Top Ssd At 2019 | Comparing Them For Price Versus Performance

Top Ssd At 2019 Price Versus Performance

Looking for the best SSD for gaming?

In this article, we’ll break down the top 

Ssd At 2019 available whilst comparing them for price versus performance.

1. Samsung 860 Evo Drive:

Starting with our number 1 pick we have the Samsung 860 Evo Drive.

Samsung may arguably be most famous for its Galaxy phones today, but this Korean giant also manufactures some of the most popular SSDs out there, in addition to their wide selection of other products.

First, we will be taking a quick look at an immensely popular SSD of theirs, and one of the most popular SSDs in general – the Samsung 860 Evo Drive.

This SSD is pretty much what you would expect an average NAND SSD to look like – clean, minimal, with a thin 2.5-inch frame and a matte black finish.

It also has a 540/520 MB/s read/write speed, which is extremely fast when compared to hard drives but quite average for an SSDs in this league.

Finally, it interfaces via a SATA III connector which is the standard for a lot of internal SSDs available today.

All in all, the 860 EVO is not the very fastest SSD around nor is it fit for professional workstation users, but it is more than adequate for gaming.

The 5-year warranty that Samsung offers for this model is quite encouraging, too, though at the moment, there are newer SSDs available that can offer customers better value for their money than the aging Samsung 860 Evo Drive.

2. Samsung 860 QVO: 

Next up at number 2, we have the Samsung 860 QVO.

Following the Samsung 860 EVO, we have another newer yet very similar SSD, and it’s the Samsung 860 QVO.

Unsurprisingly, the QVO looks very similar to the EVO, although it trades the matte black exterior for a simple-looking gray one.

Performance-wise, it lags behind the 860 EVO a bit, but what makes it stand out is its
storage capacity.

Namely, this SSD pushes the envelope when it comes to the kind of storage capacity that we can expect from mainstream SSDs. The 860 QVO comes in three storage variants: 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB.

As for the performance, it offers sequential read and write speeds of 550 and 520 MB/s
respectively, which is more or less the norm with NAND SSDs that interface using SATA III.

As stated previously, what makes the Samsung 860 QVO stand out is its capacity and pricing.

Considering that SSDs as small as 240 GB or even 120 GB were the norm a few years ago, seeing Samsung offer an SSD that starts at 1 TB and costs just over $100 is quite something.

However, it isn’t as fast as the older 860 EVO in practice, despite the on-paper specs
being identical, though this difference is negligible at best when it comes to gaming.

Our only real issue with this SSD is the relatively short warranty period. Usually, Samsung offers a warranty of 5 years on their SSDs, but the 860 QVO gets only 3.

Needless to say, if you had your eye on a higher-capacity model that you wanted to last in the long-term, this limited warranty period is hardly encouraging.

3. Samsung 970 EVO Plus:

Up next at number 3 we have the Samsung 970 EVO Plus.

Following the 860 QVO, we have another SSD from Samsung, although this one is a more serious performance-oriented solution – the Samsung 970 EVO Plus, a lightning-fast M.2 NVMe SSD.

Unlike the 860 QVO, it comes with a full 5-year limited warranty, which is a great plus on top of the monstrous performance alone.

Being an M.2 SSD, the 970 EVO Plus is highly compact, with a black PCB that helps it remain inconspicuous and blend in well with most motherboards.

Just like the 860 QVO, the 970 EVO Plus comes in three storage options, albeit its capacity is much more limited: 250 GB, 500 GB, and 1 TB.

The speed is where it gets real, though. Since it is an M.2 NVMe SSD, the 970 EVO Plus can reach read/write speeds as high as 3500/3300 MB/s, which is much faster than what a SATA III connection can manage.

With the storage, the performance, and the pricing in mind, it’s easy to see that the 970 EVO Plus will be appealing to those who need this kind of performance and are willing to pay for it, even if it also comes at the cost of storage capacity.

That said, it won’t be a very attractive solution for the average gamer, though if you’re thinking about investing in a long-term high-performance SSD for a workstation/gaming PC, this is hands-down one of the best SSDs that you can get.

