Best SSDs for Gaming 2017 – Ultimate Buyer’s Guide

Looking forward to upgrading your gaming PC or Laptop? Don’t forget to grab any of the best gaming SSDs of 2017!

Solid State Drives are the simplest and most cost-effective upgrade to boost the entire performance of a gaming rig.

An SSD drive is way much more ahead of conventional HDDs, which had moving optical drives and laser beams to read and write data. HDDs used more power, obviously too slower and most importantly had more chances of dying. Whereas, SSDs are proudly called silent killer drives with non-volatile NAND flash technology. They are much more solid-state, like RAMs but can hold data in off-state as well. With solid-state nature, reading and writing speeds are up to 100 times more faster along with power-efficiency and fewer chances of dying.

Best SSDs Drives for Gaming 2017

We literally did a lot of research, bumping deeper into the gaming blogs, forums, and social networks. Then we nailed Amazon to prepare this mighty gaming SSD buyer’s guide of 2017. But every gamer must consider some important factors before proceeding ahead!

Name

NAND Type

Warranty

Price ($)

Samsung 850 Evo

Samsung V-NAND

5 Years

Check price

Samsung 850 Pro

Samsung V-NAND

10 Years

Check price

Crucial MX300

Micron 3D technology

3 Years

Check price

SanDisk Extreme Pro

SanDisk 2nd Generation

10 Years

Check price

Crucial MX200

Micron 16nm 128Gbit MLC

3 Years

Check price

Transcends 370S

Synchronous MLC

3 Years

Check price

Kingston HyperX Savage

Toshiba Toggle A19 64Gbit

3 Years

Check price

Intel 750 Series

Intel 20nm 128Gbit MLC

5 Years

Check price

PNY CS2211

MLC

4 Years

Check price

SanDisk Ultra II

SanDisk 2nd Generation

3 Years

Check price

 1. Samsung 850 EVO – Best SSD to buy in 2017

Let’s call Samsung 850 Evo the most incredible SSD for gaming ever made! Considering all the factors of production and performance in a gaming rig. Samsung is the only brand that not only designs, but wholly manufactures the entire SSD itself.

That is why 850 Evo is insanely fast, securely durable and proudly a best seller in the market.

Capacities: It’s available in almost all standard sizes, starting from 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and way up to nearly unlimited 4TB. We also have two different forms of 850 Evo, a normal 2.5-inch, and an M.2 version.

Both are nearly equal in every in technology and performance. So, you should definitely consider the M.2 for using y our laptop in hybrid storage mode.

Features: Powered by the 3D V-NAND technology, with mighty 32 layers of flash cells compiled together to compete even the costliest SSDs today.

Samsung’s intelligent software and hardware combo proved to consume the least possible power and avoid heating, even under power gaming hours! Whereas the RAPID feature will boost and yield more power out of this gaming SSD.

It’s readily capable of working with the old PC’s without SATA III support, and the Samsung Magician will let you manage every gig of it in a cool way.

Speeds: 850 EVO has been at the topper at blazing speeds of data transfer, even today it can practically compete for very highly costed SSD drives that are double the price of 850 EVO.

Theoretically, it’s a 6GB/s SSD with 540MB/s read and 520MB/s data transfer speeds. Whereas the IOPS performance score ranges between 97K and 89K. Overall, it’s awesomely sufficient for a pro gamer to live with it for years.

Price & Warranty: The 250GB version will cost you $98 at the time we reviewed, whereas the mighty 4TB version is currently $1,390. All with the world’s trusted Samsung 3-year warranty.

You are literally good too with 250GB size, but do check out the latest price of your required capacities in the links below.

Conclusion

Bad: Although writing speeds might fall from 500MB/s under extreme hot climate and very heavy loads, especially in lower capacity models which might not last longer than the higher ones. That is why Samsung only offers a 3-year warranty, considered limited in SSD market.

Good: But 850 EVO was born to lead with perfect combination to win awards and hearts of pro gamers. It competes for head to toe with industry’s leading SSDs, considering a very low price tag filled with enough love to gift it to a gamer or instantly grab it to give a new life entirely to your gaming machine.

2. Samsung 850 PRO – Best SATA III Gaming SSD

Although it came earlier than 850 EVO, but is surely way better for top notch gaming performance. Rightly branded for hardcore gamers it was the first consumer SSD with V-NAND technology with insane endurance rating.

