Fast storage, over the past few years, has become a crucial part of any PC build. Gamers and PC users in general have started to move away from slower mechanical storage and board the solid-state train, albeit at a greater cost of entry. Those who want the best possible speeds prefer M.2 NVMe SSD storage which, thanks to the latest and greatest PCIe 5.0 standard, can achieve blazing fast speeds that have not been possible till now. The PCIe 5.0 standard brings significantly more bandwidth compared to PCIe 4.0, but for now, the tech is limited to M.2 NVMe storage devices.
PCIe or Peripheral Component Interconnect Express is an interface standard used for connecting a variety of devices, including M.2 NVMe storage, graphics cards, sound cards, storage extenders, and more. They come in different sizes (for the mainstream), which are denoted by x1, x4, x8, x16, with x1 being the smallest and x16 being the largest. GPUs use the x16 slot on a motherboard while M.2 storage devices use the smaller slots. These connections allow for the connected device to directly interface with the processor via the motherboard instead of using SATA cables and connectors.
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With the PCIe 5.0 standard becoming more prominent than ever, you may be looking for a storage upgrade to further speed up your gaming experience. So, here are the best PCIe 5.0 SSDs you should check out.
The Best PCIe 5.0 SSDs in 2024
Crucial T700 NVMe SSD
Best PCIe 5.0 SSD Overall
The Crucial T700 NVMe SSD is a blazing-fast storage option that is perfect for gaming, productivity, media consumption, and everything else. It comes with a heatsink keeping it cool during heavy operation. It can deliver read speeds of up to 11700 MB/s and write speeds of up to 9500 MB/s.
- Storage capacity
- 1 TB
- Hardware Interface
- PCIe Gen 5
- Brand
- Crucial
- Transfer rate
- Read: 11700 MB/s, Write: 9500 MB/s
- TBW
- 600TB
- Warranty
- 5-year limited warranty
- Great value
- Aluminum and nickel-plated copper heatsink
- Microsoft Direct storage support
- On the expensive side when not on sale
- 2 TB variant has faster speeds
Crucial (under Micron) has been in the storage game for over two decades and its experience in the industry has given birth to incredibly fast M.2 storage for the masses, that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. The T700 GEN5 NVME M.2 SSD is the perfect storage option for games looking for value. It is, of course, PCIe 5.0 compatible, and supports read speeds of up to 11,700 MB/s and write speeds of up to 9500 MB/s. It is not the fastest M.2 SSD on the market, but it is definitely fast enough.
With 1 TB of storage, the Crucial T700 can be used as a boot drive or for mass storage. You can even partition the drive as per your needs to have a smaller, separate boot drive. Even after dedicating 256 GB to the boot drive, you’ll still have over 700 GB (theoretically) to spare, which should be sufficient for quite a while. Crucial has rated this SSD for an endurance of 600TB Total Bytes Written (TBW), which means you should not face any storage issues or slowdowns for a long time.
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As the name suggests, the Crucial T700 comes with a heatsink to keep things cool and dissipate heat more efficiently. Transferring or reading data at such high speeds is bound to generate some heat and if this heat is not moved away from the chip, it could lead to slowdowns as well as loss in performance overtime. Crucial does sell a version of this SSD without a heatsink, and it is a bit cheaper, but if you are looking at heavy workloads with this SSD, it is recommended to get one with a heatsink, or invest in an aftermarket cooling solution.
