Black Friday SSD deals 2022: the best PC storage at low prices
Black Friday SSD deals
Jump straight to the deals you want…
1. US Internal SSD deals
2. US External SSD deals
3. UK Internal SSD deals
4. UK External SSD deals
These are all the Black Friday SSD deals still live going into the weekend, but we’re now switching focus to what’s coming up with the Cyber Monday SSD deals . That’s where all the latest and greatest discounts will now be curated going forward, so come take a look.
The Black Friday SSD deals started early in the week, and they haven’t dropped off now that Friday’s come and gone. That’s great, because a fast SSD is one of the easiest and most impactful upgrades you can make to your gaming PC. They make load times in games like Elden Ring and God of War breeze by, and will dramatically improve your overall Windows experience, too.
NVMe SSDs are what you want as primary storage inside your desktop (and even your modern gaming console). They are faster, more efficient, and more reliable than an old spinny hard drive , and they feel noticeably faster than older SATA SSDs, too. With DirectStorage coming soon, expect to see load times reduced even more. Just ensure that your motherboard has the requisite M.2 slots for an NVMe SSD—as soon as you find that out, you can take advantage of some of the really stellar Black Friday SSD deals popping up this year (if it was built in the last ~5 years, you’re probably covered).
With prices where they are, there’s no reason why your gaming PC shouldn’t already have a shiny new PCIe Gen 4 solid state drive, the fastest around right now. Trust me: you’ll see what the big fuss is once you feel it in action. You can now find top-of-the-line 1TB drives for around $100 / £100 and 2TB of SSD storage for less than $200 / £200. Anything larger than that starts to get expensive and is not worth the click unless you spot a really good deal on it, which is rare even on Black Friday.
But we’re watching for them.
- We’ll carry on curating the best Cyber Monday PC gaming deals all the way through.
As far as size is concerned, 1TB is the least amount of storage you want when shopping around for an SSD for your desktop. It might be tempting to go with something smaller because the price is right, but you’d be surprised how fast a 256GB and 512GB can fill up after installing a handful of games. Below are the best deals for internal and external SSDs that’ll fit your favorite games and media.
Where are the best Black Friday SSD deals?
In the US:
- Amazon — Up to 50% off internal and external SSDs
- Walmart — Deals on internal and external SSDs
- B&H Photo — Save up to $50 on NVMe SSDs
- Best Buy — Great prices on Samsung SSDs
- Staples — Save up to 30% on a range of SSDs, USB sticks, and external SSDs
- Newegg — Plenty of NVMe SSDs
- 1TB SSD — Solidigm P41 Plus |
$89.$59.99 at Amazon (save $30)
99 - 1TB SSD — Samsung 980 SSD |
$139.99$79.99 at Amazon (save $60) - 2TB SSD — SK Hynix Platinum P41 |
$259.99$169.99 at Amazon (save $90)
In the UK:
- Amazon UK — Save on HDDs, SDDs, and external drives
- Scan — SATA drives as low as £21
- Box — Save up to £82 on Western Digital SN750 NVMe SSDs
- Ebuyer — 500GB SSDs starting from £34.98
- Overclockers — Save up to £51 on Samsung SSDs
- Currys — Save £33.00 on WD Black SN750
- Laptops Direct — Save on SSDs for your laptop
- 1TB SSD — WD_BLACK SN850X |
£149.99£89.99 at Overclockers (save £60)
BLACK FRIDAY INTERNAL SSD DEALS IN THE US
Solidigm P41 Plus | 1TB | PCIe 4.
0 | 4,125MB/s reads | 2,950MB/s writes | $89.99 $59.99 at Amazon (save $30)
This is one of the cheapest 1TB NVMe SSDs you can grab right now. It’s a QLC drive, so the performance isn’t stellar, especially once you go beyond the SLC cache, but it’s still faster than a SATA drive. Solidigm is the new consumer brand from SK Hynix, so you know you’re in safe hands too.