The price tag might scare some geeks but do consider the highest levels of performance promised by the most reputable SSD manufacturer. Samsung 850 PRO is honestly a premium version of 850 EVO with much more power and trust summed up.

Capacities: We have some SD card like capacity structure, ranging from 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and way up to 2TB. Whereas the endurance rating makes it worth buying, as Samsung says, you will need to write at least 150TB of data on a 256GB drive to tear it apart. But it didn’t happen when a Reddit user tried writing 200TB, and 850 PRO still works like a charm.

Features: The world’s first V-NAND SSD has a triple-core MEX controller clocked at 400MHz to yield maximum performance anytime.

Your data can’t be stolen with the built-in 256-bit AES Encryption, nor can it be burned as 850 PRO has built-in fire extinguishers as well. And we do have a RAPID mode to see the real face of a multi-talented SSD. It’s also rated amongst the best quality SSDs of all time.

Speeds: It offers consistently blazing read/writes speeds of 550MB/s and 520MB/s respectively. And the IOPS performance ranged from 100K to 90K, but some researchers stated that 850 PRO managed to outscore those statistics with the RAPID mode on.

Price & Warranty: You won’t be happy to hear that the 256GB is priced at $129, whereas the 2TB one can be acquired with $846. It seems costlier but remembers that Samsung 850 PRO is the most reliable SSD with industry leading 10-years of warranty. And it literally means a lot for gamers!

Conclusion

Bad: It’s nearly the same as 850 EVO and other competitors, why is it priced a lot higher than them?

Good: Top notch hardware quality with insane 10-year long warranty, being one of the best in many aspects. You won’t have to worry about buying more SSDs till 10-years.

3. Crucial MX300 – Boost drive performance by up to 10x

Proudly branded as the most affordable SSD with consistent reads & writes to boost entire gaming station. Ready to plug n play with a great endurance rating and a Dynamic Write Acceleration mode just like Samsung’s RAPID mode for ultra-blazing file transfers.

Capacities: The journey begins with a 275GB base model way up to 525GB, 1TB and finally 2TB. The endurance rating proved to outscore competitors with Crucial’s promise of 220TB of writing on a 750GB model.

Features: MX300 is neatly engineered with 3D NAND technology with dynamic acceleration mode to make your PC a gaming beast. Built with floating gate transistors to minimize heat and power consumption, and increase overall experience and life span. You also get 256-bit encryption with TRIM and SMART monitoring to secure and avoid data loss in emergency power loss.

Speeds: The IOPS is a bit outnumbered with 92K and 83K respectively, similar is the case with the read/write score of 530MB/s and 510MB/s. But it’s all consistent unlike many SSDs getting slower by time or heat.

Price & Warranty: You won’t be happy with the short 3-year warranty but considering the current price tags of $87 for the 275GB version with amazing gaming feature. It’s all worth it, so do check out the latest price tags for your chosen capacity variant.

Conclusion

Bad: The 3-year warranty doubts the endurance factor, whereas just a bit more bucks can buy a better SSD like the Samsung 850 EVO.

Good: Amazingly equipped with high-end features with a very affordable price tag to make a quicker buying decision.

4. SanDisk Extreme Pro – Easy setup and real-time drive status

It is aimed at professional gamers who don’t want break or system lags of any kind. SanDisk has managed to present a very durable and reliable drive with entirely unique nCache Pro technology. We are talking about the speed with very low power and long term relation all combined.

Capacities: The 2.5-inch SATA III starts at 240GB base model, goes higher to 480GB and finally sufficient 960GB. The endurance rating makes it a winner by staying alive until 300TB data is written to it.

Features: nCache Pro technology is way better than Samsung’s V-NAND in overall SSD architecture and performance. We also have TRIM to wash out unused empty slots to store more data, whereas SMART makes it risk-averse by constantly protecting the health of SSD and guard’s data.

Speeds: The 550MB/s read and 520MB/s write speed is promising and well-guarded by the quality and technology to produce such a gaming SSD masterpiece.

Price & Warranty: Don’t get mad to hear that the base model of 240GB is currently available for $220, considering the lengthy 10-year warranty just like Samsung’s 850 PRO. Plus, SanDisk has remained a premium brand like Apple Inc, but there’s ‘SE’ model down in this post 😉

Conclusion

Bad: The price is double of its competitors with nearly similar theoretical features.

