Consoles, on the other hand, will have more limited options: the PlayStation 5 exclusively uses M.2 NVMe drives while the Xbox Series X|S family of consoles uses USB connections for external drives. To help you decide which SSD is the best upgrade for your gaming rig or console, I’ve rounded up a list of the six best gaming SSDs that you can buy. I’ve broken down their storage capacities, read and write speeds, connectivity options, and price points to help you find the best fit for your needs and budget. Also: The best gaming PCs: From HP to MSI, the tip rigs compared The WD Black SN850 is a well-rounded and affordable gaming SSD for PCs, laptops, and even PS5 consoles. It uses an NVMe M.2 connection to give you read and write speeds up to 7000 MB/s and 5300 MB/s, respectively. You can choose capacities from as low as 250GB to as much as 4TB, though higher capacities tend to be on the pricey side. Its thin and compact design is perfect for mini PC builds as well as laptops without sacrificing capacity and performance. You can choose between models that include or exclude a heatsink to suit your gaming rig, while the model with the heatsink also supports RGB lighting effects. The WD_BLACK Dashboard app allows you to monitor your new SSD’s performance as well as operating temperatures to help stop issues before they can ruin your gaming session. It’s also backed by a five-year warranty that covers defects, dead units, and file corruption. Samsung’s newly released 990 Pro SSD is on the pricier side compared to our best overall SSD pick, but the performance and efficiency that comes from the world’s first 8nm controller are well worth any gaming PC investment. The read and write speeds are blazing fast at 7450 MB/s and 6900 MB/s respectively, but even then, the 990 Pro is slim enough to install on most desktop rigs while leaving you enough space to fit that beefy graphics card you worked so hard to acquire. Samsung offers the 990 Pro SSD in two variants, with a Heatsink model dedicated to the Playstation 5. Both the standard PC and Heatsink models come with three layers of heat management: a nickel coating, a heat spreader label, and Samsung’s Dynamic Thermal Guard Technology for those graphic-intensive, palm-sweating gaming sessions. The base 1TB configuration should suffice for most gamers, but if you’re downloading multiple AAA titles across game launchers, then the more expensive 2TB option will serve you the best. While the Xbox Series X comes equipped with a 1TB SSD, the Series S only has a 512GB SSD. And with the large download sizes of modern games, you may want to consider picking up the Seagate Game Drive to ensure that you have plenty of storage space for your library. It gives you an extra 1TB of storage and connects to your console via USB for both power and data transfer. You won’t have to worry about keeping a wall plug or surge protector outlet free to power your external SSD or needing to know how to build a computer to install your new hard drive. The drive features a slim, compact, and minimalist design that complements the Xbox Series X|S well and an LED light strip that shows the signature Xbox green when powered on. Since it uses a USB connection rather than an SATA cable or an NVMe pin connector, it has much lower read and write speeds than other gaming-specific SSDs, just 130.9 MB/s and 75.8 MB/s, respectively. However, this is still plenty of speed to run even graphically demanding games and games with large files smoothly and seamlessly. You can also take advantage of Seagate’s three-year Rescue Data Recovery service, which restores lost and corrupted game files if your Game Drive becomes damaged or has a manufacturing defect. Both the PS5 digital and disc-drive consoles come equipped with a 1TB internal SSD, but if you have a large library of games, it’s a good idea to upgrade your storage with the Seagate FireCuda 530. You can choose capacities from 500GB to as much as 4TB in order to accommodate games with large download files as well as extensive libraries and entertainment apps. The FireCuda 530 has read and write speeds up to 7300 MB/s and 6900 MB/s, respectively, for blazing-fast access to your favorite games, apps, and media files. An integrated heatsink helps dissipate waste heat for more efficient power consumption and to keep your new SSD running at optimal speeds and temperatures. Like the Game Drive for the Xbox, the FireCuda 530 is backed by Seagate’s three-year data recovery service to help you salvage lost game files if your SSD ever becomes corrupted or stops working. It also is easy to install, needing just a standard Phillips-head screwdriver, so you don’t have to be a PC-building or electrical expert to upgrade your PS5 console’s storage capacity. For PC gamers who have a truly massive library, the Samsung 870 QVO is the perfect choice for an SSD. With its 8TB capacity, you’ll never have to worry about running out of space for large game files or needing to uninstall your favorites to make room for new games. It uses a SATA III cable for both power and data transfers, so it has slower read and write speeds than M.2 NVMe solid-state drives: 560 MB/s and 530 MB/s, respectively. But that’s still plenty of speed to run your games smoothly from the drive and quickly boot programs like StreamLabs OBS and other live streaming apps for content creators. This is one of the more expensive high-capacity SSDs on the market, but it’s a worthwhile investment to keep your game library organized all in one place with plenty of room to grow. And while it has a higher price tag, it’s still more affordable than high-capacity NVMe SSDs, which can retail well over $1,000 for half the capacity. Solid-state drives tend to be on the more expensive side, but the Crucial X8 is a budget-friendly option for both console and PC gamers. The 1TB external hard drive retails for about $100, making it an affordable upgrade for your gaming desktop, laptop, or console setup. It connects to your computer or console via USB or USB-C for both power and data transfer with read and write speeds up to 1050 MB/s and 1000 MB/s, respectively. The anodized aluminum chassis is designed to protect the internal components from bumps, shocks, and drops from heights of up to 7.5 feet; that means you can take your games and saved files with you and not have to worry about your data getting corrupted or lost due to corruption or damage to the SSD. The Crucial X8 is compact, so you can tuck it away in a desk drawer or laptop bag when you don’t need it or when you want to game on the go. It’s even compatible with macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux, so you can use it with your Apple devices while you play mobile games or Ubuntu-based computers. You’ll also want to make sure your new solid-state drive has enough storage capacity to handle your current game library as well as provide you with enough room to download new and new-to-you titles; you’ll want at least 500GB to handle large download files. More: SSD vs HDD: What’s the difference? Solid-state drives use flash memory chips, similar to your RAM sticks, to store and access files and programs. This eliminates moving parts, which also greatly reduces the risk of internal damage. It also makes accessing those files and programs much faster, since it doesn’t have to physically “read” a platter to find the particular document, image, song, etc., that you want. The downside to SSDs is that the technology is newer, so they’re going to be on the pricey side, especially if you need more than 2TB of storage space. Solid-state drives that use USB or SATA cables to connect to PCs and consoles will have slightly slower read and write speeds than their M.2 NVMe counterparts, but as long as your SSD has at least 400 MB/s read and write speed, it will be just fine for gaming.