SK hynix Platinum P41 | 2TB | PCIe 4.0 | 7,000MB/s reads | 6,500MB/s writes | $259.99 $169.99 at Amazon (save $90)
This deal on this impressive SK Hynix Platinum P41 might be the cheapest 2TB PCIe 4.0 we’ve found far. It’s a fine SSD with excellent performance. At $169.99, you won’t find a faster SSD at this price.
Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 | 1TB | PCIe 4.0 | 5,000MB/s reads | 4,400MB/s writes | $109.99 $79.99 at Newegg (save $30)
So, it’s not strictly a deal, but it’s another cheap 1TB PCIe 4.
0 SSD that’s still seriously quick. It’s an early PCIe 4.0 SSD, which explains why it lags behind more recent drives, but still, its Phison E16 controller and Toshiba TLC memory make it a quality drive. Especially for the money.
WD Black SN770 | 1TB | PCIe 4.0 | 5,150MB/s reads | 4,900MB/s writes | $129.99 $79.99 at Amazon (save $50)
It may not match the peak performance of the pricier SN850, but this is a great budget option. And a good shout for anyone still stuck on a PCIe 3.0 motherboard but with a yearning for an upgrade soonish. It’s a DRAM-less option, but the underlying performance is strong enough for most tasks.
Samsung 980 SSD | 1TB | PCIe 3.0 | 3,500 MB/s reads | 3,000 MB/s writes | $139.99 $79.99 at Amazon (save $60)
For well under $100, you can bag a full 1TB of fast PCIe 3.
0 SSD storage. That’s plenty of space for a boot drive and a host of your most often-played games. You would have to be a Samsung fan to pick this over the WD Black SN770, but if that goes out of stock, the Samsung 980 is a great backup. Back up. See, SSD deals with humor; we’ve got it all.
WD_BLACK SN850X | 1TB | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300MB/s read | 6,300MB/s writes | $134.99 $99.99 at Newegg (save $35)
The updated SN850X isn’t hugely different from the non-X version, but it has a slightly different SanDisk controller and higher performance. The big thing, though, is that it runs much cooler, so you don’t really need a heatsinked version. It’s also cheaper than the older drive right now, too.
PNY XLR8 CS3140 | 1TB | PCIe 4.0 | 7,500MB/s read | 5,650MB/s writes | $229.99 $99.99 at Amazon (save $130)
PNY has got an impressive little NVMe 1TB on sale for $100.
It’s a solid drive that can also be used inside a PlayStation 5 for an easy storage upgrade. If you got some extra spending cash, there’s a 2TB version of the drive with a heatsink on sale for only $270 . Either way, you won’t be disappointed.
Samsung 980 Pro | 1TB | PCIe 4.0 | 7,000MB/s read | 5,000MB/s writes | $129 $109.99 at Amazon (save $21)
The Samsung 980 Pro is one of the classic early PCIe 4.0 SSDs and is still a high performer. The fact it’s been outclassed by the 990 Pro in terms of raw speed is one thing, but you’ll barely notice that in the real world. And when it’s $60-odd cheaper the 980 Pro becomes a stellar drive.
Our state-of-the-art price-searching bots are all over the web, tracking down the best prices all the time. That means this list will be regularly curated multiple times each day.
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addlink M.2 SSD 1TB S70 Gaming up to…addlink M.2 SSD 1TB S70 Gaming up to 3200MB/s NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 3D TLC NAND Read 3200 MB/s Write 2600 MB/s M.2 2280 Internal Solid State Drive
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Sabrent 1TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2…Sabrent 1TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 Internal SSD Maximum Performance Solid State Drive (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-1TB)
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Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB NVMe PCIe M.
2 2280…Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 Internal SSD High Performance Solid State Drive R/W 3200/2000MB/s (SB-RKTQ-1TB)
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addlink M.2 SSD 1TB S70 up to 3,400MB/s…addlink M.2 SSD 1TB S70 up to 3,400MB/s NVMe PCIe GEN 3×4 3D TLC NAND R/W up to 3,400/3,000 MB/s M.2 2280 Internal Solid State Drive
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addlink M.2 SSD 2TB S70 Gaming up to…addlink M.2 SSD 2TB S70 Gaming up to 3500MB/s NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 3D TLC NAND Read 3500 MB/s Write 3000 MB/s M.2 2280 Internal Solid State Drive
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BLACK FRIDAY EXTERNAL SSD DEALS IN THE US
Samsung T7 | 2TB | USB 3.
