Best cheap SSD deals for gaming today

HP FX900 Pro | 512GB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,700 MB/s write | $51.99 at Amazon
It's not flashy, but in all honesty, do you really need anything more than a fast and reliable drive from a good brand at a great price? HP's FX900 Pro certainly fits all those parameters, and with these kinds of speeds on offer, this SSD is no slouch. It's got all of the specs you might want at this level, including 1GB of DRAM for heavy workloads.

Price check: Newegg $51.99

Sabrent Rocket 2230 | 512GB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 5,000 MB/s read | 3,700 MB/s writes | $64.99 at Amazon
This compact 2230 form factor 512GB drive is a great middle-ground for Steam Deck upgrades. Buy the cheapest Deck version you can find and add this drive to save bags of money over the most expensive one. That's with well-improved read/write speeds, too.

Price check: Newegg $64.99 | Walmart $64.99

Solidigm P41 Plus | 1TB | M.2 2280 | PCIe 4.0 | 4,125 MB/s read | 2,950 MB/s write | $69.99 $62.99 at Amazon (save $8)
Solidigm is a brand name of SK Hynix, a company that directly makes memory chips for SSDs. Here you've got a drive that has fairly slow read/write speeds compared to others in our curated list, but they're still plenty fast enough.

Price check: Newegg $63.49

Team Group T-FORCE A440 | 1TB | M.2 2280 | PCIe 4.0 | 7,000 MB/s read | 5,500 MB/s write | $99.99 $79.99 at Newegg (save $20)
If you're looking for great PCIe 4.0 performance but don't want to spend a lot of money, this Team Group drive is the perfect choice. It's more than quick enough for most users' needs and that big heatsink will keep things nice and cool, helping to prevent any thermal throttling.

Price check: Amazon $79.99

Lexar NM790| 1TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write | Heatsink included | $109.99 $79.99 at Amazon (save $30)
For anyone missing motherboard NVMe cooling or wanting to bulk out their PS5 storage, this version of the fantastic NM790 with a heatsink is often in stock, whereas the normal version is frequently sold out. You're getting a seriously good SSD for the money, and you can see this for yourself with our review of the 4TB version.

Crucial T500| 1TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,800 MB/s write | $143.99 $79.99 at Amazon (save $64)
This Gen 4 drive from a very respected brand certainly has the speeds to make it an excellent contender, with TLC NAND, improved energy efficiency and a simple, clean single-sided design. It might lack DRAM, but regardless this drive has the performance to keep up with the best Gen 4 drives at quite a significant discount.

Price check: Best Buy $79.99 | Newegg $79.99

Nextorage Japan | 1TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s Read | 6,000 MB/s write | $149.99 $84.99 at Newegg (save $65)
Nextorage may be a relatively new name in the world of NMVe SSDs, but don't be fooled by appearances. This drive sports a Phison E18 controller, the very same used in a number of high-performance SSDs and the 1TB version represents excellent price/performance value here. Check out our review for more and right now, the heatsink-equipped version is the same price.

Crucial MX500 | 1TB | 2.5" | SATA 6Gbps | 560 MB/s read | 510 MB/s write | $104.99 $87.74 at Amazon (save $17.25)
If you don't have enough M.2 NVMe slots on your motherboard for more storage, then don't worry as you can still install a speedy SSD via a SATA port. The Crucial MX500 is pretty much the best one out there, as nothing else offers the same blend of performance and value for money as the MX500. It's also available in 2TB and 4TB sizes, with the prices scaling on par with the storage capacity.

Price check: Newegg $87.74

Lexar NM790| 1TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write | $91.16 at Amazon
One of our absolute favorite SSDs and its popularity means stocks are often very low. There's no real discount here but it's a good price for everything you're getting here. Check out our review of the 4TB model for more, but the cliff notes are that it's fast, efficient, and pretty much everything you could want from a good Gen 4 NVMe drive, for less.

WD Black SN850X | 1TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,300 MB/s write | $114.99 $94.99 at Amazon (save $20)
This is our favorite SSD for gaming right now. Unlike the cheaper SN770, the SN850X encapsulates the best PCIe 4.0 offers in terms of performance (check out our review). That makes it a great fit for a boot drive with space to spare for your game library, and at this price, we're happy to pay the premium for its higher speed.

