If you're a serious PC gamer, you know that having the right hardware is essential to maximizing your performance. One of the most important pieces of hardware you'll need is a solid-state drive (SSD). An SSD can dramatically increase the speed of your gaming PC, reducing load times and improving overall performance. In this article, we'll take a look at the best SSDs for gaming in 2023.
With the advent of Microsoft DirectStorage, the benefits of an SSD for gaming have become even more apparent. This technology allows you to take full advantage of new PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 5.0 drives, providing even faster load times and better performance in games.
Why You Need a Good SSD for Gaming
The benefits of a good SSD for gaming are numerous. First and foremost, an SSD can reduce load times for games and other applications, improving the overall performance of your system. Additionally, an SSD can help with file transfer speeds, allowing you to move large files quickly and easily.With the advent of Microsoft DirectStorage, the benefits of an SSD for gaming have become even more apparent. This technology allows you to take full advantage of new PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 5.0 drives, providing even faster load times and better performance in games.
Our Benchmarking Process
To determine the best SSDs for gaming, we put each drive through an intensive benchmarking suite. This included real-world game loading tests as well as synthetic speed tests to get a full picture of each drive's performance. We also used each SSD as the primary drive on a new install of Windows 11 to check its performance in everyday use.What Size SSD Do You Need?
While smaller SSDs may be cheaper, they often suffer from slower speeds. For gaming, we recommend a minimum of 1TB for your SSD. With games becoming increasingly larger, a 250GB SSD simply won't cut it anymore. If you can find a 2TB or 4TB SSD on sale, it may be worth the investment.Where to Find the Best SSD Deals
Before we get into our top picks for the best SSDs for gaming in 2023, let's take a look at where you can find the best deals on SSDs. Here are some of the best places to look in the US and the UK:In the US:
- Amazon - Up to 50% off internal and external SSDs
- Walmart - Deals on internal and external SSDs
- B&H Photo - Save up to $50 on NVMe SSDs
- Best Buy - Great prices on Samsung SSDs
- Staples - Save up to 30% on a range of SSDs, USB sticks, and external SSDs
- Newegg - Plenty of NVMe SSDs
In the UK:
- Amazon UK - Save on HDDs, SDDs, and external drives
- Scan - SATA drives as low as £21
- Box - Save up to £82 on Western Digital SN750 NVMe SSDs
- Ebuyer - 500GB SSDs starting from £34.98
- Overclockers - Save up to £51 on Samsung SSDs
- Currys - Save £33.00 on WD Black SN750
- Laptops Direct - Save on SSDs for your laptop