate FireCuda 540 – PCIe 5.0 with Longevity
Pros
- Excellent performer
- Slightly cheaper than the PCIe 5.0 competition
- Excellent TBW rating
- Five-year warranty
Cons
- Slightly slow at our 450GB write
- No 4TB option
There’s so much competition in the SSD world that for any individual drive, it’s near impossible to beat rivals in all areas.
The FireCuda 540 isn’t the outright best PCIe 5.0 drive you can get but there are certainly reasons why you might choose to get one. For starters, its impressive 48GB transfer performance bodes well for the average user.
It’s also a little cheaper than the Crucial T700 in the 2TB capacity. There are cheaper drives with similar speeds, but the FireCuda 540 does stand out when it comes to longevity thanks to a very generous TBW rating and a long five-year warranty.
What to look for in an SSD
For those seeking the very best performance, there’s still a case for finding the fastest rather than just choosing the cheapest SSD.
This is where you have a choice. There are two different types of SSDs: SATA and PCIe.
SATA is the type you’re probably most familiar with as it has been around for years and is used in PCs and laptops for hard drives and DVD drives. Most SATA SSDs are 2.5in wide as they’re designed to fit in laptops. But they’re also compatible with all recent PCs.
For laptop users specifically, you’ll want to also know the exact height of the SSD to ensure it will fit: some are 9.5mm thick rather than 7mm.
The other type is a PCIe SSD. It gets confusing because there are other acronyms and terminology too: NVMe and M.2. Put simply, PCIe (PCI Express) supersedes SATA because it is a much faster interface.
Most commonly you’ll see PCIe drives referred to as NVMe. This stands for Non-Volative Memory Express) but what’s most important to note is the form factor – the size of the drive – because that’s which determines if the thing will actually fit in your PC or laptop. They’re long sticks that look similar to RAM, only with the connector at the end.
This is where M.2 comes in. It’s a relatively new type of slot you’ll find on recent motherboards and in some laptops. Most M.2 SSDs are the 2280 type, which simply means 22mm wide and 80mm long. You can check your motherboard manual or contact your laptop manufacturer to find out if such a drive will be compatible.
Note: Just because an SSD has an M.2 interface does not mean it is an NVMe drive. You can buy SATA SSDs with M.2 connectors which will still be limited to SATA speeds, so watch out for this when buying. As we said, it can get a bit confusing.
If your PC’s motherboard doesn’t have an M.2 slot, don’t worry. you can buy a PCIe adapter card for around £15/$15. Some M.2 SSDs are sold with the adapter, such as Kingston’s KC1000. Or you can now get drives like the WD Black AN1500 which give you better than PCIe 3.0 performance without an M.2 slot.
PCIe comes in different versions like a lot of tech and while PCIe 3.0 is still the most common, PCIe 4.0 drives are now on sale – such as the Samsung 980 Pro. They are twice as fast but as is common with a new standard, the price is high and it’s likely you’ll need to upgrade other parts of your machine like the motherboard in order to get the most out of it.
Find out how to install an SSD in your PC.
Aren’t SSDs really expensive?
It’s taken years, but we are now at the stage where an SSD is a truly affordable component for everyone. And if your budget will stretch to only £50, you can still get Crucial’s MX500 for under £40 from Amazon or jump to NVMe with the Corsair MP510 at only £43.
Sure, you get much more storage if you buy a traditional hard drive for the same money, but if you have a PC you can always install Windows and your most-used programs on an SSD and keep your music, video and photo libraries on a huge hard disk where performance isn’t as important.
How much space do I need?
Of course, the 250GB size of SSD (although you can find smaller) is going to be the cheapest and therefore the most tempting.
However, there’s nothing worse than getting a notification of your drive being full, resulting in lots of admin to sort out what to keep, delete or move. Also be careful for when smaller drives have worse specs.
So carefully consider what you’re going to need the drive for. If it’s just for the operating system and a few applications then 250GB will be fine – especially if you’re going to have another drive for storing files.
However, if this is going to be the only drive in your machine and you’re going to be storing lots of applications, files and games then you’ll need to go for more. 1TB will obviously cost more but will be necessary.
Performance
Getting back to performance, this has effectively plateaued among SATA SSDs. It’s not that flash memory has reached its limit, it’s that they’re hitting the limit of what the SATA interface is capable of.
The fastest SATA SSDs can read at around 550MB/s, but the fastest PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives can read at over 6000MB/s.
Really, you should only use a SATA drive if you have no other choice.
What about MLC, TLC and SLC?
There are various memory technologies used on SSDs, from multi-level cell (MLC), to the cheaper triple-level cell flash (TLC) architectures. You might even come across the rare and most expensive single-level cell (SLC) drive. The differences between the cell technologies boil down to the amount of bits (data) that a single cell (within the SSD) can handle.
TLC handles three, MLC two, and SLC one. The greater the number of bits per cell, the increased likelihood of failure, inconsistencies and – most importantly – performance. However, as this is a general sweeping statement, manufacturers have found ways around the limitations of SSD technology.
When buying an SSD, look out for long warranties and high write limits (expressed as a TBW value) if you prize data integrity, although with the help of proper backup routines, data loss isn’t really an issue today.
Author: Chris Martin, Reviews Editor, Tech Advisor
Tech Advisor's Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.