SSD or solid state drive is a modern form of storage device that store data on circuits instead of discs that are widely used on hard disk drives/mechanical drives. This ability of data transferring gives the SSD an incredible speed boost over the traditional hard drives, but you should keep in mind that the performance doesn’t come cheap at all.
When compared to the traditional hard drives, the SSDs normally cost a lot, with that in mind, you should also know that in many cases, the difference is stark. For instance, where you are paying $50 for a 1 terabyte hard drive, you may have to pay the same amount of money for a 120 gig SSD. Yes, that’s how big the difference can get.
With that said, a lot of people use SSDs for gaming, and believe that it has a direct impact on the performance. While that is true, the impact basically means comparatively faster load times, especially for games that are quite huge. Other than that, having an SSD for gaming won’t exactly give you a frame-rate boost if you are wondering.
Despite such a huge amount of success, SSDs are still battling to maintain their spot in the mainstream, and several major companies are doing their best to regulate the prices of the SSDs and finally make them more accessible as compared to state they are in right now.
Market is currently flooded with SSDs with companies like Corsair, Samsung, Intel, Kingston, Transcend, SanDisk, and many other companies trying to outrun the other companies; the market is at the moment is pretty saturated, and while it is a good thing, it also happens to be a downside, because this would confuse a lot of newcomers, and they might end up making the wrong decision. To rectify that issue, we have narrowed down some of the best SSDs.
Top 10 Best SSD For Gaming In 2021
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1. Samsung 960 Evo
The Best and Budget SSD For Gaming Under 150$
Seems like Samsung isn’t done impressing us, the company just released their new 960 Evo, and we are more than impressed on how good It turned out to be. For those who don’t know, the 960 Pro is already one of the highest rated M.2 based SSDs in the market at the moment.
Now Samsung has released something more affordable for the consumers who are okay with slightly lesser speeds, but a great price to performance ratio. Say hello to the Samsung 960 Evo, a mid-ranger M.2 based SSD that is available in a variety of storage options starting from 250 GB and going all the way up to a whooping 1TB.
Needless to say this happens to be an enthusiastic grade M.2 based SSD that is checking all the marks there are to begin with. Now the good thing is that this one is far more affordable than the 960 Pro, and that’s good because 960 Pro was the professional grade SSD not built for every consumer mainly because of the high price point.
This one is well within the range of almost all the consumers in the market, and even the price for the base model isn’t all that high. Speaking of the base model, we are going to take a look at some of the most notable features of this SSD, and find out why it has managed to make it on our list.
For starters, the flexible storage options are really, really good, especially for people who aren’t willing to spend a ridiculous amount of money on an SSD, and despite it being an EVO model, the good thing is that the SSD manages to perform really fast in most of our real life tests. It may not be able to match the elder brother in benchmarking performance, but the file transfers are as good as things can get.
The overall performance shines through, and through; even when it comes to transferring files that are smaller, everything just goes as good as planned because it’s the small files that put more load on your SSD or your HDD.
We really welcome the M.2 form factor because that makes the SSD smaller, a lot faster, and better looking than the standard design.
Overall, it would be wrong and unfair to complain about the Samsung 960 Evo, and there’s no reason behind that. The SSD is good, and it’s fast, and easily one of the best M.2 based SSDs available in the market. Even though it doesn’t beat out the 960 Pro, it still manages to offer a lot of value for your money.
2. Samsung 950 Pro M.2
Another Very Best From Samsung
Samsung’s foray into the SSD market proved to be a really successful one, the company managed to bring out some of the finest SSDs we have seen and tested. They have released successful SSDs in the 2.5-inch form factor as well as the M.2 standard form factors.
Today, we are going to take a look at the Samsung 950 Pro M.2, as the same suggests the SSD is an M.2 based SSD, and it is one of the fastest, most powerful SSDs you can buy in the market right now. So, without further ado, let’s take a look.