Price check: Newegg $94.99 | Best Buy $119.99 

Sabrent Rocket 2230 | 1TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 4,750 MB/s read | 4,300 MB/s write | $99.99 at Amazon
This is a very high-capacity version of our favorite 2230 form factor NVMe SSD for the Steam Deck. While you are paying a premium for handheld compatibility, pairing this with the cheap Steam Deck would save you cash over the top capacity Deck and net you double the storage space.

Price check: Newegg $99.99

Lexar NM790 | 2TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400 MB/s read | 6,500 MB/s write | $129.49 at Amazon
This SSD is a great deal right now, compared to slimmer sales elsewhere, and Lexar has put together a superb SSD in the NM790. Thanks to high-layer NAND and a low-power controller, you can get tons of storage here on an energy-efficient and great-performing drive for not much cash. Often much less cash than the competition, even. Read our Lexar NM790 (4TB) review for more.

WD_Black SN770 | 2TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 5150 MB/s read | 4850 MB/s write | $159.99 $138.62 at Amazon (save $21.37)
A solid SSD with mid-level performance that's often found for less money than speedier drives. It's still a rapid drive and offers 2TB of storage for your Steam library. It's not the cheapest we've seen it, but prices have generally increased versus the tail-end of 2023.

Price check: Newegg $138.62

Team Group MP44S M.2 2230 | 2TB | PCIe 4.0 | 5,000 MB/s read | 3,500 MB/s write | Steam Deck + ROG Ally compatible | $209.99 $149.99 at Newegg (save $60)
This Team Group drive isn't the fastest compact SSD you can stick in your Steam Deck, but it is the cheapest 2TB drive you'll be able to find for your wee handheld gaming PC. And it will also be a little quicker than the stock drive the Deck ships with, too.

Silicon Power XS70 | 2TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7300 MB/s read | 6800 MB/s write | $179.99 $149.99 at Amazon (save $30)
Prices for the XS70 are some of the most variable I've seen for an SSD, so it's perhaps worth waiting to see if the price dips again before picking one up. It packs rather a large bang for your buck with its fast read and write times, at least. While the software side of things may be a little lacking, we were impressed with the overall performance and value proposition of this drive. Read our review here.

WD Black SN850X | 2TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,300 MB/s write | $189.99 $156.99 at Amazon (save $33)
This is our favorite SSD for gaming right now. Unlike the cheaper SN770, the SN850X encapsulates the best PCIe 4.0 offers in terms of performance (check out our review). That makes it a great fit for a boot drive with space to spare for your game library, and at this price, we're happy to pay the premium for its higher speed.

Price check: Newegg $169.99 | Best Buy $179.99 

Nextorage Japan | 2TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7300 MB/s read | 6900 MB/s write | $249.99 $159.99 at Newegg (save $90)
You can expect top performance out of this drive, which is impressive for the price. It's actually frequently faster than some pricier drives, and we've generally been very impressed with Nextorage's drive in our review. Unfortunately, the price for this drive has gone up lately, but it's still one of the better-value 2TB drives with a heatsink right now.

Team Group QX | 4TB | 2.5" | SATA 6Gbps | 560 MB/s read | 510 MB/s write | $198.99 $197.99 at Newegg (save $1)
It's not really a deal, but if you're looking for lots of storage but don't need a blazing NVMe drive, then this is the cheapest way of putting a 4TB SSD in your gaming PC. Just don't expect it to sustain full speed under heavy workloads and you'll be fine.

Price check: Amazon $197.99

Team Group MP44 | 4TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400MB/s read | 6,900MB/s write | $289.99 $223.99 at Newegg (save $66)
This Team Group boasts some mighty specs and for the amount of storage you're getting, it's really good value. The sequential read/write speeds are extremely high but it can only sustain them over short bursts. At this price, it's well worth putting up with that limitation.

Lexar NM790 | 4TB | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400MB/s read | 6,500MB/s write | $249.49 at Amazon
4TB drives have sprung up in price again, although we'd expect them to drop down again sometime later in the year. If you absolutely must have one now though, this is about the best price-to-performance ratio you're going to find, and one of our best drive picks to boot. Read our Lexar NM790 (4TB) review for more.

Silicon Power XS70 | 4TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,200MB/s read | 6,800MB/s write | $299.99 $269.99 at Amazon (save $30)
High-performance 4TB SSDs are starting to rocket in price but if you absolutely must have one, this is an excellent choice. Mountains of storage, blistering speed: This XS70 has them both, but you'll be paying a pretty penny for it. At least it comes with a decent heatsink to keep temperatures under control.