2 Gen 2 Type-C | 1,050MB/s reads | 1,000MB/s writes | $229.99 $189.99 at Best Buy (save $40)
This pocket-sized external SSD offers solid performance at 1,050MB/s provided you’ve got an up-to-date USB port to make the most of it. At 2TB, it gives you plenty of room for your data and games too.
Crucial X6 SE| 1TB | USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C | 800MB/s reads | 800MB/s writes | $109.99 $69.99 at Best Buy (save $40)
If you’re just looking for a diminutive, cheap external SSD, this little guy might be just the thing. It’s a bit slower than the other deals here, and at 1TB you’re not going to be throwing all of your big games onto it, but it’s extremely portable and under $70.
PNY Pro Elite V2 | 1TB | USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C | 1,000MB/s reads | 1,000MB/s writes | $114.99 $84.
99 at Amazon (save $30)
If absolute portability is what you’re looking for, then the Pro Elite V2 is the portable SSD for you. This business card-sized external drive is speedy and, more importantly, is less than $100, which is a great price for a reliable 1TB drive.
WD My Passport| 2TB | USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C | 1050MB/s reads | 1000MB/s writes | $379.99 $149.99 at Amazon (save $230)
A speedy little external SSD with a very nice discount, the WD My Passport also benefits from additional layers of security, letting you password-protect and encrypt your data. If you’re clumsy, then there’s more good news, as it’s shock and vibration resistant and can be dropped from up to 6.5 feet.
Samsung T7 Shield Portable | 2TB | USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C | 1,050MB/s reads | 1,000MB/s writes | $249.99 $149.
99 at Best Buy (save $100)
The Samsung T7 Shield is the more rugged, better-looking cousin of the T7 Portable SSD. It gives you the same performance as the T7, but it’s rated IP65. This means it can withstand more elements than your typical external SSD and won’t break if it gets a little wet.
Our state-of-the-art price-searching bots are all over the web, tracking down the best prices all the time. That means this list will be regularly curated multiple times each day.
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Samsung T7 Portable SSD — 1 TB — USB…Samsung T7 Portable SSD — 1 TB — USB 3.2 Gen.2 External SSD Red
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LaCie Portable SSD 500GB External.
..LaCie Portable SSD 500GB External Portable SSD
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WD_BLACK 1TB P40 Game Drive SSD USB-C…WD_BLACK 1TB P40 Game Drive SSD USB-C USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 External NVMe Solid State Drive up to 2000 MB/s Customizable RGB lighting works with Playstation, Xbox, PC, & Mac
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Sabrent 2TB External Aluminum SSD,…Sabrent 2TB External Aluminum SSD, Rocket Nano V2, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, 1500 MB/s Transfer Speeds [SB-2TB-NAV2]
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LaCie Rugged SSD 1TB External SSD
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BLACK FRIDAY INTERNAL SSD DEALS IN THE UK
WD Black SN770 | 1TB | PCIe 4.
0 | 5,150MB/s reads | 4,900MB/s writes | £104.34 £68.99 at Ebuyer (save £35.35)
It may not match the peak performance of the pricier SN850, but this is a great budget option. And a good shout for anyone still stuck on a PCIe 3.0 motherboard but with a yearning for an upgrade soonish. It’s a DRAM-less option, but the underlying performance is strong enough for most tasks.
WD_BLACK SN850X | 1TB | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300MB/s reads | 6,300 MB/s writes | £149.99 £89.99 at Overclockers (save £60)
This new revision of our favourite gaming SSD is already enjoying a hefty price drop of £60. This makes it even cheaper than the non-X version, even though this is faster and cooler running. If you’re in the market for a new SSD, you’ll do well to find anything even remotely close to this.
Our state-of-the-art price-searching bots are all over the web, tracking down the best prices all the time.
That means this list will be regularly curated multiple times each day.
