Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
I remember, as a little kid, I would pop my tiny Nintendo Game Boy cartridge into my system and watch as, in an instant, the game would immediately boot up, allowing me to hop onto my favorite games with ease. The same could not be said for the home console systems I had at the time, however. Opening up the PS2 and waiting for that magical opening screen to pull me into the game I was about to play was something, but while the opening had its novelty, waiting for the in-game loading screens to let me get to the actual game kind of dragged on.
Of course, this wasn’t a fault of the games themselves but more so a limitation of the hardware at the time. We’re 25 years past the 2000s now, and technology has changed quite a fair bit and for the better. The games we play are a lot more technically advanced and therefore more demanding. A lot of people do find (myself included) that the best experience is on PC.
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PC Gaming Still Has One Big Issue
However, there is one sticking point with games on PC: it’s the fact that, much like the PS2 generation, they can suffer from arbitrarily long loading times that do eat up the experience. And to top it off, these games eat up a lot of space as well. For example, the latest game in the God of War franchise, God of War Ragnarok (released on PC later in 2024), takes up a whopping 160 GB of space. For a frame of reference, its previous entry, released on PC just 2 years ago, takes up under half the size of Ragnarok at 70 GB.
My advice on dealing with these ridiculous game sizes that will only get bigger down the line is to invest in an SSD (solid-state drive) for your PC. SSDs are the successor to the HDD (hard disk drive), both functioning as storage devices for PCs, laptops, and even PC gaming handhelds. The reason we recommend an SSD for your PC is that a lot of modern SSDs, specifically 4th-generation M.2 SSDs, come equipped with a terabyte or more of storage and are usually in the 6000-7000 MB/s range of read and write speeds. This far outclasses the average hard drive. Also, more and more games are demanding the use of SSDs over hard drives to function, so getting an SSD today is future-proofing your PC for upcoming releases.
With all of that being established, we’re here to inform you on the best SSDs to get in 2025, alongside their pros and cons, to empower your purchase. However, before we get into that, let’s go over some helpful tips on things to consider when getting an SSD.
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Solid State Tips
Before considering an SSD as an option for your gaming rig, there are several key things to think about before you get one. These tips will ultimately impact the kind of SSD you get in the end. So let’s hop to it with the first tip.
Motherboard
Before you even consider buying an SSD to begin with, make sure that your motherboard supports SSDs in the first place. A lot of boards tend to come with PCIe slots in this day and age; however, still make sure to check the dimensions of your slot and how much data it can transfer. This can heavily impact the functionality of your SSD.
Budget
Like with most things, it’s important to consider the budget you have in mind for your PC. A common rule of thumb is the fact that the smaller the storage, the lower the price. Fortunately, most 1TB SSDs are starting to get a lot cheaper, and we’re even starting to see the emergence of higher-tier models in the 8TB range as well.
SATA vs. NVME
When it comes to SSDs, there are two types you’ll most commonly see on the market. SATA drives are larger and slower than NVMe drives; however, they tend to have a comparable amount of storage and are also cheaper. NVMe SSDs are what we’ll be discussing the most in this article because, to be quite honest, they’re the most bang for your buck option on the market.
Heatsinks
This is the most important tip we can give when getting an NVMe SSD. Heatsinks are a plating that gets added to NVMe SSDs to assist them in dissipating heat. This allows them to run at their top speeds and extends their shelf life. Make sure to buy one for your SSD if you can.
Our Number One Pick: Samsung 990 Pro
- Read/Write: 7450/6900 MB/s
- Storage Size(s): 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB
- Price(s) without/with heatsink: $100/$109 (1TB), $170/$180 (2TB), $465/$480 (4TB)
The Samsung 990 Pro is probably the best SSD on the market right now. It’s an affordable option at the 1 TB range with or without its heatsink, and the upper tiers are well worth it for anyone wanting a larger amount of storage. Being a 4th-generation SSD means that this particular drive is compatible with the latest generation of CPUs. The onboard SSD software is also spectacular, giving you a handy toolkit to mess with your drive right out of the box. Also, $10-$15 extra for a heatsink is worth the price. You can’t go wrong with the 990 Pro.
