Silicon Power A60 2TB vs WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB
Two of our picks from Best NVMe SSDs for Gaming and Storage, compared side by side on the specs and trade-offs that actually matter.
Short answer
Between the WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB and the Silicon Power A60 2TB, we recommend the WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB ($349.99 when we checked it on 2026-08-03) as the better nvme ssd for most people. A main gaming drive in a motherboard that already has an M.2 heatsink. The Silicon Power A60 2TB ($239.97 when we checked it on 2026-08-03) still makes sense if a second drive for a game library, where capacity per dollar beats speed.
Silicon Power 2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen3x4 2280 SSD Solid State Drive (SP002TBP34A60M28)
$239.97observed
Lowest we have recorded: $229.97 on (8 weekly checks)
WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB NVMe SSD - M.2 2280, Up to 7,300 MB/s Read speeds, Up to 6,300 MB/s write speeds, Gaming Expansion, High Performance Internal Solid State Drive - WDS200T2X0E
$349.99observed
Lowest we have recorded: $348.00 on (8 weekly checks)
Specs head to head
| Spec | Silicon Power A60 2TB | WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 2TB | 2TB |
| Interface | PCIe Gen3 x4 (NVMe) | PCIe Gen4 x4 (NVMe) |
| Form factor | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| Sequential read | Up to 2,200 MB/s (manufacturer figure) | Up to 7,300 MB/s (manufacturer figure) |
| Sequential write | Up to 1,600 MB/s (manufacturer figure) | Up to 6,600 MB/s (manufacturer figure) |
| DRAM cache | No (host memory buffer) | Yes (2GB DDR4) |
| Heatsink | No | No |
| Warranty | 5 years | 5 years |
Our take on each
Silicon Power A60 2TB
Best for: A second drive for a game library, where capacity per dollar beats speed.
This is the drive you buy when what you want is capacity, not speed. It uses TLC NAND rather than the slower QLC that turns up on a lot of budget drives, which matters because QLC drives fall further and recover more slowly once their cache is exhausted.
Day to day it does the job. Windows boots quickly, games load at a speed you would not distinguish from a Gen4 drive without a stopwatch, and large copies run fast until the SLC write cache fills. That is the moment the compromise appears: without a DRAM cache the drive falls back on borrowing system memory, and sustained write speed drops noticeably and stays down until the drive catches up.
The other limits follow from Gen3. Rated at roughly 2,200 MB/s read, it is roughly a third of the peak the two Gen4 drives here quote, and it is not a drive to put in a PS5 where Sony specifies a higher minimum. On the positive side it runs cool and draws little power, which makes it a reasonable laptop or small-form-factor drive where the Gen4 options need airflow.
WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB
Best for: A main gaming drive in a motherboard that already has an M.2 heatsink.
The SN850X is the drive most PC builds should get, and the bare version is the right way to own it. WD rates it at 7,300 MB/s read and 6,600 MB/s write, but the number that actually matters is the 2GB of dedicated DDR4 DRAM: it keeps the mapping tables in the drive rather than in system memory, so random performance and sustained writes hold up when you hammer it.
That is what you feel. Levels stream without hitching, large project files open immediately, and copying a hundred gigabytes does not turn into a slideshow halfway through. WD's controller has been in the field long enough that its firmware behavior is well documented.
Heat is the thing to plan for. Without a heatsink the controller runs warm under sustained writes and will throttle to protect itself, so this drive assumes there is a heatsink on the motherboard M.2 slot. Most current boards ship one; if yours does not, add a cheap aftermarket one rather than paying for WD's bundled version. A PS5 needs one too, and this listing does not include it. The drive also draws more power than the Gen3 pick, which is worth knowing in a thin laptop.
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