Good: The high-end technology can wake up for years without lights out, the TRIM, SMART, nCache, are literally a great combination of gaming SSD powerhouse for 24/7 top-notch experience.

5. Crucial MX200 – Push your drive to the limit and avoid overheating

MX200 is full fledged gaming SSD with enterprise features to give a powerful new life to you gaming computer. It stands out loud to compete with top sellers and will surely attract any gamer to cover all aspects of a supercomputer.

Capacities: The 2.5-inch SATA powered MX200 is well backward compatible and offers three storage options starting from 250GB, 500GB, and way up to the gigantic 1TB.

Features: Your gaming data is well secured with 256-bit encryption and clever thermal heat manager to reduce heat and absorbs shock as well. TRIM, SMART, and DevSleep are other enterprise features to never worry about losing data and getting consistent SSD performance at all times.

You also get a copy of leading data management software i.e. Acronics True Image HD. Whereas the design is fully supported to plug 9.5mm ports of thin n sleek laptops.

Speeds: Reading speeds top out leading SSDs with 555MB/s whereas writing is clocked at 555MB/s. The IOPS scores are 100K & 87K respectively sufficient for fastest game installations, loading times as well as overall gameplay.

Price & Warranty: You might think it’s an old version of MX300, but it’s priced higher at $103 for 250GB version. All due to the industry leading features, although the warranty still remains for 3 short years from Crucial.

Conclusion

Bad: Crucial MX300 offers a short 3-year warranty to doubt life span, whereas it seems a bit overpriced as compared to authority competitors.

Good: The highly demanding enterprise level features clears the doubt of reliability and durability. Whereas the price tag is way too cheaper considering the overall importance of top notch features.

6. Transcend 370S – Fast response whilst saving power

Build with an intuitive technology offering DDR3 DRAM cache on an MLC SATA III SSD proving that the room for improvement can also be occupied. It serves brilliant features to inhale and exhale demanded data at blazing speeds and multiple walls to guard it one place.

Capacities: The three variants ranging from 128GB, moving higher to 256GB and up to 512GB. Where endurance scores of 280TB data writing ability, literally prove highest possible life span in general.

Features: Apart from the standard features like TRIM, SMART, ECC, Block Management, all to hold data securely and maturely. DDR DRAM is caching housed to exhilarate the scope of SSDs for gaming. The shock-absorbent design can sit in a 9.5mm laptop port and will bear the wears and tears optimally.

Speeds: Reading seems top-notch 570MB/s but writing secured only 470MB/s which is considered too low for a gaming SSD. But numbers are not reality sometimes, and you won’t feel a greater difference as compared to other top SSDs.

Price & Warranty: Don’t yet doubt the durability by its short 3-year warranty, as the current hefty $99 price tag for 256GB has the hidden cost of the reliability. Do check out latest prices for sales and promotions.

Conclusion

Bad: The writing speed of 470MB/s is way too low theoretically, and the warranty of 3-year seems shorter as well.

Good: Transcend is yet another brand of trust, durability, and reliability summed up. The features match pro gaming needs and will prove to enlighten the gaming experiences to the maximum.

7. Kingston HyperX Savage – Powerful gaming performance, Unparalleled design

The Hyperx Savage series is professionally designed for gaming geeks out there with literally an obvious dream design. With impressive high-quality architecture and controller to read and write every shot or move you are about to make or not during extreme gaming hours.

Capacities: We have some pretty four caps sizing from 120GB, 240GB, 480GB and finally near tera, the 960GB version. All capable to last longer than your gaming rig to be honest.

Features: The high-quality Phison memory controller delivers very responsive visuals and is well backward compatible with older stations and even ultrabooks. All parked in a premium body with trust and guarantees to enhance gaming like never before.

Speeds: Serious gamers are advised to get happy with 560MB/s read and 530MB/s blazing writing speeds, even the IOPS score peaks at 100K/89K respectively.

Price & Warranty: You’ll currently need $98 for the 240GB version along with a short 3-year warranty but with free Kingston’s technical support. Try to look out for fresh pricings and promos below.

Conclusion

Bad: Short term warranty with a bit expensive price tag, and less attractive features.