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addlink M.2 SSD 1TB S70 Gaming up to…addlink M.2 SSD 1TB S70 Gaming up to 3200MB/s NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 3D TLC NAND Read 3200 MB/s Write 2600 MB/s M.2 2280 Internal Solid State Drive
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Sabrent 1TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2…Sabrent 1TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 Internal SSD Maximum Performance Solid State Drive (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-1TB)
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Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280…Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 Internal SSD High Performance Solid State Drive R/W 3200/2000MB/s (SB-RKTQ-1TB)
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addlink M.2 SSD 1TB S70 up to 3,400MB/s…addlink M.2 SSD 1TB S70 up to 3,400MB/s NVMe PCIe GEN 3×4 3D TLC NAND R/W up to 3,400/3,000 MB/s M.2 2280 Internal Solid State Drive
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addlink M.2 SSD 2TB S70 Gaming up to.
BLACK FRIDAY EXTERNAL SSD DEALS IN THE UK
Crucial X8 | 1TB | USB 3.2 | 1,050MB/s reads | 1,000MB/s writes | £126.71 £78.48 at Amazon (save £47.72)
What’s better than external storage? Superfast external storage, that’s what. And it doesn’t get much faster than this chunk of aluminum and silicon—we’re talking transfer rates up to 1050MB/s here. It is also rugged enough to take you out into the big outdoors.
Our state-of-the-art price-searching bots are all over the web, tracking down the best prices all the time. That means this list will be regularly curated multiple times each day.
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Samsung T7 Portable SSD — 1 TB — USB…Samsung T7 Portable SSD — 1 TB — USB 3.2 Gen.
2 External SSD Red
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LaCie Portable SSD 500GB External…LaCie Portable SSD 500GB External Portable SSD
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WD_BLACK 1TB P40 Game Drive SSD USB-C…WD_BLACK 1TB P40 Game Drive SSD USB-C USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 External NVMe Solid State Drive up to 2000 MB/s Customizable RGB lighting works with Playstation, Xbox, PC, & Mac
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Sabrent 2TB External Aluminum SSD,.
What should I look for in a Black Friday SSD deal?
The main things to watch out for are the same for Black Friday SSD deals as with any other technology bargain hunting you do around this week. Go in there with an idea of what you want and, above all, what you need. It’s easy to get carried away at this time of year, but if you know how much you want to spend and what sort of SSD you’re after, you’ll be in good stead.
Capacity is a good starting point, and at the moment, we’re looking at some excellent 1TB offers, but a 512GB SSD will still afford you a lot of speed storage for a boot drive, with enough space for your most regularly played games. I mean, they’re not all Call of Duty, right?
Then think about the interface. Chances are, if you’ve been rocking a PC for the last five years, you’ll have an M.2 slot in your motherboard with NVMe support. However, it’s worth digging into the specifics of your motherboard to ensure it can support booting from such drives as not all can.
Check out the manufacturer’s pages and maybe forums too.
It’s also worth thinking about which version of the PCIe interface your storage slots operate on. On the AMD side, from the Ryzen 3000-series and up you should expect to have PCIe 4.0 slots on your motherboard, and from Intel’s 11th Gen Rocket Lake chips the same should be true. PCIe 4.0 drives are the current fastest (until Gen 5 drives drop, that is), but they still demand something of a premium.
That said, PCIe 3.0 drives are still incredibly speedy compared to anything that has come before, so you’ll be in a great place with any high-performance NVMe SSD purchase.
There are some things to look out for, however. Some budget PCIe 3.0 drives only operate at x2 speed, which means they’re half as fast as the standard x4 NVMe SSDs. It’s also worth ensuring your M.2 SSD is an NVMe drive. There are some M.2 SSDs that still operate over the SATA interface and can only reach a maximum theoretical speed of 600MB/s, while the theoretical maximum of an x4 PCIe 3.
0 interface is 4,000MB/s.
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Jorge is a hardware writer from the enchanted lands of New Jersey. When he’s not filling the office with the smell of Pop-Tarts, he’s reviewing all sorts of gaming hardware from laptops with the latest mobile GPUs to gaming chairs with built-in back massagers. He’s been covering games and tech for nearly ten years and has written for Dualshockers, WCCFtech, and Tom’s Guide.
