Best High-Value SSDs of 2025: Buy Before Prices Increase

SSD prices have risen significantly due to increased demand from AI data centers and high-performance computing expansions.

Hardware by Masaru Hoshino on Jan 01, 2026

SSD prices have surged dramatically, leaving many builders and upgraders confused about when and what to buy. With AI data centers driving unprecedented demand for storage and memory components, SSD costs have risen sharply and will continue climbing into next year.

Despite these higher prices, waiting to purchase storage for a new build or upgrade is not recommended, especially as devices that use SSDs are likely to increase in price soon.

Best High-Value, SSDs of 2025, Buy Before, Prices Increase, NoobFeed

Why SSD Prices Have Doubled

We’ve seen AI data centers sweeping up massive quantities of SSD and RAM chips as they expand infrastructure with budgets in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Just as RAM prices recently tripled, SSD prices are now following that same trend but lagging by a month or two.

SSD prices themselves are already climbing, but everything that uses those SSDs will rise shortly afterward. That means if you need storage, we recommend buying now rather than waiting until 2026 or 2027.

What You Actually Need for Gaming Performance

We often get asked whether a PCIe Gen3, Gen4, Gen5 NVMe SSD, or even a SATA SSD affects gaming FPS. There is no FPS difference between any of these. The only major jump in performance happens when switching from a hard drive to an SSD.

Some will ask about loading times, especially with direct storage. Testing shows that even the fastest PCIe Gen5 NVMe only loads a game a few seconds faster than slower SSD options. For example, a top-end Gen5 NVMe loaded a game in 8.5s, while a slow SATA SSD loaded it in 21.3s—a difference of under 13s.

Between fast NVMe and slower NVMe drives, the difference drops to around 2s. For gaming, overspending on ultra-fast Gen5 drives isn’t worthwhile unless you find a good deal and already have a motherboard and CPU that support Gen5 speeds.

Do You Need DRAM on Your SSD?

We get this question all the time. DRAM vs. DRAMless SSDs really matters only if you move large files or write heavily to your drive regularly. For example, recording in 4K60 at high bitrates, as we often do, demands high-performance drives with DRAM caches to handle the sustained write load.

If you’re gaming or doing general use tasks, a DRAMless SSD is usually just fine. Currently, the difference in price is around $30 per 1TB between DRAM and DRAMless, so choosing depends on your workload and budget.

Best High-Value, SSDs of 2025, Buy Before, Prices Increase, NoobFeed

Pricing Differences Between 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB SSDs

Volume discounts still exist. Prices can vary depending on how aggressively brands have raised costs. For example, the Klevv Cras C910 1TB DRAMless drive is $79. Two 1TB drives cost $160, whereas the 2TB model costs $142.

A 4TB model comes in around $260, which is significantly cheaper than buying multiple smaller drives. If you’re considering larger total storage, this is a good time since higher capacities often have better per-TB pricing and are rising more slowly.

Best SSD Deals for Black Friday, Cyber Monday & Holiday Season

We continually update our recommended deals, and availability changes quickly. If something isn’t available, it likely sold out. If something new appears, it means we found a better deal.

Best Budget NVMe SSD Deals

Western Digital Blue SN5000

1TB for $66 and 2TB for $124. This older model features a surprisingly large SLC cache, giving it excellent performance for a DRAMless drive and making it a great gaming option.

PNY XLR8 CS3140

A well-reviewed budget NVMe option. Priced at $84, but with promo codes dropping it to around $74.

Klevv Cras C910

1TB for $79. Prices haven't gone through the roof on this model yet, so it's one of the better cheap choices. Compared to brands like Silicon Power, which has hiked prices dramatically, Klevv has kept prices lower.

Best High-Capacity DRAMless SSD Deals

Crucial P310 4TB

This 4TB Gen4 NVMe SSD is currently the cheapest one on the market at $239. Prices for 4TB versions aren't going up as quickly, thus now is an excellent time to get one.

Western Digital SN5000 4TB

Western Digital SN5000 4TB is a good choice right now for about $265.

Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB

A DRAMless drive that works well for about $269. In many common tasks, newer DRAMless versions work better than older SSDs with DRAM.

Best High-Value, SSDs of 2025, Buy Before, Prices Increase, NoobFeed

Best DRAM SSD Deals

Klevv Cras C930

1TB with DRAM for $89—unchanged despite rising market prices. Also includes a heatsink option, making it PS5-compatible. The 2TB version is $143.

Team group Cardea A440

1TB with DRAM for $99. Teamgroup has raised prices heavily overall, but this 1TB remains a decent value if other models go out of stock.

Aorus Gen4 7300

A high-performance drive at an excellent price: 2TB for $149. The 1TB version isn’t as good of a deal, but the 2TB is one of the best values right now.

Samsung 990 Pro

$169 for 2TB. A premium-performance drive that becomes extremely competitive during sales.

Best 4TB DRAM NVMe SSDs

If you want top-tier performance with large capacity:

Samsung 990 Pro 4TB

$299. Only slightly more expensive than DRAMless 4TB models and delivers significantly higher performance.

Western Digital Black SN850X 4TB

Another excellent choice if the Samsung model goes out of stock.

Best PCIe Gen5 Options

If you insist on the absolute fastest:

Samsung SSD 9100 Pro 4TB

On sale for $369. It runs extremely hot, so we recommend using a motherboard M.2 heatsink or getting the version with an included heatsink. It may also benefit from additional airflow.

Final Thoughts

We update the available deals frequently and suggest checking for new pricing often since SSD stock and sales shift quickly. With rising component costs expected to continue, now is a strong time to buy whatever storage you’ll need for upcoming builds or upgrades.

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