Best buys · The gaming setup

The best SSD for gaming worth buying

Our pick is the A 2TB NVMe SSD. Below: why, what actually matters when buying one, what to get for less, the step up, and whether today's price is a good one.

The storage

A 2TB NVMe SSD

Games are enormous now. For most people 2TB is the size that ends the uninstall-to-make-room shuffle. This pick is a specification: whichever reputable drive is cheapest today.

Buy it for
Anyone whose library no longer fits.
Skip it if
Your machine has no free M.2 slot. Check the motherboard first.

What actually matters when buying an SSD for gaming

  1. Capacity first. Games load nearly as fast from any decent NVMe drive; running out of space is the real problem.
  2. PCIe generation matters less for games than the box suggests. A good Gen 4 drive is plenty.
  3. A DRAM cache or a good controller, which keeps it fast when it is nearly full.
  4. A heatsink if it goes in a console or a cramped laptop.

Either side of the pick