The Fastest Solid State Drives in 2023
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Over the past decades of PC hardware evolution, no other upgrade has dramatically improved the overall user experience as much as the shift from hard drives to solid state drives. While the same cannot be said for upgrading from an older SSD to a more recent model, there are certainly performance gains to be had.
As of 2023, SSDs have long since saturated the SATA interface, as well as the much faster PCI Express (PCIe) 3.0 counterparts. With PCIe 5.0 SSDs closing in, even the PCIe 4.0 interface is more or less maxed out by the best M.2 SSDs.
The Best SSDs in March 2023
This page is a rough guide to the best SSDs on the market in the form factors supported by consumer motherboards, meaning mainly 2.5″ SATA and M.2 PCIe/NVMe. Of course, what is “best” in your case will depend on your use case to some extent.
To keep it simple, rankings are based on an average of read/write transfer rates. Additional weight is given to drives with high random performance, as this is typically associated with the best real-world performance. For a more complete story, check out the reviews linked to in the descriptions.
First, a quick look at the drives that we consider leaders in their respective form factors at this time. They don’t necessarily represent the best value but are definitely some of the speediest storage devices that you can use in your PC build today.
Last update on 2023-03-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The 2.5″ SATA market has been largely static in recent years. One exception is Seagate’s FireCuda 120, which managed to eke out some additional gains from the bandwidth-limited interface when it arrived in 2020. Another is Samsung’s 870 EVO from 2021. These are quite possibly the last high-end SATA SSD releases from big-name brands that we will ever see in the consumer market.
The fastest SSDs at this time all require a PCIe 4.0 (Gen4) interface and an M.2 slot. In this area, the Samsung 990 PRO is currently one of the best performers. Its only real downside is that it’s quite expensive compared to its closest competitors.
SSDs that can utilize the latest PCIe 5.0 interface are also just around the corner, and we expect several variants to arrive in 2023. But as of this writing, Gen5 SSDs are not widely available. These will require a system based on the latest AMD Ryzen 7000-series platform or Intel’s 13th-gen Core series with select Z790 motherboards.
For our more complete list of SSDs, we will start with legacy 2.5″ SATA drives, which are all bandwidth-restricted compared to PCI-express/NVMe drives. If your computer has an available NVMe-capable PCIe M.2 slot, this is most likely the form factor you want to be looking at first.
Quick links
Best 2.5″ SATA SSDs
Best M.2 PCIe/NVMe SSDs
Best SATA SSDs (2.5-inch)
1. Seagate FireCuda 120
Available Capacities: 500GB – 4TB
Interface: SATA 6Gbps
560 MB/s read (1TB)
540 MB/s write (1TB)
Endurance Rating (1TB): 1,200 TBW
Besides Samsung, Seagate is one of the very few manufacturers that are still actively developing new products in the high-end SATA space. Seagate was quick to take advantage of the Phison S12 controller that was released in the middle of 2020, and the result was the impressive FireCuda 120.
This drive outperforms the old performance leader Samsung 860 PRO in several key areas while being considerably less expensive since it uses TLC instead of MLC NAND. Sequential performance is at the top of the charts, as are its 100K read and 90K random write IOPS. Endurance should not be an issue either, with the 4TB model offering an endurance rating of no less than 5,600 TBW (terabytes written).
Unfortunately, the FireCuda 120 has become increasingly hard to find in 2023 and/or prohibitively expensive compared to the competitors.
Check prices: Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
Reviews: TweakTown, StorageReview
2. Samsung 870 EVO
Available Capacities: 250GB – 4TB
Interface: SATA 6Gbps
560 MB/s read (1TB)
530 MB/s write (1TB)
Endurance Rating (1TB): 600 TBW
New releases in the high-end SATA SSD market are rare events these days. Most of the efforts recently have gone into building cheap DRAMless SATA drives based on ever more cost-effective types of NAND. One notable exception – launched in early 2021 – is the Samsung 870 EVO, which is a continuation of Samsung’s long-running and extremely popular EVO series.
Considering the bandwidth cap imposed by the SATA interface, any sort of revolutionary performance gains are no longer possible. Nevertheless, thanks to Samsung’s refined MKX controller and new high-density 128-layer 3D TLC NAND, the 870 EVO offers minor improvements over its class-leading predecessors. In most benchmarks, it is comparable to the Seagate FireCuda 120.
Check prices: Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
Reviews: LegitReviews
3. Samsung 860 PRO
Available Capacities: 256GB – 4TB
560 MB/s read
550 MB/s write
Endurance Rating (1TB): 1,200 TBW
Samsung became a market leader early on in the SSDs space, starting with the somewhat legendary 840 Pro. In 2023, the Samsung 860 PRO is still one of the best and quite possibly one of the most reliable drives on the market.