Corsair MP700 Gen5 NVME SSD
Best Budget PCIe 5.0 SSD
$150 $165 Save $15
The Corsair MP700 Gen5 NVME SSD is the perfect budget-friendly option, bringing impressive read and write speeds of up to 9,500 MB/s and 8,500 MB/s respectively. It has 1 TB of storage and is rated for 700TB TBW, making it one of the more durable SSDs on the market. It also uses 3D TLC NAND technology and four lanes of the PCIe 5.0 standard.Â
- Storage capacity
- 1 TB
- Hardware Interface
- PCIe 5.0
- Brand
- Corsair
- Transfer rate
- Read: up to 9,500 MB/s, Write: up to 8,500 MB/s
- TBW
- 700TB
- Warranty
- Comprehensive 5-year warranty
- Impressive speeds considering budget price point
- Impressive durability
- Support for Direct storage
Fortunately, with PCIe 5.0 storage and the interface standard as a whole becoming more mainstream, there are a few budget-friendly offerings for those looking to experience super high speeds at a much more affordable price point. The Corsair MP700 Gen5 NVME SSD brings a terabyte of storage at read speeds of up to 9,500 MB/s and write speeds of up to 8,500 MB/s. While these speeds may seem underwhelming considering some of the other PCIe 5.0 options on the market, they are still plenty fast for a solid gaming and productivity experience.
Corsair is using 3D TLC NAND technology, which means it stores three bits of information per cell as opposed to one bit per cell (SLC) or two bits per cell (MLC). This allows for higher capacity storage at lower costs. The MP700 has an endurance of 700TBW, which is even greater than some of the more expensive offerings. Being a budget-friendly option, it does not come with a heatsink, which is a fairly inexpensive add-on.
The MP700 is available in 1 TB and 2 TB storage options, both of which are PCIe 5.0 compatible and also backwards compatible with PCIe 4.0, and even PCIe 3.0.
Samsung 990 EVO SSD 1TB
Best Entry-Level PCIe 5.0 SSD
$90 $154 Save $64
The Samsung 990 EVO SSD is a PCIe 5.0 compatible 1 TB storage drive that brings speeds that are not the fastest in the industry, but still at the peak of the PCIe 4.0 standard. It is capable of up to 5,000 MB/s read and 4,200 MB/s write speeds. It uses V-NAND TLC technology and is rated for 600TB TBW.Â
- Storage capacity
- 1 TB
- Hardware Interface
- PCIe 5.0
- Brand
- Samsung
- Transfer rate
- Read: 5,000 MB/s, Write: 4,200 MB/s write
- TBW
- 600TB
- Warranty
- 5-year Limited Warranty
- Very affordable
- Smart thermal solution despite absence of heatsink
- Not the best transfer speeds
- Only uses two PCIe 5.0 lanes
The Samsung 990 EVO SSD is a great entry point into PCIe Gen 5 storage. With 1 TB capacity, it offers sufficient storage and boasts read and write speeds of up to 5,000 MB/s and 4,200 MB/s respectively. At under $100, this M.2 SSD is capable of delivering fast and reliable performance, thanks to its 600TB TBW. Samsung is using V-NAND TLC technology with this drive, which allows Samsung to bring the costs down.
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As expected, there is no heatsink included with the Samsung 990 EVO, but you can likely get away with not needing one, seeing how it doesn’t operate at such extremely fast speeds as its competitors do. It should be noted that it supports PCIe 5.0 x2 instead of x4, which means fewer lanes and reduced bandwidth. While it is not as fast as the others, it still reaches very close to the peak theoretical performance of PCIe Gen 4 SSDs, which can cost significantly more.
You can still use the Samsung 990 EVO SSD with PCIe 4.0 compatible slots where it supports x4 lanes. While there is no heatsink, Samsung has implemented a fine-tuned controller and a heat spreading label that keep thermals under control, but don’t expect cooling to be as efficient as a dedicated heatsink solution.
