The Best Internal SSDs for Your PC

To save you time and money, we went digging through a pile of great SSDs to find nothing but the best internal SSDs available. In this roundup, you’ll find critical buying information for the best overall SSD, best budget SSD, best premium SSD, best upgrade SSD, best gaming SSD, and best high-capacity SSD.

What to Look For in an Internal SSD

SSDs come in different brands, shapes, and sizes, but more importantly, in different types and specs. Therefore, it is important to consider the following factors when you go shopping for internal SSDs.

• Purpose: What exactly do you need an SSD for? Is it for an upgrade or for gaming? Answering this all-important question will help you decide on which type of SSD to buy.
• Type: Speaking of type, SSDs come in two types — NVMe (M.2) and SATA (M.2 or 2.5-inch). Newer NVMe drivers are faster than their SATA counterparts, though product descriptions often conflate these terms, so be sure to check a drive’s actual speed before buying it.
• Speed: NVMe SSDs are much faster than SATA SSDs and therefore more expensive. For instance, the average NVMe drive can reach max speeds of 3.5GB/s versus 600MB/s for a SATA.
• Heatsink: SSDs with heatsinks dissipate more heat during intense read-write operations allowing them to outperform non-heatsink versions by a long stretch.
• Capacity: Generally speaking, even a 128GB SSD upgrade results in a significant performance boost. There are also higher-priced 256GB to 8TB high-capacity SSDs.

Note that SSD performance depends on its firmware version and your system’s hardware configuration or specs.

Best Overall: Samsung 870 EVO 1TB SATA 3 SSD

Our top pick for the best internal SSD is the Samsung 870 EVO 1TB SATA 3 SSD. This 2.5-inch SATA 3 SSD can reach read-write speeds of 560/530MB/s. This makes everyday computing, 8k video processing, and multitasking a breeze. It has been compatibility tested with Samsung internal, AMD, MSI, Gigabyte, Synology, QNAP, BlackMagicDesign, and ATMOS.

Setup is easy. Simply plug it into the standard 2.5-inch SATA mount on your PC or laptop and let Samsung’s renewed migration software and Samsung Magician do the rest.

The Samsung EVO 870 is also available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB variants. It is ideal for PC/laptop upgrades, IT pros, creators, and everyday use. For even more storage, check out some of the best HDDs.

Best Budget: Kingston A400 960GB SATA 3 SSD

 

Looking for a high-performance SSD that won’t break the bank? Then look no further than the popular Kingston A400 960GB SATA 3 SSD, our best budget SSD pick. Like the Samsung 870 EVO, this is also a 2.5-inch SATA 3 SSD. This 960GB SSD has read-write speeds of 500/450MB/s. Although SATA Rev 3.0-rated, it is backward compatible with SATA Rev 2.0.

With the Kingston A400 960GB SATA 3 SSD, you get up to 10x faster startup, loading, and transfers than a traditional HDD.  Built with Flash memory, it has no moving parts and is also shock and vibration-resistant making it ideal for everyday-use desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. It is equally available in 120GB, 240GB, 480GB, and 1.92TB versions.

Best Premium: Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSD

Got more spending power? Then check out the premium Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSD, one of the best internal SSDs in its class. It’s a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe M.2 SSD. This places it miles ahead of the previous SATA 3 SSDs. In fact, it is up to 12x faster than other Samsung SATA SSDs, making it ideal for immersive gaming, graphics, and other CPU-intensive tasks.

What’s more, it comes with an efficient integrated thermal control heatsink to prevent overheating and ensure low-lag top performance on your PS5 or gaming PC. It also comes with Samsung Magician software to monitor drive health, optimize performance, and protect your data. The Samsung 980 Pro is also available in 2TB for even more storage space.

Best for PC Upgrade: Western Digital SA510 1TB SSD

Western Digital is another popular name brand for quality internal SSDs and the Western Digital SA510 1TB SSD is one of the best internal SSDs for PC/laptop upgrades. This 2.5-inch M.2 SATA 3 SSD can reach read-write speeds of up to 560/520MB/s respectively. Buy this SSD instead of a new laptop and easily multitask, work efficiently, and improve productivity.

Thanks to the built-in Acronis True Image for Western Digital transfer and backup software, you can easily clone your entire hard drive to your WD SA510 SSD. It also offers AI-based ransomware protection plus seamless integration with Dropbox. It is ideal for IT professionals, freelancers, content creators, and editors. It is also available in 250GB and 500GB versions.

Best for Xbox: Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series

If you’re an Xbox fan, then the Seagate Storage Expansion Card for XBox is a must-have. It’s the best SSD expansion card for the Xbox Series X|S. This 1TB 2.5-inch eSATA USB storage expansion card is designed in partnership with and exclusive to Xbox. It allows you to play even more of your favorite Xbox Series X|S games directly from the expansion card.

Easy to install and use, this plug-and-play high-capacity storage replicates Xbox’s Velocity Architecture bringing you non-stop immersive gaming with top-notch graphics, latency, load times, and framerates.  The Seagate Storage Expansion card for Xbox clocks in at a speed of 550MB/s. It is portable and can be used on multiple Xbox devices. This SSD will enhance your gaming experience.

Best High Capacity: Sabrent 8TB Rocket 4 Plus

Internal SSDs come in different shapes and sizes, but few are like the 8TB Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus SSD. Other than 12TB enterprise-grade SSDs, this 8TB beast is our best high-capacity SSD pick. The 8TB Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus is an NVMe 4.0 Gen 4 PCIe M.2 internal SSD capable of 7/6.6GB/s sequential read-write speeds on a PCIe Gen 4 motherboard.

It is perfect for gaming, graphics, and more CPU-intensive tasks. With it, you can expect massive storage, HD graphics, minimal lag, lightning-fast speeds, and overall optimal performance. It also supports SMART and TRIM commands and ONFi 2.3 to 4.0 interfaces and comes with free Sabrent Acronis True Image software for backup, cloning, and transfers. The Samsung 870 QVO is another formidable 8TB SSD.