The 950 Pro M.2 by Samsung is an NVME SSD, and it fits most of the modern motherboards or laptops that have the M.2 slot on them, the SSD is available in 256 and 512 GB options, and offer blazing fast read and write speeds.
In addition to the amazing performance given by Samsung, the SSD is also accompanied by a 5-year warranty which just makes things even better, and considering how this is an M.2 form factor, fitting it into most modern computers won’t be a problem as they are pretty small; just make sure you have an M.2 port on your motherboard and the clearance isn’t blocked by any other expansion card like a GPU. The performance is obviously no joke with the SSD as it gives you more than what you’d expect.
Overall, the Samsung 950 Pro M.2 is one of the most capable solid state drives in the market; it’s fast, it’s affordable, and it gets the job done.
3. Intel 750 PCIe
Intel Most Reliable pcie ssd for gaming
The next SSD we are going to take a look at is from Intel; for those who don’t know, Intel’s known for creating some of the best solid state drives in the market, and their 750 series is known to be a really, really powerful.
Apart from being just powerful, the 750 PCIe also happens to have the NVME standard and it’s one of the best performing SSDs we have on the list.
Want to know just how good the Intel 750 PCIe SSD is? Well, without further ado, let’s dive into details.
The Intel 750 SSD offers a blazing speed of 2,200 MB/s when it’s writing data, and a 1,200 MB/s read speed, and considering how the SSD is basically based on the PCI-express interface, it also opens up a lot of possibilities for other brands to walk the same way.
For those who are wondering whether or not this SSD can be used as a main storage device for those who wish to swing that way. Speaking of storage, the SSD is available in 400 GB, and a whopping 1.2 TB configuration; this actually came as a surprise because Intel has left absolutely no option in the middle for people who are looking for a different storage configuration.
Overall, the Intel 750 PCIe SSD is one of the SSDs you can currently buy in the market, even though it’s a bit expensive, but still a worthy choice for people who want no compromises.
4. Kingston Digital HyperX Predator
Best all-around for desktop use
Next up, we are going to take a look at a really great offering by Kingston or Kingston Digital; this is another NVME standard PCI-express SSD, and it offers blazing fast speed.
Before we begin looking into the details, Kingston’s foray into the SSD market wasn’t as huge, their budget oriented V300 SSDs didn’t leave the mark they were supposed to.
The company soon realized and released an aggressively branded Kingston Hyper X SSD, and the Hyper X Predator SSD; what we are seeing today is obviously a lot different than the HyperX that is available in the 2.5-inch form factor. So, without further ado, let’s take a look.
It’s odd to see Kingston ditching a full shroud unlike Intel, but the HyperX Predator comes with a beautiful matte black PCB with HyperX stamped on it, and the star of the show, sitting comfortably in the middle. It certainly is a sight to behold.
Looks aside, Kingston has promised that this is the fastest SSD that is provided by them at the very moment, however, is it as fast as the direct competitor Intel 750 PCIe which also comes at a cheaper price than the Predator.
Our testing revealed that in the Crystal Mark test; the HyperX Predator showed impressive speeds that easily went above 1,200 MB/s, however, the speed wasn’t as impressive as the Intel’s SSD going above 1,500 MB/s. Do keep in mind that the Intel 750 is definitely the cheaper, and faster option here.
While speed isn’t the biggest turning point for Kingston here, the HyperX Predator is certainly one of better NVME SSDs we have seen in the market. In simpler words, the Kingston HyperX Predator is an SSD built for those who prefer some style over substance.
5. Samsung 850 Pro
Very Popular and Most stable sata ssd for gaming
We’re now moving on to the affordable territory. Much like the Samsung 950 Pro, the 850 Pro offers an impressive, if not the same level of performance on a much cheaper degree.
Unlike the bigger brother, this powerhouse comes in the 2.5-inch form factor and offers a SATA interface instead of the much expensive, and super-fast PCI-e interface.
However, that doesn’t stop the 850 Pro from absolutely destroying the competition; the SSD is fast, comes in a number of storage options starting from 128 gigs as the base model, and going all the way to 2 TB. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at it.