If previous Samsungs are an indication, the 300 TBW (terabytes/total bytes written) rating for the 256 GB model up to 4,800 TBW for the 4 TB model (all use durable MLC NAND), are conservative estimates. This, coupled with a 5-year warranty and great overall performance, makes the 860 Pro look very attractive overall. Unfortunately, its MLC memory chips also make it a lot more expensive than its main rivals.
Check prices: Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
Reviews: AnandTech, Notebookcheck
4. Samsung 860 EVO
Available Capacities: 250GB – 4TB
550 MB/s read
520 MB/s write
Endurance Rating (1TB): 600 TBW
The 860 EVO is the successor of Samsung’s incredibly successful 850 EVO. It’s a great alternative to the 860 PRO, as it is significantly less expensive and you will hardly notice the performance difference in real-world use.
It performs very well considering it’s a TLC-based SSD. Moreover, it offers excellent endurance numbers at precisely half those of the 860 Pro at equivalent capacities (i.e. still better than most competitors), as well as a 5-year warranty.
Check prices: Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
Reviews: TweakTown
5. SanDisk Ultra 3D
Available Capacities: 250GB – 4TB
Interface: SATA 6Gbps
560 MB/s read
530 MB/s write
Endurance Rating (1TB): 400 TBW
The Ultra 3D from Flash SanDisk (now a subsidiary of Western Digital) delivers excellent performance at a reasonable price point. It has now been around for a few years but is still a popular choice due to its attractive mix of good performance and usually a lower price than the Samsung 860 EVO. Its sequential read speeds of 550 MB/s and write speeds of 530 MB/s are complemented with very good random read/write figures as well (95K/84K IOPS).
SanDisk uses a controller from Marvell 88SS1074 in the Ultra 3D SSD, in combination with 64-layer TLC NAND. This makes it identical to the WD Blue SSD in everything but the name.
Check prices: Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
Reviews: HotHardware, AnandTech
6. Crucial MX500
Available Capacities:Â 250GB – 2TB
Interface: SATA 3 6Gbps
560 MB/s read
510 MB/s write
Endurance Rating (1TB): 360 TBW
Crucial’s MX500 uses TLC NAND and also offers great performance at an attractive price point. It’s available in capacities of up to 2 TB. Like the 860 EVO, the MX500 is backed by a 5-year warranty, but its endurance rating is lower than both the 860 EVO and the SanDisk Ultra 3D. It starts at 100 TBW for the 250 GB model and ranges up to 700 TBW for the 2 TB model, which should still be more than sufficient for the average user.
The MX500 can compete with the 860 series in many areas, but rarely (if ever) surpass it. However, the price/performance ratio is excellent so this drive is a good choice for most SATA-limited systems.
Check prices: Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
7. Kingston KC600
Available Capacities: 256GB – 2TB
Interface: SATA 6Gbps
550 MB/s read
520 MB/s write
Endurance Rating (1TB): 600 TBW
Kingston’s KC600 was launched in 2019 and comes with a Silicon Motion SM2259 controller and 96-layer 3D TLC NAND from Micron. Although it is a bit more expensive than many of its competitors, it does offer hardware-based 256-bit AES encryption, making it an interesting option for business users. The overall specs are also excellent.
Performance-wise, it’s slightly slower than the Samsung 860 series but still in the high-end SATA territory. Random performance is up to 90,000/80,000 IOPS (read/write). Another plus is that the endurance ratings are on par with the best.
Check prices: Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
Reviews: Hexus.net
8. SK Hynix Gold S31
Available Capacities: 250GB – 1TB
Interface: SATA 6GBps
560 MB/s read
525 MB/s write
Endurance Rating (1TB): 600 TBW
South Korean SK Hynix is one of the world’s largest memory manufacturers but is mainly known for its DRAM, such as DDR4 modules and GDDR6 chips for graphics cards. However, the company is also an experienced supplier of NAND Flash, including complete SSDs, for OEMs.
Now, SK Hynix releases SSDs under its own brand, and this SATA drive is one of the first. The SK Hynix Gold S31 has been very well received and immediately established itself among the leaders in the segment. Like most high-end SATA SSDs, it will saturate the interface, but it also tends to compete with (and in some cases surpass) drives like the Samsung 860 EVO and Crucial MX500 in real-world tests.
