Finest PCIe 4.0 SSDs 2025: High picks from specialists

Whereas older computer systems and storage drives would possibly nonetheless use the widespread SATA or the older PCIe 3.0 interfaces to sling your bits of information round, newer computing tools most frequently gives the far sooner PCIe 4.0 protocol. In case you’re actually fortunate (or spent some huge cash), you would possibly even have sooner PCIe 5.0. However that’s a topic for an additional roundup.

We’ve examined practically three dozen PCIe 4.0 SSDs and the most effective one to cross our labs to date is Solidgm’s P44 Professional. In a subject of robust contenders it delivered ferociously quick speeds rivaled solely by next-gen PCIe 5.0 SSDs.

Whether or not you need to improve, or add extra storage to your PCIe 4.0 pc, there’s an SSD for you. Learn on to be taught extra, together with what to search for in PCIe 4.0 SSD.

Why it is best to belief us: We’re not referred to as PCWorld for nothing. Our reviewers have been testing PC {hardware} for many years. Our storage evaluations are exhaustive, testing the boundaries of each product — from efficiency benchmarks to the practicalities of standard use. As PC customers ourselves, we all know what makes a killer product stand out. Solely the most effective SSDs make this checklist. For extra about our testing course of, scroll to the underside of this text.

WD Black SN7100 SSD – Finest PCIe 4.0 SSD

Execs

• High-notch HMB efficiency
• Inexpensive
• Attractive identify

Cons

• Slower random efficiency than DRAM designs

There generally is a trade-off with HMB (host reminiscence buffer) design SSDs, such because the SN7100. They’re distinct for utilizing the host system’s reminiscence for major caching duties, versus packing their very own DRAM. However whereas there could also be some particular eventualities the place DRAM drives excel over HMBs — reminiscent of within the writing of very massive quantities of information — within the overwhelming majority of functions, the 2 designs are very aggressive and virtually indistinguishable.

Amongst all HMB SSDs we’ve examined, we have been flat-out wowed by the SN7100’s efficiency. The 2TB model that we checked out was the quickest such SSD that we’ve run by way of our gauntlet of benchmarks. And on the subject of worth, in comparison with DRAM designs, it’s actually no contest. Certainly, the SN7100 is near $50 lower than our earlier choose, the Solidigm P44 Professional, for each the 1TB and 2TB capacities.

Mix that with an business customary five-year guarantee / 600TBW ranking (terabytes that may be written) per TB, and also you’re in all probability the most effective PCIe 4.0 SSD for common customers in addition to players.

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WD Black SN7100 NVMe SSD evaluation

WD SN5000 NVMe SSD – Finest funds PCIe 4.0 SSD

Execs

• Good on a regular basis efficiency
• Very reasonably priced
• Quickest NVMe SSD of any ilk we’ve examined writing 450GB

Cons

• High efficiency requires HMB assist

With PCIe 5.0 drives lastly arriving, we’re lastly beginning to see firms supply funds PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives at compelling costs. Our earlier choose, the WD Blue SN580 NVMe SSD, has simply been supplanted by WD’s Blue SN5000. At simply $75 for a 1TB mannequin (on the time of writing), and with speedy transfers, you possible received’t discover a higher worth in a PCIe 4.0 drive.

In our testing, this drive proved among the many quickest Host Reminiscence Buffer (HMB/DRAM-less) SSDs we’ve examined. And in contrast to the SN580 earlier than it, the SN5000 didn’t falter in the course of the 450GB switch take a look at — as an alternative tying the report amongst all PCIe SSDs.

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WD Blue SN5000 NVMe SSD evaluation

Essential P310 (2230) – Finest PCIe 4.0 SSD for Steam Deck

Execs

• Quickest 2230 SSD we’ve examined
• Obtainable with as much as 2TB of capability

In case you want a small form-factor, 2230 (22 mm broad, 30 mm lengthy) NVMe SSD on your Steam Deck or different machine, look no additional than the Essential P310. It’s the quickest 2230 SSD we’ve examined, and by a moderately massive margin.

The P310 bested our earlier favourite 2230 drive — the WD Black SN770M — in each benchmark save for the 450GB switch, the place it misplaced steam (pun meant) on the 85 p.c mark after working out of secondary cache. However transfers this massive are uncommon for many customers, and exceptional in a Steam Deck.

The P310 is a bit pricier than the SN770M, however solely by a tad greater than $10 in each the 1TB and 2TB choices.