The 850 Pro is indeed one of the best SSD for gaming in the market right now, however, when compared to the competition, it’s a bit expensive. Luckily, the SSD manages to make up for that by offering one of the finest performance we have seen by a SATA SSD.
You also get Samsung’s impressive warranty, a lot of storage options, and a really nifty feature known as Rapid that basically speeds up the SSD’s performance. If the 850 Pro happens to be a bit on the expensive side for you, opt for the 850 Evo; the cheaper variant with some compromises on the performance numbers.
Speaking of performance, the 850 Pro manages to give us an impressive number; on the default settings, the drive managed to score an impressive 246 MB/s in sequential tests, and when the rapid mode was turned on, we saw a performance boost and the drive went to 287 MB/s. Needless to say, that Samsung 850 Pro is definitely the fastest 2.5-inch SSD in the market at the moment.
6. Transcend SSD370S
The next SSD we are looking at comes straight from Transcend, the SSD370S is bit on the affordable side. But don’t let it hold you back, despite being affordable, the SSD370S manages to give us an impressive performance numbers. Yes, it’s not as fast as the 850 Pro by Samsung, but it’s certainly good enough for people who are not willing to spend a lot of money. So, without further ado, let’s take a look.
Like we stated earlier, the Transcend SSD370S is currently the most budget friendly SSD available in the market, for starters, the SSD is available starting from 32 gigs model, and going all the way up to 1 TB. Yes, unlike many other companies, Transcend hasn’t given up on the entry level storage options.
Moving on to the performance bits, according to Transcend, the SSD is capable of giving 520 MB/s read speed, and 460 MB/s write speed when it comes to doing the work sequentially, however, during the testing, the speed was a bit lower, but that’s obviously different for different configurations.
Overall, the Transcend SSD370S is a really, really good SSD made for people who don’t want to dish out a lot of money, it won’t be giving you a ground breaking performance like the 850 Pro or 850 Evo, but it’s still impressive enough.
7. SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD
Blazing Fast with 10 year of Warranty
Next up, we are looking at one of the best 2.5-inch solid state drives apart from the much loved Samsung 850 Pro. This is the SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD, and much like the Samsung 850 Pro, this is a solid performer when it comes to transfer rates over the SATA interface.
The SSD comes in 240 GB configuration and goes all the way up to 960 GB. However, that is not the selling point of this SSD, the biggest selling point is that this happens to be the only SSD that is available with a 10-year warranty. Yes, you’ve heard it right, the SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD comes with 10-year of warranty, beating out pretty much every other competitor in this regard. But what about the performance, you ask. Well, let’s see.
Despite being a SATA standard SSD, our testing revealed that the SanDisk Extreme Pro is definitely the fastest SATA based SSD in the market, the performance numbers were so good, that the SSD managed to trade blows with the Samsung 850 Pro. Sure, the performance isn’t as fast as what you’d expect from an NVME SSD, but do keep in mind that the price different alone would be massive.
With that said, if you are looking for an SSD that performs super-fast, doesn’t cost a lot, and is probably the one component that will outlive your entire PC, simply go ahead and grab this amazing piece of technology.
8. Crucial MX200
The next SSD on our list came as a surprise from Crucial. Now we all know about Crucial and how they are one of the best companies when it comes to buying memory, and their foray into the SSD business proved nothing short of impressive.
Much like a lot of other SSDs, the Crucial MX200 starts from 200 gigs, and goes all the way up to 1 TB, that’s not all, the SSD also comes with some enterprise level features that are normally missing from many consumer grade SSDs. With that said, let’s take a look at just how good the Crucial MX200 is.
If you are wondering just how good is Crucial MX200 is, then you should know that it is easily capable of trading blows with the affordable yet powerful Samsung 850 Evo; that comparison alone speaks a lot about just how good of a job Crucial did. The advertised write speed is 555 MB/s, and the read speed is 500 MB/s, do keep in mind that both of these speeds are in sequential working mode.