4. Intel 660p:

Next at number 4 we have the Intel 660p.

NVMe SSDs are usually quite pricey, there’s no denying that, but the Intel 660p SSD is an exception to this rule.

Granted, it is not as affordable as some NAND SSDs nor is it as fast as the more advanced NVMe models such as the Samsung 970 EVO Plus, but it does manage to find a solid middle ground that makes it a very interesting product.

The 660p comes in three storage variants: 500 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB. It has a read/write speed of 1500/1000 MB/s which, as mentioned above, can’t compete with the SSDs that are as fast or even faster than the 970 EVO, but it still makes the 660p
significantly faster than most SATA SSDs.

With the above in mind, it’s quite clear that the Intel 660p is your typical best-of-both-worlds solution that will appeal to anyone looking to get the most out of their investment.

It may not be much to look at, but this is one of the best SSDs available at the moment, as far as value is concerned.

Still, as we all know, the jack of all trades is usually a master of none, so when it comes
to intensive tasks and large file transfers, the 660p isn’t as good of a workstation SSD as some other, pricier models are.

5. WD Blue:

At number 5 we have the WD Blue.

Moving on, we have a familiar company and a familiar product: WD Blue.

This moniker has followed Western Digital’s HDDs for a while, and now it extends to SSDs as well.

And much like the WD Blue HDDs, the WD Blue SSDs focus on balancing storage capacity, performance, and pricing, all the while you can get it in two form factors, based on which you prefer.

The WD Blue SSDs come in 250 GB, 500 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB capacity options. They are a bit faster than the Samsung 860 QVO, with a sequential read/write speed of 560/530 MB/s, but it’s not a very noticeable difference.

But as mentioned above, what’s interesting about the WD Blue SSD is that it is available both in a 2.5-inch and an M.2 form factor, thus allowing you to choose whether the SSD will be interfacing with the PC via your motherboard’s M.2 slot or one of its SATA III connectors.

Of course, despite the different form factor, these SSDs are still regular NAND SSDs and their performance remains identical regardless of which variant you choose.

All in all, the WD Blue SSDs have no major standout features compared to most other SSDs available in 2019.

The pricing is more or less the same as that of the Samsung 860 QVO, and so is the performance.

That said, the two primary advantages of the WD Blue SSDs are the ability to choose between two different form factors and the fact that it comes with a 5-year warranty which, as mentioned before, is something to keep in mind.

Now, it is by no means a perfect product, though we have no real qualms with the WD Blue SSD.

If we had to be nitpicky, we’d say that the design of both the SATA and the M.2 variants is a bit uninspired and may clash with some gaming setups, but this is hardly a significant issue.

6. Kingston A400:

And for our final pick at number 6 we have the Kingston A400.

Of course, there is no way that we can talk about memory and leave out Kingston.

The SSD from Kingston that we will be taking a look at is the A400, a rather basic yet affordable solution.

It is a 2.5-inch SATA SSD with a dark grey exterior and, like the WD Blue SSD, it is
available in the M.2 form factor as well.

The Kingston A400 comes in 120 GB, 240 GB, 480 GB, and 960 GB variants.

Moreover, the performance actually varies based on the capacity – the read speed remains a solid 500 MB/s but the write speed for the 120 GB and the 240 GB variants are 320 and 350 MB/s respectively, while the 480 and 960 GB ones both boast a write speed of 450 MB/s.

With all of that being said, the Kingston A400 may not seem that great, considering
just how slow it is compared to the newer SSDs we shared, but if you’re on a tight
budget and are looking for the absolute cheapest SSD that you can get, it’s unlikely that you’ll find a better price.

The high-capacity versions hardly present good value in 2019, but the 120 GB and the
240 GB ones can go as low as 20-30 dollars today.

That said, the A400 will appeal primarily to those who are on a very tight budget and
are willing to settle for the cheapest SSD that they can get.

Overall, it is a rather reliable SSD, but considering just how dated and slow it is
compared to the newer SSDs, it will hardly be anyone’s top pick for 2019.

So that sums up our top SSDs for gaming of 2019.

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