Priced at $130 for 1 TB, the Silicon Power XS70 is one of the most affordable PCIe 4.0 SSDs. It still offers outstanding performance because of the Phison E18 controller and Micron 176-layer TLC NAND combination. An excellent heatsink is preinstalled, too. The drive never reaches its thermal throttle point.
MSI's Spatium M450 uses the fast PCI-Express 4.0 interface for improved transfer speeds. It is built using Phison's brand-new E19 controller and Micron's best 176-layer 3D TLC. In our review of the MSI Spatium M450, we take a closer look at how well this 4-channel DRAM-less design performs with various workloads.
The Kioxia Exceria SATA is a highly affordable 2.5" SATA SSD that only costs $80 for the reviewed 1 TB version. It is built using a Phison S11 controller paired with 64-layer 3D TLC NAND flash from Toshiba. A DRAM cache is not available due to the drive's low price point.
Priced at $130, the Neo Forza NFP455 1 TB is one of the most affordable PCI-Express 4.0 drives. It uses the Innogrit IG5236 controller paired with 128-layer YMTC TLC flash, and 1 GB of DRAM cache is included, too. In our review, we saw excellent performance that's very similar to the Samsung 980 Pro and WD Black SN850.
The Corsair MP600 Pro LPX is optimized for gaming on Sony PlayStation 5 and the PC. In our review's real-world game load tests we saw a clear lead in load times compared to other flagship SSDs like the Samsung 980 Pro and WD Black NVMe. Thanks to the preinstalled heatsink there's no thermal throttling either.
At just $120 for 1 TB, the ADATA XPG Atom 50 is one of the most affordable PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSDs out there. In our review, we found that it still offers incredible performance that rivals the Samsung 980 Pro and WD Black SN850 at much better pricing. Thermals are great, too, as there's no throttling, no matter what you throw at it.
The Kingston NV1 is the company's most affordable M.2 NVMe SSD. Priced at just $85 for the 1 TB version, it offers a tremendous value proposition. Performance numbers in our review of the Kingston NV1 are disappointing though, but the attractive pricing will still make it an option for many.
The Neo Forza NFP455 is the company's first PCI-Express 4.0 SSD. The combination of Innogrit IG5236 controller, 128-layer YMTC flash, and fast 3200 MHz DRAM achieves excellent benchmark results. What's even more impressive is pricing. At $295, it's one of the most affordable 2 TB high-performance PCIe 4.0 SSDs out there.
The WD Blue SN570 is priced extremely competitively at only $90 for the 1 TB version. While pricing suggests "entry-level," the drive is actually the second-fastest PCIe 3.0 SSD we ever tested, faster than the Kingston KC2500, ADATA SX8200 Pro, and HP EX950.
The Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus uses the famous Phison E18 controller. In our real-life testing, it achieves a top score, almost matching the Samsung 980 Pro and WD Black SN850 at better pricing. We also tested the Sabrent PlayStation 5 heatsink, which is custom-shaped to fit the opening in the PS5 for maximized heat transfer.
The Team Group T-Force Cardea A440 Pro is based on the magical combination of a Phison E18 controller and Micron 176-layer 3D TLC flash. In our review, the drive achieves performance levels that are among the best we've ever seen. Team Group has also included a large heatsink that avoids thermal throttling completely.
The Kingston KC3000 is built using the Phison E18 controller and Micron's best 176-layer TLC NAND flash. In our performance testing, the drive can beat the Samsung 980 Pro and is the fastest SSD we ever tested. It shares that performance throne with the WD Black SN850.
The Crucial P5 Plus is the latest flagship SSD from Crucial. It is built using a new in-house PCI-Express 4.0 controller made by Micron, paired with the company's state-of-the-art 176-layer 3D TLC NAND flash. At $180, the Crucial P5 is priced similarly to the offerings of WD and Samsung, but does it have the performance to match?
The Kioxia Exceria is the new price/performance king in our SSD reviews. This Phison E12-based drive is priced at just 9 cents per GB, yet offers performance besting most value solid-state drives. This is the drive you want if money is tight.
The MSI Spatium M390 is based on the brand-new Phison E15 controller, which offers excellent performance while being cost-efficient to manufacture. It's one of the first drives I'd call "DRAM-less done right." With $110, the MSI Spatium M390 is priced very competitively and has the potential to kill all the QLC drives out there.
The Kioxia Exceria Plus G2 offers excellent real-life performance that rivals the best PCIe Gen 3 SSDs out there, but it's unfortunately not available in the US. Priced at around $270, the 2 TB drive in our review is quite affordable, too, and definitely worth considering when looking for a high-performance 2 TB M.2 NVMe SSD.
The Acer Predator GM7000 is a high-end SSD that's competing with the Samsung 980 Pro, WD Black SN850, and Corsair MP600 Pro. Powered by an Innogrit IG5236 controller paired with 96-layer TLC NAND from Micron, the Acer Predator GM7000 achieved excellent performance results in our review.
The SanDisk Ultra 3D is the most affordable 4 TB SSD available, currently selling for only $390. In terms of performance, it's nearly as fast as other high-end 2.5" SATA drives, and write speeds are sustained very well since there's no TLC write hole.
Finally! The Hynix Gold P31 SSD is available as a 2 TB version. Built exclusively with Hynix in-house components, the Gold P31 achieves impressive performance results, making it the fastest PCIe 3.0 SSD we ever tested. It's actually even faster than some PCIe 4.0 models, and much more affordable.
At $300 for the reviewed 2 TB version, the ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade is one of the most affordable PCIe 4.0 SSDs available today. Despite its low price, it offers compatibility with Sony's PlayStation 5, and performance is comparable to the Samsung 980 Pro, WD Black SN850, and Corsair MP600 Pro.
With $220 for the 2 TB version, the Neo Forza eSports NFP075 is a well-priced SSD based on the trusty combination of the Phison E12S controller and 96-layer 3D TLC NAND from Toshiba. In our performance tests, it achieved good performance comparable to the Crucial P5, Samsung 970 EVO, HP EX950, and Kingston A2000.
The Team Group MP34Q is a QLC-based M.2 NVMe SSD that uses the PCIe 3.0 interface, Phison's highly popular E12 controller, and 96-layer 3D QLC NAND from Micron. In our testing, we saw good performance results, but price/performance suffers due to the high price.
The MSI Spatium M480 is a flagship SSD based on the Phison E18 controller, featuring support for the fast PCI-Express 4.0 interface. Inside the box, you'll find a heatsink that looks fantastic and very sleek to provide cooling for this 7 GB/s monster.
With the Spatium Series, MSI is entering the highly competitive SSD market. The Spatium M470 uses a Phison E16 controller paired with 96-layer TLC flash from Toshiba, which makes it one of the fastest drives we ever tested, also thanks to support for the PCI-Express 4.0 interface.
With the Cardea Zero Z44Q, Team Group is exploring the possibility of QLC NAND on PCI-Express 4.0 powered by a Phison E16 controller. Included with the drive are two heatsinks: a flat foil for laptops and a full-sized heatsink for desktop. We test thermals of all three cooling configurations to see how much of a difference they can make.
