Crucial P3 Plus 4TB PCIe 3.0, 3D NAND, NVMe, M.2 SSD, up to 5000MB/s - CT4000P3PSSD8

Product Information

One last caveat to drop in before we get to our product recommendations surrounds Intel's SSD line. Intel for a while sold a family of M.2-based storage products under the brand name Optane, in two very distinct types of drive. Intel'sOptane SSDsare SSDs like any other, bootable drives that can serve as a stand-alone boot drive or as secondary storage. They were discontinued for consumers in 2021, but you may still see them around. (Incidentally, Intel ultimately sold its SSD business at the end of 2021 to SK Hynix, which has spun it off into a new Hynix subsidiary, Solidigm.) The only SSDs that will work in the PS5 are Gen 4.0 NVMe models with heatsinks. Gen 3.0 models are too slow to reach the minimum recommend read speeds of 5,500 MB/s. Fortunately, the prices are continuing to fall on some of the biggest names in the storage world making 2023 the best time to consider investing. Do I need a heatsink for my SSD on PS5?

M.2 drive length isn't always an indicator of drive capacity, but there are limits to NAND-chip density and how many memory modules engineers can stuff onto a PCB of a given size. As a result, most of the M.2 drives we've seen to date have topped out at 2TB, though you can find a few 4TB and 8TB models at lofty prices. The typical capacity waypoints are as follows: Furthermore, the SN850 shines when integrated with a PlayStation 5, registering read speeds of about 6,550MB/s, enhancing game load times on the PS5 over integrated console storage.You don't have a proper heatsink: We strongly recommend getting the SN850 designed specially for the PS5 as the standard version does not come with a heatsink fitted and can overheat. M.2 drive length isn't always an indicator of drive capacity, but therearelimits to NAND-chip density and how many memory modules engineers can stuff onto a PCB of a given size. As a result, most of the M.2 drives we've seen to date have topped out at 2TB, though you can find a few 4TB and 8TB models at lofty prices. The typical capacity waypoints are as follows: Ultimately, this SSD is about delivering fast, consistent performance for the entirety of its very long life, so if you're looking for an SSD to perform constant data operations rather than just load up the best PC games that you'll never actually uninstall, than the Patriot Viper VP4300 is the M.2 SSD you've been looking for. You want a smaller capacity PS5 SSD: While the Nextorage NEM-PA is available in other capacities and performs well, the price point is less aggressive at 1TB and 2TB than at 4TB. The key thing to remember about M.2 is that it is a form factor, a shape. The bus—the data pathway over which the data travels to and from an M.2 drive—is distinct from M.2 itself and can vary. And it can make all the difference.

The TBW write endurance is a particular highlight of the Samsung 980 Pro, especially in these latter two configurations, as there's a rating of 600TB and 1200TB respectively. There's no chance of slowing down or degradation over the years, and with a 5-year warranty, you've got peace of mind knowing it'll keep up for the long haul. The downside is its durability. The 970 EVO Plus has the lowest durability as measured by MTBF, rating only 1,500,000 hours, and its TBW rating at 2TB is 1200, matching the SN750, but lagging the XPG SX8200. At 256GB, it scores a rather low 150, the lowest of the three PCIe 3.0 contenders.Under typical conditions for airflow and ambient temperature, our pre-installed premium heatsink allows the T700 Gen5 SSD to run at max workload without the need to thermal throttle. Please ensure your drive has proper airflow for maximum performance.

We test SSDs for PS5 by recording the file transfer times as well as loading times in-game, too. The official Sony benchmark gives us a rough consistent read pace. After that, we compare how the PS5 SSD compares to the internal storage drive to see if it is on par or surpasses what the system does as standard. We look at the asking price for the drives and compare them with the performance which factors into the overall verdicts. To test the M.2 SSDs on this list, perform a number of benchmark tests on them to measure their sequential and random read speeds and their sequential and random write speeds. These include PassMark's PerformanceTest Disk benchmark, CrystalDiskMark 8, 3DMark and PCMark 10, as well as our own, in-house SSD operation scripts to simulate and time the SSD's speed when copying files. That's not a bad thing. Especially in the case of laptops, an older machine might support only M.2 SATA-bus SSDs, and that will be the boundary of your upgrade path...end of story. As a result, the only reasons you'd upgrade the drive, in that situation, would be to get more capacity, or if the old one failed.But first, the shape issue. Any M.2 drive you are looking at will be labeled with a four- or five-digit number as part of its specifications or model name. It's a measurement, in millimeters: The first two numbers define the drive's width, the second two the length. Samsung's 990 Pro M.2 SSD garnered attention upon its announcement, primarily due to its adherence to the existing PCIe 4.0 standard instead of the anticipated PCIe 5.0. However, its performance, nearly maxing out the PCIe 4.0’s potential, silenced many naysayers. For gamers, it boasts unparalleled read speeds; for creative professionals, its write speeds shine, especially during intensive tasks. Of all the M.2 SSD's on this list, the Samsung EVO Plus is the most expensive, in some cases (against XPG SX8200, for example) by a good margin. If you have the money to spend and you want the fastest SSD your PCIe 3.0 board can handle, then you can't go wrong with the Samsung EVO Plus.

The PNY XLR8 CS3140 M.2 SSD is one of the best SSDs around, both for gamers and PC enthusiasts alike. Available in three capacities—1TB, 2TB, and 4TB—this SSD is a great swan song for the PCIe 4.0 era as PCIe 5.0 SSDs start to roll out.

Lexar NM790

Welcome to the cutting edge! You're shopping for a kind of drive that many folks don't even realize exists. As a result, you need to pay attention to several factors that may not be documented very well while you shop. Let's recap. You're on a strict budget: There's no getting around the fact that the Samsung 990 Pro is pricey, meaning the older 980 Pro could be a better buy if you've got limited funds. Nowadays, though, many lean, premium laptops can make use of PCI Express-bus M.2 SSDs. (Just about all new desktop motherboards with M.2 slots also support PCI Express M.2 SSDs, too.) With these, you may see a substantive increase in performance in benchmark testing, but in most real-world usage, they'll just feel like a fast, premium SATA SSD. At the core, an SSD is just a thin circuit board studded with flash-memory and controller chips. Why not design around that? Thus the M.2 form factor was born. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. In my early career, I worked as an editor of scholarly science books, and as an editor of "Dummies"-style computer guidebooks for Brady Books (now, BradyGames). I'm a lifetime New Yorker, a graduate of New York University's journalism program, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.