Crucial T705 2TB PCIe Gen5 NVMe M.2 SSD with heatsink
Best Performing PCIe 5.0 SSD
$308 $337 Save $29
The Crucial T705 2TB PCIe Gen5 NVMe M.2 SSD is the latest and greatest storage solution from the company that is arguably one of the best players in the game. The T705 series boasts incredible transfer speeds and the 2 TB model takes the cake, offering up to 14,500 MB/s read speeds and write speeds of up to 12,700 MB/s. It does come with a heatsink for improved thermal efficiency.Â
- Storage capacity
- 2 TB
- Hardware Interface
- PCIe 5.0
- Brand
- Crucial
- Transfer rate
- Read: 14,500 MB/s, Write: 12,700 MB/s
- TBW
- 1200TB
- Warranty
- 5-year limited warranty
- Incredibly fast
- Highly durable at 1200TB TBW
- Support for Microsoft Directstorage
Coming as an upgrade over the Crucial T700 series, the Crucial T705 series of PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSDs are the fastest on the market, pushing performance numbers that are at the peak of what the PCIe 5.0 standard allows. The T705 2TB PCIe Gen5 NVMe M.2 SSD is capable of reaching read speeds of up to 14,500 MB/s and write speeds of up to 12,700 MB/s. This is a no-compromise performance beast that is not just fast but extremely durable as well with its 1200TB TBW rating.
What’s interesting is that even though the Crucial T705 is available in 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB variants, only the 2 TB model can deliver these top-tier speeds. Fortunately, the other two variants are only slightly slower, with the 1 TB model capable of read speeds up to 13,600 MB/s and write speeds up to 10,200 MB/s. The 4 TB variant of the Crucial T705 can reach 14,100 MB/s and 12,600 MB/s read and write speeds respectively.
Nevertheless, 2 TB is the sweet spot in terms of both storage and speed. This storage size is plenty for having the OS, productivity software, and a ton of games installed. But if you are looking to save around $110, the 1 TB variant with the heatsink is a great performer. Speaking of which, this 2 TB model comes with an aluminum and copper heatsink, but you can get it without one as well.
Corsair MP700 Pro with Air Cooler 1TB
Best PCIe 5.0 SSD with Cooling
The Corsair MP700 Pro with Air Cooler is an ingenious solution for enthusiasts who want to squeeze maximum performance out of their SSDs. As the name suggests, there is a fan built in to the SSD for active cooling and improved thermal performance. The Corsair MP700 Pro can push read speeds of up to 11,700 MB/s and write speeds of up to 9,600 MB/s.Â
- Storage capacity
- 1 TB
- Hardware Interface
- PCIe 5.0
- Brand
- Corsair
- Transfer rate
- Read: up to 11,700 MB/s, Write: up to 9,600 MB/s
- TBW
- 700TBW
- Warranty
- Comprehensive 5-year warranty
- Impressive thermal performance
- High-density 3D TLC NAND
- Air Cooler may cause clearance issues in some builds
- Additional cable to be managed
The enthusiasts will appreciate the cooling solution Corsair has implemented with the MP700 PRO. As the name suggests, it has an air cooler for active cooling made possible by the tiny fan that pulls air in from the back and exhausts through the front. Available in 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB variants, these M.2 SSDs are capable of reaching up to 11,700 MB/s read speeds and up to 9,600 MB/s write speeds.
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The Corsair MP700 PRO with Air Cooler uses 3D TLC NAND technology for efficient storage and is rated for 700TB TBW endurance. For gamers, another benefit of going with the MP700 PRO is support for Microsoft Directstorage which, in compatible games, can result in even better performance and quicker load times. One thing to note is that the inclusion of the fan means there is a cable that needs to be plugged into the motherboard for power.
Another factor to consider with this SSD is that it is much taller than the rest, even with heatsinks. You will need to make sure there are no clearance issues in case of a small form factor build. Corsair offers a comprehensive five-year warranty for most of its SSDs, giving users some peace of mind when investing almost $200 on storage.
If you want to take your SSD cooling to the next level, Corsair also offers the MP700 Pro with support for water cooling. The Corsair MP700 PRO Hydro X Series comes with a pre-installed water block that just needs to be connected to an inlet and an outlet.
Seagate FireCuda 540 SSD 2TB
Most Durable PCIe 5.0 SSD
The FireCuda 540 SSD from Seagate is a heavy duty highly durable PCIe 5.0 compatible storage solution offering 2 TB of capacity. It is rated at 2000TB TBW, which is more than any other SSD on the market. The FireCuda 540 SSD can deliver read speeds of up to 10,000 MB/s and write speeds of up to 10,000 MB/s. It does not, however, come with a heatsink.
