The Solidigm P44 Professional is unquestionably the quickest PCIe 4.0 drive now we have ever examined. Actually, it completed throughout the prime 5 quickest drives in our assessments, and was solely crushed by three next-gen PCIe 5.0 drives. Plus, by putting in the Solidigm Home windows driver you may additional enhance random efficiency in small learn/writes making it even sooner throughout on a regular basis use.

Not solely is the Solidigm P44 Professional efficiency top-notch, however it additionally has a really affordable value as long as you store on the proper place—we discovered that pricing varies extensively on-line from retailer to retailer. This isn’t solely one of the best PCIe 4.0 drive in the marketplace, but in addition the most effective SSDs interval. And regardless of stiff competitors from a crowded discipline of different glorious PCIe 4.0 drives it holds its personal on the prime.

The WD Black SN850X is a screaming-fast drive and ranks proper up subsequent to the FireCuda 530 close to the highest when it comes to velocity. The explanation the WD Black SN850X edges out that drive as our choose for greatest PCIe 4.0 runner-up is that it gives higher worth for the cash—not solely does it provide the identical nice velocity because the FireCuda, however it does so at a lower cost per GB.

Additionally, when it comes to total efficiency, the SN850X stands out with its glorious real-world switch charges and excellent random write efficiency. Within the crowded discipline of nice PCIe 4.0 SSDs, the WD Black SN850X holds its personal regardless of stiff competitors.

With PCIe 5.0 drives coming to market, we’re lastly beginning to see corporations providing finances 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 gained’t possible discover a higher worth PCIe 4.0 drive.

In our testing, this drive proved to be among the many quickest Host Reminiscence Buffer (HMB) SSDs we’ve examined. And in contrast to the SN580 earlier than it, the SN5000 didn’t falter on the 450GB switch take a look at, however as an alternative tied the report amongst all SSDs.

If you happen to want a 2230 NVMe SSD in your Steam Deck or different size-constrained system, look no additional than the Essential P310. That is the quickest 2230 SSD we’ve examined, and by a somewhat massive margin.

It bested our earlier favourite 2230 drive — the WD Black SN770M — in each benchmark save for the 450GB switch, the place it misplaced steam on the 85 p.c mark after working out of secondary cache. However massive transfers are uncommon for many customers.

The P310 is a bit more expensive than the SN770M, too, however not by way more than $10 for each the 1TB and 2TB choices.

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

The Seagate Recreation Drive is a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD that was made particularly for next-gen consoles—the PS5 specifically. And it doesn’t disappoint. It options DRAM for main caching duties, which is a bit distinctive and nearly important for Sony’s console system. The PS5 doesn’t help HMB, so a drive akin to this with DRAM cache is the optimum selection. The drive is available in 1TB and 2TB fashions, which means you’ll have loads of house to retailer your whole video games do you have to want it.

Whereas the Seagate Recreation Drive is optimized for a PS5, it’s no slouch as an everyday SSD both. In our velocity assessments it did remarkably nicely, incomes the spot because the second-fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD with random ops that we’ve ever examined. Seagate additionally supplies a beneficiant five-year guarantee with the drive and it has an astounding 1,275TBW score—greater than double the business norm. PS5 homeowners merely can’t go flawed with the Seagate Recreation Drive.

The Corsair MP600 Micro fills the area of interest of units that may accommodate an SSD that’s bigger than the 2230 type issue utilized by recreation consoles, however not as massive as the usual 2280 modules which can be most frequently discovered for PCs. We’re speaking in regards to the 2242 type issue — which means 22mm large by 42mm lengthy.

Lenovo set off this development with its Legion Go and Thinkpad portables. And homeowners of these units must be happy to know there are some respectable choices for storage upgrades — one of the best of which is the Corsair MP600 Micro.

This isn’t the quickest PCIe 4.0 drive we’ve examined, however among the many class of truncated drives we’ve examined, it turned out very aggressive efficiency. At the moment, you’ll solely discover the MP600 Micro in 1TB capability. For consumers who need extra space, see the Essential P310 above, which is a 2230 drive in as much as 2TB — which would require an adapter.