Why fast SSDs for gaming?
Games have a huge data of assets, usually running in couple of gigabytes, that need to be loaded into the RAM for easy access time and again. A fast drive will ensure that you spend minimal time waiting between levels, lost in loading screens.
We are well past the physical hard-disk drive generation. SSDs have become pretty much the norm now, that use SATA interface to transfer data. A step in next generation of data transfer speeds means graduating from the SATA interface to the PCIe interface, utilised by NVME SSDs.
In this guide, we tell you what SSD is the best for gaming at the fastest speeds, keeping your budget in mind.
Best SSD for gaming under ₹5000/-
Crucial MX500 SSD
If you’re living in the ancient era of physical hard disk drives and looking for the cheapest way to get the maximum bump in data transfer speeds, the Crucial MX500 SSD has got you covered. The 500GB variant costs a humble ₹4,249. Simply upgrading to this SSD from an HDD you can achieve data read and write speeds of above 500Mb/s, a significant jump from magnetic storage technology. You also save significantly on power consumption. You’ll get rid of the noise those HDDs make too. However, with all good things going for it in this price point, it is slow in comparison to any NMVe SSD which leaves you with the choice of increasing your budget a little more and choose the next SSD in the list.
Best SSD for gaming under ₹10,000/-
Seagate FireCuda 530 500GB M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD
Now we are entering into NVMe territory where you’ll get some serious transfer speeds, about 7-10x of traditional SATA SSDs and some 40-50x of traditional HDDs. Facing slow speeds on your ageing PC? The best upgrade, both performance and budget wise would be an NVMe drive. It would give you the biggest speed bumps without the need of changing other hardware like RAM, CPU, GPU etc. A no-brainer. Just be sure to check that your motherboard has an M.2 slot. Most motherboards manufactured post 2014 have M.2 slots.
With the Seagate FireCuda 530, you get Gen4 performance, i.e., sequential read/write speeds of upto 7,300 MB/s and 6,900MB/s. This NVMe SSD is a steal because it is the only high-performance Gen4 drive available under ₹10,000, for the 500GB variant. This drive is also available in 1-4TB variants. Seagate is giving you a 5-year warranty to top it up.
Best SSD for gaming under ₹15,000/-
WD Black SN850 1TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD
We loved the SN750 when Western Digital launched it. With the WD_Black SN850, its successor, Western Digital upped the stakes even further. The 1TB model is the price-to-performance sweet spot for gaming, you wont find a better option than this at ₹12,899. Having a 1TB NVMe SSD means you can also install your OS onto it, and experience blazing boot speeds.
Best Gaming SSD when price is no bar
Kingston Fury Renegade 2TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe M.2 SSD
We’re all too familiar with Kingston’s Fury line of products, solely meant to break the benchmarking charts. Heck, even the name “Fury Renegade” sounds angry and fired up. The Fury Renegade SSD packs the punchiest of performance. If you have a setup that can game at 4K resolution, you’ll be needed a fast enough drive along with high storage capacity to store those terabytes. Look no further than the Kingston Fury Renegade 2TB NVMe SSD. This is one of the fastest Gen4 drives that can reach speeds upto 7,300MB/s. There’s a 4TB variant too, that costs a sweet ₹92,000.
Best SSD If You Don’t Have An M.2 Slot
WD_Black AN1500 Add-In Card SSD
“Hey iLL, you have left me out. I do not even have an M.2 slot. Imma cry. What do I do?”
How can we forget about you little man/woman? We got your no-M2-slot-a$$ covered. The WD_Black AN1500 is a an SSD like a graphics card. What that means is, you can fit it in a PCIe slot just like how you fit your GPU. Your motherboard will surely have a spare PCIe slot, most motherboards too, even if you’re using two GPUs. What makes the WD_Black AN1500 so special is that you can Gen4 speeds without even having a Gen4 compatible motherboard. That is the benefit of a full PCIe slot. Apart from insane speeds, the AN1500 has the slickest RGB lighting, it’ll light up your PC to look like a mean gaming machine, even when it’s not (no M.2 slot, duhh). Check out our full review of the WD_Black AN1500.