WD Black SN850X 1TB SSD review
Our Verdict
WD’s Black SN850 was already one of our favourite M.2 SSDs. This new WD Black SN850X isn’t a revolutionary step forward by most measures. It’s even a little disappointing when it comes to 4K random access performance. But it is all the PCIe Gen 4 SSD you’re ever likely to need and it does solve the old SN850’s one slight flaw, namely toasty operating temperatures.
For
- Runs much cooler
- Great all-round performance
- All the Gen 4 SSD you’ll ever need
Against
- Not a major step forward
- No real gains in 4K random performance
- Heat sink adds cost
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The arrival of the new Ryzen 7000 CPU family means that PCIe Gen 5 is now a thing on both AMD and Intel platforms. But let’s be real. Your current PC almost certainly doesn’t have a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot. Enter, therefore, the new WD Black SN850X, something of a last hurrah for Gen 4 SSDs.
Reviewed here in its 1TB configuration, the WD_Black SN850X isn’t exactly a brand new drive, more a revision of the existing WD_Black SN850 non-X . Which is no bad thing. After all, the plain old SN850 was one of our fave M.2 SSDs . It’s fast, it’s competitively priced, and it’s backed by one of the best brands in storage. The old SN850, however, did run a little hot.
The new WD Black SN850X has a few solutions for that. First, our review configuration is clad head-to-toe in WD’s signature armour-style cooling. If that cooling solution has been optionally available on the old SN850, the new drive’s revised thermal profile WD hasn’t.
That’s specific to the SN850X.
Of course, if your motherboard comes with its own M.2 SSD cooling kit, you may not want to pay extra for a self-cooled SSD. Handily WD can cater for that. The new X model, like its forebear, can be had both with and without a heatsink, the latter option usefully coming in around $30/£25 cheaper.
Indeed, in many regards, this new X model is a dead ringer for the existing SN850. We’re talking four lanes of PCIe Gen 4 connectivity in the now ubiquitous M.2 2280 form factor. But the 1TB model reviewed here is now the entry-level option. There’s no longer a 512GB model. What’s more, WD’s in-house controller chip has been revised, though detailed specifics aren’t provided.
WD Black SN850X 1TB Specs
Capacity: 1TB
Form factor: M.2 2280
Interface: PCIe 4.0 x4
Rated performance: 7,300MB/s read, 6,300MB/s write
Random IOPS: 1.1M read, 800K write
DRAM cache: 1GB DDR4
SLC cache: 300GB dynamic
Write endurance: 600 TBW
Warranty: 5 years
Price: $179.
99 | £150.99
The drive’s TLC flash memory chips have likewise been upgraded from 96-layer TLC chips to newer 112-layer tech, though that’s still some way behind the fancy new 176-layer NAND from the likes of Micron and SK Hynix. Nevertheless, the new SN850X sports a higher claimed performance than before. So, the question is whether it now has what it takes to compete with Gen 4 speed freaks like the SK Hynix Platinum P41 .
For this 1TB model, WD reckons that write speeds have been bumped from 7,000MB/s to 7,300MB/s, while reads take a bigger leap from 5,300MB/s to 6,300MB/s. That’s very much in the same ballpark as the SK Hynix drive. Moving on to IOPS, the old 1TB SN850 notched up a claimed 1M reads and 720K writes. WD says the revised X model is now good for 1.1M and 800K respectively. Not bad, though the SK Hynix cranks out 1.4M and 1.3M read and write IOPS.
As for write endurance, this 1TB drive is rated at 600TB and thus the same as both the old non-X and several other big-brand 1TB drives like the Samsung 980 Pro, albeit the SK Hynix monster inevitably has the edge with a 750TB rating.
In reality, you’re getting hundreds of gigabytes of writes daily for five years plus, either way.