Check prices: Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
9. Mushkin Source II
Available Capacities: 120GB – 2TB
Interface: SATA 3 6GBps
560 MB/s read
515 MB/s write
Endurance Rating (1TB): 400 TBW
The original Mushkin Source was and is positioned as an entry-level SATA SSD. But now that many high-end MLC-based drives have disappeared from the market in favor of cheaper alternatives, the Source has risen in the charts.
More recently, the Source was replaced by the Source-II, which is similar but based on the updated Silicon Motion SM2259XT (originally SM2258XT) controller and TLC NAND. Its sequential performance remains more than adequate compared to the competition. Random performance is 75K/75K read/write (1TB model).
10. Crucial BX500
Available Capacities: 240 GB – 2 TB
540 MB/s read
500 MB/s write
Endurance Rating (1TB): 360 TBW
There is a wide variety of entry-level, DRAMless SATA SSDs on the market. Some of the cheapest models are not particularly attractive even from a price/performance perspective, but the popular Crucial BX500 performs better than many of its competitors. Although it can’t quite compete with the high-end alternatives, the affordable BX500 is fast enough to be sufficient for most SATA use cases.
Check prices: Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
M.2 NVMe Drives
See also: our new, up-to-date listing of the fastest M.2 SSDs.
1. Samsung 990 PRO
Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe
Available Capacities: 1TB, 2TB
7,450 MB/s read (1TB)
6,900 MB/s write (1TB)
The 990 PRO is Samsung’s latest flagship in the high-end PCIe 4.0 category. It was launched as recently as November 2022 and marks the manufacturer’s return to the top of the benchmark charts. This is made possible by Samsung’s proprietary Pascal controller and in-house 176-layer V-NAND 2000 MT memory circuitry.
What particularly stands out with the 990 PRO’s specs is not so much its sequential performance – which, like other leading SSDs, mostly maxes out the available Gen4 bandwidth – but random performance. Even the 1TB capacity offers an eye-watering 1.55M random write IOPS. This is apparently enough to give it a slight lead over the competition in several (but not all) benchmarks.
Check prices (1TB): Amazon, Amazon UK, Newegg
Reviews: TweakTown, HotHardware
2. SK Hynix Platinum P41
Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe
Available Capacities: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB
7,000 MB/s read (1TB)
6,500 MB/s write (1TB)
The SK Hynix Platinum P41 was introduced in May 2022 and availability is still limited at the time of writing. It has however already made a strong impression on hardware editors and there seems to be no doubt that it is among the fastest SSDs yet in the consumer space. SK Hynix is the second-largest memory manufacturer on the planet but has mostly been supplying chips in an OEM capacity until quite recently. The Platinum P41 is entirely based on SK Hynix parts, including the controller, and this seems to be enough to outpace the Phison E18 lineup and other competitors in several real-world benchmarks.
Check prices (1TB): Amazon, Amazon UK
3. WD Black SN850X
Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe
Available Capacities:Â 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
7,300 MB/s read (1TB)
6,300 MB/s write (1TB)
Launched in 2020,
When it arrived in 2020, the WD Black SN850 was quite possibly the fastest SSD on the market for some time. And to be fair it is still among the best, although several competitors have caught up with and surpassed it. To remedy this situation, Western Digital has now released a successor known as the WD Black SN850X. The main difference with this updated version is that it ships with higher-density memory chips in the form of 112-layer BiCS 5 NAND. This has boosted random read/write performance from 1M/720K IOPS with the original SN850 to 1.2M/1.1M IOPS in the 2 TB SN850X.
As a result, the SN850X is (again) one of the best SSDs, as evidenced in real-world benchmarks such as PC Mark 10 and 3DMark.
Check prices (1TB): Amazon, Newegg
Reviews: TweakTown
4. Kingston KC3000
Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe
Available Capacities: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
7,300 MB/s read (1TB)
6,000 MB/s write (1TB)
Phison’s E18 controller and Micron’s new 176-layer TLC NAND emerged as a winning combination in late 2021. The Seagate FireCuda 530 was first to top the charts using this combo, and now Kingston is doing the same with its brand new KC3000 SSD. On paper, the FireCuda 530 and KC3000 (unsurprisingly) come with nearly identical specs, but the KC3000 is slightly ahead in most benchmarks.
In other words, if you are looking to pair your PCIe Gen4-compatible system with the fastest possible SSD, this is a strong contender for most use cases. This drive and the FireCuda 530 appear to perform particularly well in gaming loads. The only disadvantage of choosing the Kingston over the Seagate model is the KC3000’s lower endurance rating, at 800 TBW versus the FireCuda’s 1,275 TBW (1 TB capacity).