Good: Phison memory controller outscores Samsung V-NAND controllers at some aspects and who doesn’t trust Kingston, the flash memory king for decades.

8. Intel 750 Series – Intel’s latest SSD for the high performance

A very pricey NVME standard SSD with ultra-blazing speeds for very heavy gaming along with Intel’s extreme features, specially designed for workstations and servers. You definitely need it for the best gaming zone in town! Available in both PCI Express version with much more power as compared to the standard PCiE 2.5-inch SSD.

Capacities: The PCI Express model ranges between 800GB to a 1.2TB cap size. Whereas the normal 750 SSD is available in 400GB and an 800GB version. Both capable of enduring up to 1.2million hours of use.

Features: NVMe technology is the next generation of current SSDs, with double speeds, endurance, and even prices for a while. But some gamers are getting them regardless of the expensive nature. The direct plugging to PCIe 3.0 slot opens up new opportunities for SSDs in a variety of areas, reducing latency and working as a built-in PC component.

Speeds: Intel 750 series have achieved industry leading blazing speeds of 2,200MB/s when it’s writing and 12,00MB/s reading respectively.

Price & Warranty: Like I said the 800GB PCI Express version would cost $595 and the PCiE 400GB version is available for $380 currently. Although there’s a huge drop in prices to when they were released. And it’s worth checking Amazon frequently to get a better quote for this extreme SSD.

Conclusion

Bad: Prices are higher, and there’s no defined warranty term, whereas it also lacks a lot of essential SSD features readily available in cheaper SSDs.

Good: Considering the NVM interface and top SSD speeds in all the best gaming SSDs that we covered, prices have dropped a lot, and 750 series is still cheaper than most of the top NVM SSDs in the market.

9. PNY CS2211 – Pro Gaming SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive

Designed and branded as Pro Gaming SSD to not only perform but remain cool and last longer for an extensive gaming experience. PNY literally built it the least power-hungry SSD in the market with premium hardware quality components.

Capacities: From 240GB to 480GB and finally 960GB, we got three smooth versions with different endurance ratings.

Features: The multi-level cell architecture breaks conventional SSD barriers, and the low-wattage functionality would save 30% more juice in your gaming laptop. The shock-absorbent body

Speeds: PNY is no far behind the top performers at all, with 565 MB/s read and 540MB/s writing speeds aimed to last longer with time.

Price & Warranty: The 240GB model is nicely priced at $90 with a sufficient 4-year term warranty.

Check out the Latest Prices: 240GB—480GB—960GB.

Conclusion

Bad: Doesn’t market the way other companies do and that’s why this masterpiece isn’t well discussed over the web.

Good: Considering the finest American dream design and engineering, PNY CS2211 is rough and tough SSD for seamless hours of gaming.

10. SanDisk Ultra II – Durable Solid State Design

Powered by nCache 2.0 technology which is a predecessor of the nCache Pro in SanDisk Extreme Pro version. It is robust SSD with everything rightly placed for making a standard machine into and ultimate gaming station. All with an inexpensive price tag.

Capacities: With a variety of storage sizes, Ultra II begins with 120GB, 240GB, 480GB and proudly goes up to 960GB.

Features: The nCache 2.0 is still a competing technology with TLC NAND flash memory. The architecture is able to run quieter and smoother than its predecessors. Inhaling the least of power resources but can bear severe wears and tears!

Speeds: The writing speed is recorded up to 500MB/s whereas the read speeds were admired up to 550MB/s. Considered fairly consistent with SanDisk inside. The IOPS secured 98K/80K read/write scores, as we thought of.

Price & Warranty: We still have a shorter warranty of 3-years and the 240GB version is currently priced at $80. But prices are always subject to change, so go check it out now!

Check out the Latest Prices: 120GB—240GB—480GB—960GB.

Conclusion

Bad: 3-year term warranty is considered a bit lower than average, and you can grab a better-featured SSD from our list with an addition of few bucks.

Good: Overall, it’s awesomely insane to give a whelming charm and affection to your gaming PC or laptop, let SanDisk handle all your gaming data needs.

Gaming SSD Buyer’s Guide

In a nutshell, SSDs will result in a very responsive gaming experience with less time waiting and even more time playing!