(Image credit: Future)
Rather more specific to this WD drive is the latest 2.0 version of the company’s Game Mode drive management software. WD claims it improves game loading times courtesy of a so-called “read look-ahead” algorithm, which predictively caches game data. It now runs automatically, detecting when games are loaded. How much that kind of feature actually makes a difference in the real world is notoriously difficult to pin down. But it’s unlikely to be revolutionary.
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What we can say for sure is that peak sequential throughput is pretty much in line with WD’s numbers. The CrystalDiskMark results are therefore just over the claimed 7,300MB/s for reads and likewise clear of 6,300MB/s for writes, making this a very quick 1TB drive. Only 2TB models, including the aforementioned SK Hynix P41, are quicker.
Reduced operating temps are another clear benefit of this new drive. The old SN850 hit a toasty 77°C. The new drive hits just 58°C under sustained load. That’s a very worthwhile improvement. Elsewhere, the gains are less obvious, albeit the SN850 was already a great drive. The 4K random access results are a little disappointing, showing little to no improvement. Likewise, don’t expect big gains in system-wide measures of performance like PC Mark 10.
Finally, the new SN850X’s SLC cache allocation hasn’t changed. So, with an empty drive, you get around 300GB’s worth of writes at peak performance before the underlying performance of the TLC NAND chips is exposed. That should be enough for most if not all users.
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All of which means that the new WD Black SN850X isn’t exactly a revolutionary leap forward. Indeed, in the real world, you’ll struggle to notice the difference compared to the existing SN850 drive.
But then that’s because the SN850 is a very good SSD. The one exception to that is operating temperatures. Happily, this new X model runs unambiguously cooler.
For most PC applications, that probably doesn’t matter. But for small form factor rigs and perhaps a gaming laptop, every little can certainly help. On that note, for most applications, we’d probably go for the cheaper bare drive rather than this more expensive model with its heat spreader. The revised SN850X is inherently a cooler-running thing, after all.
Read our review policy
WD Black SN850X 1TB
WD’s Black SN850 was already one of our favourite M.2 SSDs. This new WD Black SN850X isn’t a revolutionary step forward by most measures. It’s even a little disappointing when it comes to 4K random access performance. But it is all the PCIe Gen 4 SSD you’re ever likely to need and it does solve the old SN850’s one slight flaw, namely toasty operating temperatures.
Jeremy has been writing about technology and PCs since the 90nm Netburst era (Google it!) and enjoys nothing more than a serious dissertation on the finer points of monitor input lag and overshoot followed by a forensic examination of advanced lithography.
Or maybe he just likes machines that go “ping!” He also has a thing for tennis and cars.
Is it possible to install games on an SSD? But gamers are still wondering if it is necessary to install a solid state for gaming? It is logical that the startup speed will increase. But whether ssd affects gameplay, whether it can be better than a regular hard drive, and whether it is worth paying more is not entirely clear. And what to do with the restriction on reading and overwriting — too. This article will help you figure it out. nine0003
Impact of SSD drive on gaming
This section will show if SSD drive affects computer performance in games. Here are considered aspects that relate not only to the speed of the gameplay, but also to the overall comfort of using the game assembly, namely:
- impact on FPS;
- impact on loading textures and levels;
- noise during operation.
FPS
The use of a solid state drive is noticeable in large-scale open world projects.
Regardless of the video card and RAM capacity, a positive result is clearly visible. Memory is constantly loaded with new parts, which is not easy for a system with a classic HDD. The result of such loads are FPS drawdowns. nine0003
SSD endures such tests much more easily, minimizing the number of delays. SSD drives do not have read heads, which means that you do not need to spend time moving them to read information. As a result, the gamer gets a stable frame rate.
To the topic: What is an SSD disk — a device and 3 types of storage memory
Loading textures
In an online game, textures are not loaded at the beginning of the process, but only when a character approaches them. As a result, performance is reduced, and this is especially noticeable to the gamer when his character moves through well-drawn terrain with complex architecture and design. nine0003
Loading textures in real time is tantamount to torture for a normal hard drive.
The computer starts to seriously slow down, and, naturally, the gamer does not get any pleasure from the gameplay. Of course, this does not reflect in the best way on the efficiency of the player. In this sense, the ssd is better, because while the textures are loading, the performance of the game does not decrease.