Check prices (1TB): Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
Reviews: Tom’s Hardware, StorageReview
5. Seagate FireCuda 530
Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe
Available Capacities: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
7,300 MB/s read (1TB)
6,000 MB/s write (1TB)
As previously mentioned, the Seagate FireCuda 530 uses the same Phison E18 controller and 176-layer TLC NAND combo but falls ever-so-slightly behind Kingston’s KC3000 in most benchmarks. This does not change the fact that the FireCuda 530 is an exceptionally fast SSD, and it also comes with excellent endurance ratings: 1,275 TBW with the 1 TB model and 2,550 TBW with the 2 TB capacity.
Check prices (1TB): Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
Reviews: StorageReview, TweakTown
6. Corsair MP600 PRO XT
Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe
Available Capacities: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
7,100 MB/s read (1TB)
5,800 MB/s write (1TB)
As its name implies, the Corsair MP600 PRO XT is an updated version of the MP600 PRO (non-XT). The main difference is that this model has been updated with the same high-density memory chips as the first two drives mentioned above. Consequently, it offers about the same performance, with sequential transfer rates of up to 7,100 MB/s (read) and 5,800 MB/s (write) for the 1TB version. Much like its main competitors, however, the 2TB and 4TB capacities are a bit faster in terms of sequential write performance (6,800 MB/s) and up to 1,000,000 IOPS random reads.
Check prices (1TB): Amazon, Newegg
7. Adata Legend 960
Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe
Available Capacities: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
7,400 MB/s read (1TB)
6,000 MB/s write (1TB)
Adata’s Legend 960 was launched in late 2022, and like many of its competitors, it uses the excellent B47R 176-layer NAND from Micron. Instead of the somewhat ubiquitous Phison E18 controller, however, it is equipped with the 8-channel Silicon Motion SM2264 controller. It nevertheless follows the same pattern as its Phison-based competitors, with the 2TB and 4TB capacities being measurably faster than the smaller 1TB model.
Check prices (1TB): Amazon
8. WD Black SN850
Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe
Available Capacities: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB
7,000 MB/s read (1TB)
5,300 MB/s write (1TB)
Western Digital’s SN850 offers sequential transfer rates of up to 7,000 MB/s (read) and 5,000 MB/s (write), while 4K random performance is up to 1,000,000 IOPS. This is enough to outperform the Seagate FireCuda 530 in some synthetic benchmarks, and it’s also slightly ahead of the Samsung 980 PRO overall.
Check prices: Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
Reviews: AnandTech
9. HP FX900 Pro
Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe
Available Capacities: 512B, 1TB, 2TB
7,400 MB/s read (1TB)
6,400 MB/s write (1TB)
The HP FX900 Pro arrived in March 2022 and is based on the IG5236 Rainier controller from InnoGrit. This makes it similar to the Acer Predator GM7000 and XPG Gammix S70 (see below), but the HP FX900 Pro uses high-density 176-layer Micron NAND memory, resulting in improved performance. It particularly outshines its competitors in the random read/write area, where the 2TB capacity offers well over a million IOPS.
Check prices: Amazon
Reviews: AnandTech
10. Samsung 970 EVO Plus (Best Gen3 SSD)
Interface: PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe
Available Capacities: 250 GB, 500 GB, 1 TB
3500MB/s read
3300MB/s write
Instead of launching an entirely new model, Samsung updated its popular 970 EVO lineup with the 970 EVO in 2019. As the name implies, it is basically an improved version of the same SSD, using the same controller but denser, 96-layer TLC NAND, and some additional tweaks. The improvements are particularly noticeable in terms of write performance. Sequential transfer rates are up from 2,500 MB/s to 3,300 MB/s, meaning that it outperforms the 970 PRO in some cases.
According to Samsung, random write performance with the 970 EVO Plus has been improved by as much as 57% compared to the previous EVO.
Check prices: Amazon, Newegg, Amazon UK
Summary
We’ve tried our best to compile the most comprehensive list of SSDs available and used this to create the lists you see above. Since there are new drives launched each month, we will update our list and ratings regularly. Also, if you think we’ve omitted something or need correction, don’t hesitate to leave a comment!
Lots of abbreviations and technical terms are used on product pages and SSD discussions. If you are new to them they will, needless to say, be totally incomprehensible. We will attempt to explain some of them here.
What Does SLC, MLC, TLC, and QLC Mean?
An SSDs performance, as well as its life span, is to a large extent determined by the quality of the memory cells. Higher-quality memory not only performs better but can also be erased and written to a larger number of times before it wears out.