- Storage capacity
- 2 TB
- Hardware Interface
- PCIe 5.0
- Brand
- Seagate
- Transfer rate
- Read: 10,000 MB/s, Write: 10,000 MB/s
- TBW
- 2000TB
- Warranty
- 3 years Rescue Data Recovery Services, 5-year limited warranty
- Extreme durability
- Impressive write speeds
- 3 year data recovery service
- On the expensive side
- No heatsink at this price point
Seagate is known for its reliable storage that lasts for years and keeps on chugging. This expertise has made its way to PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSDs as well, with the Seagate FireCuda 540 series. Available in 1 TB and 2 TB variants, the FireCuda 540 SSDs are hands down the most durable and capable of taking consistent abuse. As mentioned earlier, the durability of an SSD is measured by TBW and the higher the value, the more durable it theoretically will be. The Seagate FireCuda 540 SSD 2 TB is rated for up to 2,000TB TBW where most other M.2 SSDs drop off at around 600TB-700TB.
It is more of a set it and forget it storage solution and 2 TB of space is plenty for most users. In terms of speed, the FireCuda 540 can reach up to 10,000 MB/s read and 10,000 MB/s write speeds, which is plenty fast, even though it’s not the pinnacle of PCIe 5.0 speeds. On top of that, Seagate also offers a three-year Rescue Data Recovery Service, as well as a five-year limited warranty.
The Seagate FireCuda 540 SSD does not come with a heatsink, so you may have to invest in a third-party solution. If you go in for the 1 TB variant, you will not have the same durability as the 2 TB model, but still a very respectable 1,000TB TBW. The 1 TB variant is capable of 9,500 MB/s read speeds and 8,500 MB/s write speeds, and is significantly more affordable.
Things to Consider When Looking for the Best PCIe 5.0 SSD
Capacity: One of the most important factors to take into consideration is storage capacity. You don’t want to go for lower storage capacity to save some money only to later realize that it’s not enough. What gamers often choose is an SSD with a smaller capacity, but very high-speed performance as their boot drive, and add in a cheaper, but larger capacity mechanical drive(s) for mass storage.
Speed: PCIe 5.0 standard is capable of achieving up to 14,000 MBps for NVMe SSDs, which is about 75% faster than PCIe 4.0. The faster the SSD, the more expensive it will be. But faster drives allow for quicker load times, faster loading of textures, faster copying speeds, and generally a smoother overall PC gaming and productivity experience.
Form factor: M.2 is the form factor for NVMe SSDs that use PCIe standards for interfacing with the motherboard. There are five sizes available in this form factor, ranging from 2230 (smallest – 1.18×0.87 inches) to 22110 (largest – 4.33×0.87 inches). To be able to use these PCIe-based SSDs, make sure you have available M.2 slots on the motherboard.
Budget: PCIe 5.0 compatible M.2 storage can get expensive really quickly, depending on the storage capacity and speed. Generally, PCIe 5.0 storage devices will be more expensive than PCIe 4.0 compatible ones, so make sure you understand how much fast storage is ideal for you and how much of the budget you reserve for the SSD. However, typical prices for PCIe 5.0 compatible storage have come down quite a bit, so they’re actually more affordable than ever.
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FAQ
Q: Are PCIe Gen 5 SSDs worth it?
With PCIe 5.0 being the foreseeable future for high-speed storage and considering the prices for compatible SSDs becoming more approachable, PCIe 5.0 SSDs are a logical investment for those looking to upgrade their components or build a new rig.
Q: What is the fastest Gen 5 SSD?
The Crucial T705 series of PCIe Gen 5 M.2 SSDs is capable of reaching up to 14,500 MB/s of read speeds and up to 12,700 MB/s write speeds, making it the fastest Gen 5 SSD on the market.