Fast loading levels
Modern games are heavy, and for good reason. There is a continuous processing of information that is «thrown» into the RAM. In this situation, the boot process is also significantly accelerated due to the SSD. This is especially acute in projects whose level of optimization is far from ideal. nine0003
When comparing Battlefield 3 boot times, for example, the SSD completed the task almost three times faster than the HDD. It will not be superfluous to take into account the fact that both drives were connected to the computer via the SATAIII interface.
Note : Speed increase is noticeable in both online and offline modes of various games.
Curious: TOP 10 manufacturers of SSD drives
Silence during operation
The lack of mechanics in solid state drives makes them completely silent. Third-party sounds that can be heard when using hard drives with ssd will be a thing of the past. In addition, the absence of mechanical parts makes SSDs more resistant to damage.
Useful: How to check the status of an SSD in Windows and Mac — 10 monitoring software
Which SSD to buy for a gaming computer
As you can see, in terms of gaming performance, SSD is better than HDD. Solid state has a positive effect on the speed of not only loading the OS, but also textures and levels. But in order not to be disappointed in building a gaming PC with an SSD, it is worth choosing the right media option. To do this, you need to look at the type of memory and characteristics. nine0003
For games, the best option is MLC or V, since TLC, although cheaper, wears out faster, and SLC is too expensive.
Note : there is a myth that you can’t put anything on the ssd other than the OS and programs due to the limited read-rewrite cycle. But this is not so: even a mid-range SSD with MLC memory can live for 5 years if you write 20 GB of memory to it daily. So recording heavy games will not limit the life of the drive. nine0048
Useful: TOP 10 best 1TB SSDs — 1000 GB SSD rating Selected individually, based on the budget. But the minimum for games is a half-terabyte ssd, and this is provided that the computer also has HDD storage. If we are talking about assembling a PC from scratch, in which you do not plan to install a hard drive, then you should take a closer look at SSD drive models of at least 1 TB. nine0012
Details: 9 main criteria for choosing a good SSD
Do you need an SSD drive for games or can you get by with a regular hard drive
How important is an SSD drive for games, what does it affect and why is this technology useful — exactly about this will be discussed in our article. A solid state drive has a number of significant advantages over a conventional hard drive. One of the most valuable among them is the ability to instantly download files written to it. This is because this type of device has no moving parts, so no time is wasted moving the disk head. nine0003
In addition, SSD drives are lightweight, extremely low power consumption, high write speed, no noise and the ability to fully function with the fastest interfaces. With their help, any files are read much faster than on conventional HDDs, while the operating system itself becomes more efficient.
We’ll talk more about all this, as well as whether you need an SSD drive for games and why you should install it, we’ll talk further.
If we talk about games that have an old architecture, where resources are located as a huge number of small files, then a regular hard drive processes them incredibly slowly. As an example, we can take the well-known World of Tanks. Even on the most powerful PCs, a significant drop in performance becomes noticeable during mass skirmishes, in company battles and battles on the global map.
Using the same gaming SSD, you can eliminate the existing drawback and maintain the required speed of the game. As for the increase in frames per second, it is quite insignificant. Developers are well aware that the drive is the weakest link in the computer, so it should not be overloaded. Basically, the performance in games is affected by the processor and video card. nine0003
Fast loading levels
One of the most important factors that distinguishes a solid state drive from a conventional device.
Games weigh 50 GB for a reason, and they constantly use the necessary information, throwing it into RAM. In this case, booting from the SSD is much faster. Moreover, the worse the optimization of the application, the more noticeable the difference between the drives. Therefore, when wondering if it is possible to install games on an SSD, know that this must be done to improve performance. nine0003
If you look at the loading time using the example of Battlefield 3, you can see that the Crucial MX 255 GB SSD significantly outperforms (almost 3 times) the regular Seagate 3TB HDD, despite the fact that they both work at a faster SATAIII interface.