Our Number two pick: WD Black SN 850
- Read/Write: 7300/6300 Mb/s
- Storage Size(s): 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB, 8 TB
- Price(s) without/with heatsink: $95/115 (1TB), $150/$180 (2TB), $285/$319 (4TB), $700/$1000 (8TB)
The WD Black SN 850 is another great SSD option that you can pick out if you’re not a big fan of Samsung’s 990 Pro. The SN 850 isn’t much farther behind Samsung in terms of speeds and boasts a larger number of options in terms of storage capacity. So why exactly do we not recommend it over the aforementioned? Well, it’s simple. The price is just too high in comparison to what Samsung is giving. WD’s 1 TB option is priced very mildly compared to Samsung’s, and the heatsink options charging an extra $30 are kind of pushing it. However, if you catch these SSDs on sale, then we’d highly recommend picking them up because, despite their pricing qualms, they are still good drives.
Our Pick for the Fastest SSD: Sabrent Rocket 5
- Read/Write: 14,000/12,000 Mb/s
- Storage Size(s): 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB
- Price(s): Â $189 (1TB), $340 (2TB), $656 (4TB)
When it comes to speed, the previous 2 options we listed were good, but they’re only half as good as the Sabrent Rocket. The Sabrent Rocket is one of the fastest SSDs commercially available right now. And it can go up to blistering speeds at a decent price ratio. However, it should be noted that compared to the previous two SSDs, this is still not something that would benefit the average consumer. The Sabrent Rocket also comes with two other minor asterisks not associated with the SN850 and 990 Pro.
Those being the fact that it doesn’t come with a heatsink so you’ll have to buy one yourself and attach it. Secondly, much like a real rocket, the Sabrent is very power hungry. For a lot of games these days, you won’t need the Sabrent. But if you use your PC for other intense workloads, the Sabrent is another great option to have.Â
Our Pick if You Want a SATA Option: Samsung 870 EVO
- Read/Write: 560/530 Mb/s
- Storage Size(s): 250 GB, 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB
- Price(s): $60 (250GB), $52 (500GB), $95 (1TB), $150 (2TB), $290 (4TB)
When it comes to SATA drives, never expect them to go beyond an actual SSD, at least right now. In terms of gaming performance, the 870 EVO will hold no candle to its faster SSD brethren. However, if you plan on using a SATA drive for smaller gaming titles like indie games or, dare I say it…emulation. The 870 EVO is a fantastic option. Not only does it come at good budget prices, but it also has the necessary storage to hold on to lots of different games that you may have sitting in your backlog, installed on your PC but left unopened. Personally, we would recommend that you go for the 1TB or higher options.
That concludes our list for the best SSDs of 2025. We hope you enjoyed reading and that one of the SSDs listed above tickles your fancy. As technology keeps improving, it’ll also get cheaper, so maybe hold out for a sale as well before buying one of the more expensive drives. And keep in mind that the market is chock-full of other options that are all highly competitive, so maybe the best SSD for you is still out there somewhere. Don’t be afraid to tell us what you think. Visit Inside Tech World for more reviews, tips, and reader guides updated weekly.
FAQs
- Does the generation of the SSD have to match up with the PCIe slot of my motherboard?
No, it does not. PCIe slots are backward and forward compatible, so you don’t have to worry about your motherboard being too outdated to host your desired SSD.
- What type of heatsink should I get for my SSD?
We would recommend getting a copper heatsink for your SSD.
- Will my SSD last longer than my HDD?
Yes. SSDs, unlike HDDs, don’t have any moving parts. Because of that, they’ll have a better shelf life than their mechanical counterparts. However, it should be noted that SSDs aren’t immortal and can malfunction and break if given the proper circumstances. Always keep backups of your data on hand in case.
- I’ve heard of the term lanes when referring to PCIe. What does it mean, and why is it important to my SSD?
PCIe lanes are the type of data communication your motherboard handles in its various PCIe slots. They can range from single lane (x1) for Wi-Fi to 16 lanes (x16) for GPUs. SSDs slot themselves into the x4 slot.
