Updated 2026-06-23
How we pick: we research the specs, read real owner reviews, and weigh the honest trade-offs. Real pros and cons, no paid placements, and commissions never change our rankings.
A faster SSD will not lift your frame rate much, but it absolutely changes how a system feels. Games load quicker, big files copy in seconds, and a PS5 stops nagging you about space. The catch is that the NVMe market is full of drives that look identical on a spec sheet and behave nothing alike once you actually push them.
We kept every pick at 2TB so the comparison is fair, then split them by what you are really paying for: raw capacity on a budget, genuine Gen4 gaming speed, and that same speed with a heatsink so it stays cool under pressure.
How we picked:
Best for: PC gamers and creators who want top Gen4 speed and already have an M.2 heatsink on their motherboard.
Top-tier Gen4 gaming speed without paying for a heatsink your motherboard probably already includes.
I have built enough PCs to stop obsessing over SSD benchmark charts. In real use, the jump from a hard drive or SATA SSD to any NVMe is huge, and the jump between NVMe drives is small. The Silicon Power is my go-to for cheap bulk game storage. The SN850X is what I put in as the boot and main-games drive.
My advice: do not pay for the heatsink if your motherboard already has one. Most modern boards do, so the bare SN850X is the better deal. The heatsink version is really for a PS5.
NVMe SSDs are fast enough now that the headline speed is rarely what matters most:
Match the drive to the job: a fast DRAM drive for your OS and main games, a cheaper one for bulk storage.
The cheapest honest way to add 2TB of NVMe storage when you do not need bleeding-edge speed.
Top-tier Gen4 gaming speed without paying for a heatsink your motherboard probably already includes.
The same elite SN850X with a ready-to-go heatsink, the easiest no-fuss choice for a PS5.
Currently unavailable
$229.97
Best for: Adding cheap bulk storage or a secondary game library to a PC that does not need Gen4 speed.
This is the drive you buy when you want 2TB for the price of a decent dinner out. It runs on Silicon Motion's SM2263XT controller with TLC NAND, and it skips a dedicated DRAM cache in favor of Host Memory Buffer to keep the cost down.
In day-to-day use it is genuinely fine. Windows boots fast, games load fine, and large transfers are quick right up until the SLC cache fills, at which point write speed drops noticeably. That is the trade you accept at this price.
At Gen3 speeds of roughly 2,200 MB/s read, it is no match for a Gen4 drive, and it is not the one to drop in a PS5. But as a bulk storage or secondary game drive, it does exactly what it promises and nothing it does not.
| Capacity | 2TB |
| Interface | PCIe Gen3 x4 (NVMe) |
| Form factor | M.2 2280 |
| Sequential read | Up to 2,200 MB/s |
| Sequential write | Up to 1,600 MB/s |
| DRAM cache | No (HMB) |
| Heatsink | No |
| Endurance (TBW) | Up to 1,200 TBW |
| Street price (approximate) | Approximately 95 USD |
$348.00
Best for: PC gamers and creators who want top Gen4 speed and already have an M.2 heatsink on their motherboard.
The SN850X is one of the best Gen4 SSDs you can buy, and the bare version is the smart way to own it. You get the full 7,300 MB/s read and 6,600 MB/s write, a proper 2GB DDR4 DRAM cache, and a controller that holds its speed under sustained load far better than budget drives.
Where it really shines is the stuff a spec sheet hides: random performance and consistency. Game levels stream in, big project files open instantly, and it stays fast when you hammer it.
The only real watch-out is heat. Without a heatsink it can run warm under heavy sustained writes, so pair it with a motherboard M.2 heatsink. Most modern boards include one, which makes this version the better value than paying extra for WD's.
| Capacity | 2TB |
| Interface | PCIe Gen4 x4 (NVMe) |
| Form factor | M.2 2280 |
| Sequential read | Up to 7,300 MB/s |
| Sequential write | Up to 6,600 MB/s |
| DRAM cache | Yes (2GB DDR4) |
| Heatsink | No |
| PS5 compatible | Yes (add a heatsink) |
| Endurance (TBW) | 1,200 TBW |
| Street price (approximate) | Approximately 140 USD |
Currently unavailable
Best for: PS5 owners, or builders without an M.2 heatsink, who want maximum speed with zero cooling hassle.
This is the SN850X you buy when you want it to just work in a PS5 or in a build with no spare M.2 cooler. The drive itself is identical to the bare version, same 7,300 MB/s read, same 6,600 MB/s write, same 2GB DRAM cache, so performance is top of the class.
What you are paying extra for is the bundled heatsink, which is correctly sized for the PS5's storage bay and keeps the controller from throttling during long sessions.
If your motherboard already includes an M.2 heatsink, this version is redundant and the bare model is the better deal. But for a PS5 it is the cleanest option going: open the bay, drop it in, done.
| Capacity | 2TB |
| Interface | PCIe Gen4 x4 (NVMe) |
| Form factor | M.2 2280 |
| Sequential read | Up to 7,300 MB/s |
| Sequential write | Up to 6,600 MB/s |
| DRAM cache | Yes (2GB DDR4) |
| Heatsink | Yes (PS5-ready) |
| PS5 compatible | Yes |
| Endurance (TBW) | 1,200 TBW |
| Street price (approximate) | Approximately 165 USD |
Barely. SSD speed mainly affects load times and how snappy the system feels, not frame rate. The big win is moving from a hard drive or SATA SSD to NVMe. Gen3 to Gen4 is a smaller, mostly load-time difference.
Gen4 (SN850X) is roughly twice the peak speed of Gen3 (Silicon Power), but in everyday gaming the felt difference is small. Get Gen4 for a main drive. Gen3 is fine for cheap bulk storage.
For a PC, only if your motherboard lacks an M.2 heatsink (most modern boards include one). For a PS5, a heatsink is required, which is what our premium pick bundles.
A DRAM cache (the SN850X has one) helps sustained performance and consistency. DRAM-less drives (the budget Silicon Power, using HMB) are fine for general use but slow down on big sustained writes.
Yes, it is one of the most recommended PS5 drives. Just get a heatsink: either our premium pick with one included, or add a cheap aftermarket heatsink to the bare version.
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