But WAIT! It’s not time to grab an SSD for gaming PC yet! As there can be numerous reasons to consider before buying the best SSD, especially for gaming. We do have a variety of SSDs in the market, but not all of them will serve the benefits that we covered earlier in this post.

How to Pick the Right SSD for Gaming

Here is our checklist for choosing the best ssd for your gaming machine.

  • Look out for only the most reputable SSD manufacturers like Samsung, Crucial, Intel, SanDisk, Kingston, Transcend, PNY, etc.
  • Don’t go below 250GB, as games require good storage space and also remember to grab even more spacious SSD if you won’t be having any other storage option, more likely in a gaming laptop.
  • Make sure that your old system is at least SATA III compatible, because most SSDs aren’t well backward compatible.
  • You can still use hybrid storage mode with OS and games on SSD where less important files on your old HDD.
  • Set your budget limit, although gamers don’t care about that much, but you will need at least $80 for one of the best SSD in our list.
  • Watch out the warranties, which begin from 3 to 10 mighty years, it’s important if you are a power gamer.

Benefits of Solid State Drives for Gaming

Technically there’s a lot more for gamers to fall in love with SSDs in no time. Let’s break down the benefits of SSDs for gaming! The new technology is more powerful when it comes to performance and in comparison with conventional HDD drives. You can further read more about SSD vs. HDD comparison done by PC Mag.

Cost Effective: SSDs are not cheaper than standard HDDs, but as gaming is an expensive hobby and instead of getting a new processor or GPU, SSDs are much cheaper for a powerful PC upgrade.

Quick Installations: Who doesn’t remember waiting to install heavy PC games? SSDs can literally cut that time by less than half, due to the average blazing writing speeds of 500mb/s.

Faster Loading Times: Games would open within a blink of an eye unlike the past, not only that but you will definitely notice the time saved in starting a new mission or maps.

Power Efficient: SSDs don’t have any moving parts or laser beams to read or write, and that’s how you save battery juice in your gaming laptop or if you are worried about the power supply heating frequently. They generally use 2-3 watts of power compared to 7-10 watts of juice by optical hard drives.

Smooth Game-Play: Assume that the game library can be accessed quicker than ever. The processor and graphics card doesn’t have to worry about caching game data more frequently, as it’s readily available anytime with much more faster transfer rate. This will increase your overall gaming experience, and that’s why we highly recommend an SSD for some old gaming rigs as well.

More Endurance: SSDs have more life and endurance rating, and as power gaming can sometimes hurt your PC hardware, SSDs can bear more shocks and heat as conventional HDDs.

Boost Online Gaming: Steam is found of downloading libraries over the web, conventional HDDs didn’t have enough writing speeds to directly write that data, and it was first cached and then normalized. Where SSDs are capable of downloading game data directly to boost online gaming experience at its best.

Easy to Upgrade: SSDs can be replaced without any technical skills, and are more of a plug and play hardware as compared to GPU, Processor or other gaming hardware.

Final Words – Wrapping it up

Considering how the market of SSD drives is pretty saturated, finding the perfect SSD is not an easy task. I do hope that our lists have helped to pick the best one. The list was carefully crafted, keeping in mind things like the needs of a customer and how much you are willing to spend on a good SSD internal drive.

We hope the list helps you pick the best solid state drive worth your money. You should know that there’s no “perfect SSD,” that’s why each SSD is built to suit the need of different consumers. We have added SSD drives that are for budget oriented consumers as well as the routers that are for pro gamers. If you think we missed on a good SSD, feel free to let us know.

Have You Ordered one of the best gaming SSDs yet? We hope that You will definitely fall in love with it when it’s delivered. And hey, if You are still not sure of which SSD to buy for a gaming PC? Comment below to get instant help regarding any SSD related queries!

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Imran Aftab
 

Hello, I'm Imran Aftab, a tech enthusiast using Android, iOS, and Windows. Hardware expert for Gaming & Crypto mining rigs. I have been writing on tech since 2013, starting with ohguideme, then Androidcentral. I have written and published several guides and tutorials on how to root Android, flash custom ROM, recovery, and jailbreak iPhone, and have written several guides on how to bypass FRP. I also worked in a phone repair shop, so I have pretty good experience with mobile software and troubleshooting. So, all the guides you see here have been tested and confirmed to work.

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