Basically, this feature manifests itself in offline games, although many users say that loading from a hard drive in online battles is also quite fast and you have to constantly wait for «slow» players. In this case, SSD PC owners can discuss tactics ahead of time while the rest of us are still admiring the loading screen and drinking tea.
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It is also important to say about multiple windows of the same game (applies to MMORPG gamers), which is torture for the HDD, while the SSD can easily endure such loads. Do not forget about mods, which are often «screwed» to the engine using third-party scripts and libraries. That is, they are loaded into memory in an abnormal way. Ordinary drives don’t like this kind of activity, while there is no difference at all for SSDs in games.
Stable FPS
The solid state hard drive is especially useful when the user is playing games with a large open world. No matter how much RAM and video memory a PC would have in this case, the application constantly loads the memory with new areas on the map and its details, which greatly loads the system and squanders FPS. In this case, the SSD does its job much better, working with a minimum number of delays, than a mechanical drive, the reading head of which must move to the desired area and read the information. nine0003
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Also, if you put in an SSD for your gaming PC, you can compensate for the lack of RAM in cases where the game is excessively voracious. The Windows operating system likes to use the paging file «on business and without it», while most games do not work at all without an activated swap, which takes up gigabytes of hard drive memory to use as RAM.
HDD devices significantly lose to solid state drives in terms of data access speed. Therefore, if a “slideshow” awaits you with the first one, then in the case of an SSD, a PC or laptop will pull out the game even “through I can’t”. nine0003
Fast loading of textures
In general, in online games, textures and other objects are loaded when the character approaches them, and not during entry. In view of this, it becomes possible to significantly reduce performance if you move through terrain with complex design and architecture.
A standard drive will not be able to load 3D textures in real time and will slow down a lot, which will certainly affect your efficiency and enjoyment of the game.
Therefore, if you decide to buy an SSD for games, then this is definitely the right decision. nine0003
Quiet and reliable
As we said earlier, solid state devices have no moving parts. Therefore, computers equipped with them do not make noise and do not make strange sounds even under heavy load. Given the modern technologies used in the production of computer components, you can assemble an absolutely silent device. Moreover, the absence of moving parts makes the drive itself more reliable and minimizes the likelihood of it breaking.
It should also be said that an SSD is worth buying and installing for the reason that it will ensure the complete safety of information where a conventional magnetic drive will lose it. In standard hard drives, memory sectors “die” without the possibility of recovery, and in SSD information simply goes into read mode. That is, the saved gameplay can be transferred to another drive. nine0003
Dispelling some myths
- You cannot install anything other than the system and programs on the SSD, otherwise it will quickly wear out.
If we take into account drives of the middle price segment with the most popular type of MLC memory, then when writing up to 20GB of information per day to it, it will live for about 5 years. There is a separate report on this topic. Therefore, I believe this myth is fundamentally wrong. During this time, a conventional HDD can also easily fail. - SSDs are very expensive. About 5-10 years ago, it was like that, then they cost about 400-500 dollars. Today, if you look at the catalog of popular stores, you can see that their price has dropped significantly (ranging from $80 — 128GB) and now almost everyone can buy a reliable SSD and use it for games. nine0012
- Strong increase in FPS (frames per second) in games. As mentioned above, buying an SSD alone cannot achieve a significant increase in performance, or even almost impossible, if we talk specifically about FPS. It is better to save a little and install a more powerful video card or processor instead. And soon get an SSD, which will become a kind of additional element for faster loading of the game and textures.
Summing up
Given the above information, we can now answer the question of whether an SSD is needed for a gaming PC. For the average user, it will not be something revolutionary and will most likely act as a nice addition. But if you are a gamer, then if possible, this device should be taken and installed on a computer without a doubt. Especially if you like demanding games with good graphics. nine0003
Solid state hard drive will make your PC more productive in both online and offline games. You can easily play team games with a large number of participants and extensive maps. With an SSD, you will not only get maximum comfort, but also gain superiority over other players.
Found a nice picture showing the strengths and weaknesses of each device.
Speaking of SSD or HDD — which is better for gaming, it’s enough just to mention the fact that having a solid state drive is a mandatory requirement for all participants in eSports competitions.