If optimum pace is what you’re after, and also you don’t foresee often shifting massive quantities of information, the P310 is the 2230 ticket.

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Essential P310 NVMe SSD (2230) evaluation

Seagate Sport Drive – Finest PCIe 4.0 SSD for PS5

Execs

• Superb general efficiency
• Glorious 4K efficiency
• Low-profile heatsink
• Twice the TBW ranking of the competitors

Cons

• A bit dear
• No 4TB mannequin

The Seagate Sport Drive is a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD aimed particularly at next-gen sport consoles — the PS5 specifically. It doesn’t disappoint, with DRAM for major caching duties, which is nearly important to wring high efficiency out of Sony’s console system. The PS5 doesn’t assist HMB, so with out DRAM you’re relying solely on an SSD’s slower secondary caching. The Sport Drive ships in 1TB and 2TB capacities, so that you’ll have loads of area to retailer your whole video games.

Whereas the Seagate Sport Drive is optimized for a PS5, it’s completely viable for any pc. It did remarkably effectively in our efficiency testing, incomes the spot because the second-fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD thus far with random ops. Seagate gives a beneficiant five-year guarantee with the drive and it has an astounding 1,275TBW ranking—greater than double the business norm. PS5 homeowners merely can’t go fallacious with the Seagate Sport Drive.

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Seagate Sport Drive PS5 NVMe SSD evaluation

Corsair MP600 Micro 2242 SSD – Finest 2242 form-factor SSD

Execs

• Direct match for Lenovo 2242 M.2 slots
• Good efficiency
• Priced affordably

The Corsair MP600 Micro fills the area of interest of gadgets that may accommodate an SSD that’s bigger than the 2230 kind issue utilized by sport consoles, however can’t settle for a typical 2280 modules which can be utilized in most PCs and laptops. We’re speaking in regards to the 2242 kind issue — that means 22mm broad by 42mm lengthy.

Lenovo set off the 2242 development with its Legion Go and Thinkpad portables and there at the moment are some respectable choices for storage upgrades — the most effective of which is the Corsair MP600 Micro.

The MP600 Micro isn’t the quickest PCIe 4.0 drive we’ve examined, however for its class of truncated drives, it churned out a really aggressive take a look at efficiency. At present, you’ll solely discover the MP600 Micro in 1TB capability. For customers who need extra space, see the Essential P310 above, which is a 2230 drive in as much as 2TB — although it’ll require an adapter.

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Corsair MP600 Micro 2242 SSD evaluation

Our newest PCIe 4.0 SSD evaluations

• Addlink A93/S93: A solid-performing PCIe 4.0, DRAM-less NVMe SSD that may prevent a couple of dollars. However the A93 with its heatsink faces heavy competitors from many equally priced and infrequently sooner SSDs.
• Teamgroup GE Professional: Curious to understand how PCIe 5.0 performs towards PCIe 4.0? This product is a reminder that the brand new spec generally is a combined bag, and never essentially value its premium worth.
• WD SN850X 8TB SSD: This 8GB model of the SN850X is way sooner than the beforehand examined 2TB model, however you pay a slight premium for it.
• 990 EVO Plus: That is an replace to Samsung’s 990 EVO hybrid drive that may use both the PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0 interface — though the latter is proscribed to PCIe 4.0’s theoretical bandwidth. The aim is flexibility, and the replace brings improved efficiency in addition, albeit at a higher-than-average worth for HMB drives.
• Teamgroup T-Pressure A440 Lite: A good performer however solely 14th general in a pool of 21, and at occasions slower than it’s inexpensive sibling, the T-Pressure G50 beneath.
• T-Pressure G50: In case you’re trying to stretch your SSD greenback, this drive needs to be in your quick checklist. It’s a reasonable, stable performing PCIe 4.0 drive for on a regular basis duties.
• Lexar Play 2280: That is an attention-grabbing drive. It’s marketed at PS5 customers, however it encompasses a Host Reminiscence Buffer (HMB) design, which the PS5 doesn’t assist. Nonetheless it’s a wonderful drive for PC, simply very dear presently.
• Kingston NV3: This PCIe 4.0 SSD is proof that DRAM-less drives — these use a Host Reminiscence Buffer (HMB) as cache — can supply aggressive efficiency, whereas additionally saving the patron some cash. The NV3 can be even higher with a extra beneficiant guarantee.
• Sabrent Rocket Nano 2242: That includes a smaller kind issue (22mm x 42mm), this good-performing drive was tailored for Lenovo’s Legion Go and Thinkpads — however it may also be utilized in a typical slot as effectively.