Team Group T-Force M200 | 1TB | USB 3.2 Gen2x2 | 2,000 MB/s read | 2,000 MB/s write | $99.99 $84.99 at Newegg (save $13)
Compact, rugged, and very portable, Team Group's M200 series of external SSDs are great value for money. When running at full speed, the case does get a little toasty but nothing serious. To get the full read/write performance, your PC will need to have a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) port. Shame there's no 2TB version, only a much more expensive 4TB one.

Price check: Amazon $84.99

Crucial X9 | 2TB | USB 3.2 Gen2 | 1,050 MB/s read | 1,050 MB/s write | $149.99 at Amazon
This external drive uses Micron flash memory chips, which owns the Crucial brand name. Its performance is just as good as the above Samsung, so you'll have no worries there. The X9 Pro's stand-out features are its size and weight, as it's very compact and lightweight. Perfect for having lots of storage on the go. Just make sure to hit the coupon button for the discount.

Price check: Newegg $149.99

WD Blue SN580 | 1TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 4150 MB/s | 4150 MB/s | £69.98 £65.39 at Scan (save £4.59)
Not the quickest SSD around, but still a massive step up over an HDD. It's also going to be a solid drive for a Steam library to sit on as you get ready to finally 'tackle your backlog'.

Lexar NM790 | 1TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400MB/s read | 6,500MB/s write | £69.95 at Overclockers
You'll only find a few 1TB SSDs going cheaper than this Lexar drive, and none as good value. We really liked what this drive had to offer in our review, delivering performance right at the top end of what PCIe 4.0 is capable of, all for a low price.

Price check: Amazon £77.99

Crucial MX500 | 1TB | 2.5" | SATA 6Gbps | 560MB/s read | 510MB/s write | £82.99 at Amazon
If you don't have enough M.2 NVMe slots on your motherboard for more storage, then don't worry as you can still install an SSD via a SATA port. The Crucial MX500 is pretty much the best one out there, as nothing else offers the same blend of performance and value for money as the MX500. It's also available in 2TB and 4TB sizes, with the prices scaling on par with the storage capacity, though it is much slower than an NVMe drive.

Price check: Scan £87.98

Solidigm P41 Plus | 2TB | M.2 2280 | PCIe 4.0 | 4,125 MB/s read | 2,950 MB/s write | £134.99 £109.98 at Scan (save £25.01)
Solidigm is a brand name of SK Hynix, a company that directly makes memory chips for SSDs. Here you've got a drive that has fairly slow read/write speeds compared to others in our curated list, but they're still plenty fast enough.

Lexar NM790 | 2TB | PCIe 4.0 | 7,400MB/s read | 6,500MB/s write | £129.99 at Amazon
Lexar has put together a superb SSD in the NM790, and the best bit is it's surprisingly cheap. Thanks to high-layer NAND and a low-power controller, you can get tons of storage here on an energy-efficient and great-performing drive for not much cash. Often much less cash than the competition, even. Read our Lexar NM790 (4TB) review for more.

Lexar NM790 | 4TB | NVMe | PCIE 4.0 | 7,400MB/s read | 6,500MB/s write | $239.99 at Amazon
It's a lot of money to spend on a storage drive but it's actually great value for money. Trying to find a high-quality 4TB SSD near £200 in the UK  is a serious challenge but this Lexar gets very close to that limit. There are cheaper SSDs with the same capacity but they won't have anywhere near the same performance.

Price check: Scan £239.99

Crucial X9 Pro | 1TB | USB 3.2 Gen2 | Up to 1,050 MB/s read and write | £85.99 £81.99 at Amazon (save £4)
Crucial is a big name in SSDs, and the Micron-owned brand is offering a small saving on this 1TB external model. The drive comes in an anodized aluminium shell with a rubberized base and is just 65 x 50 mm big. There's an integrated lanyard hole too, if you want to wear it, which hides a drive activity light.

Samsung T7 Shield | 2TB | USB 3.2 Gen2 | 1,050 MB/s read | 1,000 MB/s write | £159.98 at Amazon
Samsung's external drives have a better recent history than its internal SSDs, so we've no hesitation in recommending the T7 for any professional looking for a large amount of storage that can be safely taken from place to place. They're designed to be rugged and fast, a potent combo. Oh, and they are available in three colors.