SLC (single-level cell) NAND Flash memory is more durable than MLC (multi-level cell, two bits per cell), which in turn is more durable than TLC (triple-level cell) NAND.
Over the past few years, QLC (quad-level cell) drives such as the Samsung QVO have also become available. Additional bits per cell affect performance negatively because it makes the cells considerably more error-prone. There are clever technologies that compensate for this, but in the end, there is no substitute for higher-quality NAND.
As is often the case, high-end memory chips are more expensive to produce. There are no SSDs based on SLC memory in the market today (it has always been prohibitively expensive), and very few that use MLC. Samsung’s PRO lineup is an exception, excluding the 980 PRO, which is a TLC drive.
SSD endurance: What is MTBF and TBW?
MTBF is short for “mean time before failure” and is more relevant for conventional hard drives than SSDs, which have no mechanical parts that are prone to failure over time. TBW (terabytes written or total bytes written) is much more useful. This will give you is an indication of how much data can be written to the drive before it wears out. This is affected by the drive’s capacity, spare capacity (so-called overprovisioning), and the quality of the NAND memory chips.
For a drive with a 300 TBW rating, 300 TB is the amount of data that the manufacturer guarantees can be written to it (usually in a mutually exclusive number of years). This is not to say that an SSD will necessarily fail after this amount of data has been written. It is part of the warranty terms and an indication of its relative endurance.
Production Processes
Unlike other parts such as a CPU/GPU, a smaller production process as measured in nanometers (nm), is not a strong selling point, as this results in lower durability, all else being equal. For the average home or office user, durability is rarely an issue, since most SSDs are likely to outlive the rest of the computer by a fair margin. Just don’t rely on low-cost drives with cheap NAND in a server or other environment with a high continuous workload.
Interesting that you did not list Samsung 1725a or b drives 3500/3000Mbps at 800,000 Iops or the PM983.
A valid point. Actually we did list enterprise/datacenter products originally. But since these can barely be obtained or used by the average mortal due to the cost and interface constraints, we decided to lessen the scope to just consumer drives.
Hello, This post was really helpful. I bought a corsair mp600 ssd and found out that it’s a NVME type. May be that’s the reason for higher speed. Right?
Corsair CSSD-N400GBNX500 took my boot time for Windows 10 Pro from a descent 18 seconds on my corsair 1T SSD to 13 seconds flat. I load into many of my games on PUBG at least 12 seconds before my son’s SSD loads him in when que’ed up on the same team. The install was super simple and quick, no drivers were needed to install, just plug and play. 🙂
5 seconds for $450…congrats on winning…absolutely nothing…
Bragging rights! Yeah.
After your suggestion, I bought the OCZ RevoDrive 350 from Amazon and it arrived within 2 days.
Thanks a lot!
I am thinking of getting Samsung 860 EVO as soon as this Coronavirus tension eases
crucial mx500 is still cheap and a better choice in my opinion!
I am thinking to buy Crucial MX500 for my desktop PC.
Silicon Power PCIe 3.0 and 2.5 Sata are great options and you can usually find it cheaper than many of the ones listed. I believe they have a PCIe 4.0 too. What do you think Jesper?
Hi Jordan. I agree, they appear to be solid and reasonably priced products. I’ll include one or more on the list.
Seagate FireCuda 120 SSD is my all time favorite.
This ssd is very fast and I also love to review it.
Samsung 970 Evo Plus is absolutely one of the best and fastest SSD, I had ever use till now.
I bought it from amazon last 5 months ago and has experienced a really good speed on my pc performance.
Great information, thanks for sharing it with us
Great list. Samsung is what I recommend.
kingston fury renegade 4tb is faster than Seagate FireCuda
Thanks for your comment! I was just about to add the Kingston KC3000 and hadn’t heard about the Fury Renegade. These two appear to be a near-identical save for slightly different NAND provisioning.
https://www.kingston.com/unitedstates/us/ssd/gaming/kingston-fury-renegade-nvme-m2-ssd
https://www.kingston.com/unitedstates/us/ssd/kc3000-nvme-m2-solid-state-drive
So, now that it’s common knowledge that manufacturers are switching out components to much lower performance units, are you willing to take down these reviews, or at least add caveats, since you can’t even purchase many of these drives anymore?
Thank you for writing this post. I purchased a 2TB Seagate FireCuda 530 and discovered that it is an NVME device. Perhaps the increased speed is due to this.
TEAMGROUP T-Force CARDEA A440 Pro Graphene 2tb
7400/7000
1TB: 700TBW
2TB: 1,400TBW
4TB: 3,000TBW
excellent info but i’d like to see some about the really inexpensive chinese components