What to search for in an PCIe 4.0 SSD

There are some things to look out for, however most significantly you’ll need to concentrate on capability, worth, and guarantee size. Three-year warranties are customary with cut price drives, however nicer fashions are typically assured for as much as 5 years. And in contrast to the early days of SSDs and NAND, trendy drives received’t put on out with regular client utilization, as Tech Report examined and proved years in the past with a grueling endurance take a look at.

One other essential factor to be careful for is the expertise used to attach the SSD to your PC. For extra particulars and shopping for recommendation you possibly can learn our in-depth information on which sort of SSD you should purchase.

Just a few helpful definitions:

1. SATA: This older, slower expertise is each a connection kind and a switch protocol, used to attach most 2.5-inch and three.5-inch exhausting drives and SSDs to your PC. SATA III speeds can hit roughly 600MBps, and most—however not all—trendy drives max it out. (Extra on that within the subsequent part.)
2. PCIe: This interface faucets into 4 of your pc’s PCIe lanes and blows away SATA pace, to the tune of practically 4GBps over PCIe gen 3 and effectively over 10GBps while you attain PCIe 5.0. The transport expertise pairs properly with the NVMe protocol (see the subsequent entry) utilized by all trendy M.2 PCIe SSDs. Each the PCIe slots in your motherboard and the M.2 slot in your motherboard are typically wired to assist the PCIe interface, and you should purchase adapters that let you make use of “gumstick” (2280) M.2 drives in a PCIe slot. PCIe 4.0 drives are considerably sooner, however require an AMD Ryzen 3000-series or Intel Core Eleventh-gen (or newer) processor, together with a appropriate PCIe 4.0 motherboard.
3. NVMe: Non-Risky Reminiscence Specific expertise takes benefit of PCIe’s bountiful bandwidth and the distinctive properties of NAND to create blisteringly quick SSD efficiency. Try PCWorld’s “All the pieces it is advisable find out about NVMe” for a nitty-gritty deep-dive.
4. M.2: You would possibly assume M.2 drives are PCIe/NVMe. You may not know, nevertheless, that earlier than NVMe was a factor, some M.2 slots and SSDs have been SATA. In case you’re buying to improve an older pc ensure which expertise you want — NVMe or SATA.
5. mSATA and U.2: You might also stumble throughout mSATA in older tools, and U.2 SSDs for enterprise-grade servers and the like, however client motherboard assist is nearly nil for the latter.

Pace issues, after all, however most trendy SSDs, even the slower ones are ridiculously quick. Additionally, don’t overbuy. A PCIe SSD will solely carry out as quick because the technology of the machine it’s put in in. In different phrases, don’t anticipate a PCIe 5.0 SSD to carry out at its rated pace on a PCIe 3.0 pc.

Talking of which, you possibly can anticipate roughly 3.5GBps max from PCIe 3.0, 7.5GBps max from PCIe 4.0, and someplace simply north of 12GBps with PCIe 5.0 below optimum circumstances — i.e., utilizing benchmarks or software program that helps NVMe’s a number of queues. Single-queue Home windows limits all flavors to below 4GBps throughout regular transfers. Once more, don’t overbuy when it comes to efficiency.

How we take a look at SSDs

Drive checks presently make the most of Home windows 11, 64-bit working on an X790 (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard/i5-12400 CPU combo with two Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (64GB of reminiscence complete). Each 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 4 are built-in to the again panel and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. The 48GB switch checks make the most of an ImDisk RAM disk taking on 58GB of the 64GB of complete reminiscence. The 450GB file is transferred from a 2TB Samsung 990 Professional which additionally runs the OS.

Every take a look at is carried out on a newly formatted and TRIM’d drive so the outcomes are optimum. Be aware that in regular use, as a drive fills up, efficiency could lower resulting from much less NAND for secondary caching, in addition to different elements. This may be much less of an element with the present crop of SSDs with far sooner late-generation NAND.

Caveat: The efficiency numbers proven apply solely to the drive we have been shipped and to the capability examined. SSD efficiency can and can range by capability resulting from extra or fewer chips to shotgun reads/writes throughout and the quantity of NAND out there for secondary caching. Distributors additionally often swap elements. In case you ever discover a big discrepancy between the efficiency you expertise and that which we report, by all means, tell us.

To be taught extra about our testing methodology see PCWorld’s article on how we take a look at inside SSDs.