If you are wondering just how reliable this SSD is, as per Crucial, you would have to write 40 gigs of data on the SSD every single day for 22 years in order to make the SSD unreliable, and that is some impressive level of performance right there.
Sadly, the SSD only comes with a short, 3-year warranty that doesn’t make it as competitive as other drives in the list, but still, the MX200 is one of the most capable SSD drives on the list that deliver top of the line performance, an attractive price, and some really nice enterprise features.
9. Samsung 850 Evo
Very Popular and Most Selling SSD In budget
If you think that the Samsung 850 Pro is on the expensive side for you, don’t worry. The company released an affordable SSD aptly named the Samsung 850 Evo, and today, we are getting a full look at the SSD, and finding out just how big the performance difference is this time around.
The drive starts from the standard 120 gig model, and goes all the way up to the expensive 2 TB model, and for those who are wondering whether or not it comes with the impressive RAPID feature that we found and loved so much in the Evo Pro, you’d be glad to know that it does.
Moving on, as we stated earlier that the SSD comes in a variety of different storage options that will be attractive to those who just wants an SSD as a boot drive, and not fully featured storage device.
Samsung as advertised that the SSD comes with a sequential write speed of 540 MB/s, and read speed of 520 MB/s; the endurance is pretty much everything you would normally expect from the high standards that are set for Samsung, the 120 and the 240 gig variant have the endurance rating of 75 TB, and the other variants of endurance rating of 150 TB.
On top of that, the SSD also comes with an impressive 5-year warranty. Our testing revealed that Samsung has delivered one of the most affordably powerful SSDs, and that is a good thing considering the high end SSD market is not in approach of everyone.
10. OCZ Vector
OCZ is another company that is trying to make sure it stays relevant in the competition, and their Vector SSD is definitely here to prove it that the company can survive and thrive; it is actually quite affordable than rest of the competition, and starts from 120 gigs, going all the way to 960 gigs.
The main question, however, is if the SSD is a worthy choice for budget oriented user? Well, without wasting anymore time, let’s find that out.
First things first, the OCZ Vector comes with 5 year of warranty, which isn’t the biggest warranty you will get, but still good enough. On the performance side of things, the advertised sequential write speed is 550 MB/s, and the 530 MB/s for the reading on the SSD.
Our testing revealed that the performance of the SSD was impressive enough on all fronts, however, if you are expecting performance like the Samsung 850 Evo or 850 Pro, you should know that it simply doesn’t get there, but considering the price difference, it’s justified. Overall, the OCZ Vector is an impressive enough SSD for budget oriented folks, and will keep you satisfied.
11. Kingston SSDNow V300
Cheap Kingstone SSD 480 GB in just 140 dollars
The last product on our list is the Kingston SSDNow V300, it is perhaps the most affordable SSD on the list, with great price to performance ratio that hovers around an impress $1 per gigabyte, and that is certainly a good thing.
Before we begin taking in-depth look at just how good the SSD is, you should keep in mind that the SSD is targeted towards the budget oriented fellas, and if you are looking for ground breaking performance, you may want to swing the other way. With that said, let’s take a look.
The SSDNow V300 has been in the market for quite some time, that means it uses the older controller, however, in our testing, we realized that despite being old, the SSD managed to perform relatively good, and boot times weren’t as bad.
The sequential read and write also managed to be surprisingly good. One thing you should keep in mind though, there is absolutely no way you can compare this SSD with the Samsung 850 Pro, Evo, or even the offerings from Samsung as they are based on the newer chip versions. With that said, do keep in mind that this once was the fastest SSD available in the market.
Conclusion
Well, that pretty much wraps everything up. The SSD market has evolved a lot, and constantly evolving as the time passes by. Still, it’s a long way from being a mainstream storage standard for the solid state drives, as the prices are still not as competitive as traditional hard drives. With that said, we hope that the SSDs soon take over, and are accessible by everyone who is into building computers.
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