May 02, 2024 - 16:55
By pcgamer.com

These two SSDs are so good we use them ourselves, and they're both on discount this Amazon Gaming Week

WD_Black SN850X | 2TB | NVMe | PCIe 4.0 | 7,300 MB/s read | 6,350 MB/s write | $189.99$139.99 at Amazon (save $50)
Currently sitting at the top of our best SSD for gaming list, the SN850X makes for a superb all-rounder of a drive. Fast, cool-running, and in this particular variant, spacious to boot.

Price check: Newegg $139.99

Fast, capacious SSDs might not be as cheap as they once were, but we're still finding the odd cracker of a deal on some brilliant drives. As the Amazon Gaming Week sales continue, we've found two of our best gaming SSD picks at prices well worth serious consideration. They're not only great drives, they've made such an impression on us that we use them in our personal machines.

First up we have the WD Black SN850X, here in 2TB configuration for $140 at Amazon. With read/write speeds of 7,300 MB/s and 6,350 MB/s respectively, this is an SSD that can hold its head up high amongst some of the fastest Gen 4 drives, but what really makes it stand out from the pack is its all-rounder credentials.

Not only is it fast—and here, in 2TB form, plenty big enough for a Windows install and many modern games—the SN850X also runs cool, calm and collected, which is just what you need if you plan on using one as a main system drive.

You can pay a fair bit extra for the heatsink-clad version, but when we tested the 1TB variant of this SSD we found it didn't really need one. It's a chill customer and has all the speed and write endurance (in this case, 600TB) to ensure that it'll keep trucking away in your system, and very probably the next one, for many years to come.

In fact, m'colleague Nick Evanson owns four of these drives and rates them extremely highly, and that's a man that knows PC hardware inside out, front to back, and upside down for good measure.