Best PCIe M.2 SSDs: Faster Read Speed

These drives are more minor, Best PCIe M.2 SSDs similar in shape to RAM modules, and plug directly into the motherboard. But best of all, they can offer read and write rates up to six times faster than conventional SATA SSDs.

However, there are still two obstructions that make them not suitable for all teams:

1. Modern motherboard: These hard drives require a motherboard compatible with these newer storage drives (something you’ll only find on newer ones).
2. The price: they are somewhat more expensive than SATA SSDs.

However, my opinion is that the difference in performance is well worth it, so if you are building a new PC, you should use this system.

With that being said, let’s get down to the best PCIe M.2 SSDs of 2022.

 Samsung 970EVO Positive

This Samsung 970 EVO Plus is one of the best SSDs today.

It achieves one of the highest write speeds ever seen in a storage device, and in some tests, it even beats the 970 Pro, the company’s premium model.

This disk is the first Samsung to introduce the new 96-layer V-NAND technology, which allows a higher memory density and a notable speed improvement.

Technical characteristics:

• Models according to capacity: 250GB/500 GB/1 TB/2 TB.
• Interface: PCIe Gen 3 x4 M.2.
• Successive read/write speed: Up to 3,500/3,300/s.
• Durability:  150, 300, 600, 1,200 TBW.

pros

LOW CONSUMPTION: Despite offering excellent moreover speed and performance, it keeps the consumption level low, never firing.

VERY HIGH SPEEDS: 3,500 MB/s sequential read and 480,000 random IOPS on the 500 GB version, an absolute beast.

DURABILITY: depending on your model, the durability ranges from 150 TBW to 1,200 TBW.

cons

WORKS BETTER ON WINDOWS THAN MAC: It’s better optimized for Microsoft OS computers than Apple devices, so it can’t take full advantage of it on Mac.

If you are interested, you can see it here:

Samsung 970 Pro

This drive is for you if you’re looking for the fastest SSD on the market (if we don’t have the Intel Optane SSD 905P, which is beyond the reach of most mortals) and exceptional durability to withstand tons of written data.

The Samsung 970 Pro features 64-layer 3D V-NAND flash memory and an improved five-core controller, making the drive more efficient as it can handle more workload at a lower frequency.

Technical characteristics:

• Models according to capacity: 512 GB/1 TB.
• Interface: PCIe Gen 3 x4 M.2.
• Read/write speed: 3200/3500MB/s.
• Durability:  600, 1,200 TBW.

Pros

EXCELLENT SPEED (NOT TO SAY BLASTFUL): The writing speed of this drive is 3500MB/s (in the 1TB version), and the reading speed is 3200MB/s. A substantial improvement from the previous version, the Samsung 960 Pro.

HIGH DURABILITY:  Encrypted at 600 BTW for the 512 GB version and 1,200 TBW for the 1 TB version.

cons

SOMETHING EXPENSIVE: Although the performance of this SSD is impressive, the truth is that there are more affordable options that are not far behind. The most straightforward case is inside your own home: the Samsung 970 EVO Plus is cheaper and offers practically the same speed.

Adata XPG SX8200

This SSD has a sequential read speed of 3,060 MB/s, quite a lot considering its low price. Instead, its random write speed of 1,765 MB/s may feel short.

However, it shows excellent performance in day-to-day tasks and loading games, making it one of the best options for gamers who do not want to spend a fortune to improve the speed of their computer.

We find a Silicon Motion SM2262 controller and a second-generation 3D NAND TLC flash memory inside the disk. We see the minor miracle of combining performance, efficiency, and low cost with a high-capacity dynamic SLC buffer.

Technical characteristics:

• Models according to capacity: 240 GB/480 GB/960 GB.
• Interface: PCIe Gen 3 x4 M.2.
• Read/write speed: 3,060/1,765 MB/s.
• Durability:  160, 320, 640TBW.

pros

IT HAS A HEATSINK: This disc has a built-in heatsink that prevents overheating while enjoying your games.

FREE SOFTWARE: One of this drive’s significant assets is that you can download the SSD Toolbox programs for free from the Adata website to manage and monitor the hard drive’s functions and a limited version of Acronis to make backup copies and clone discs.

cons

IT IS NOT THE FASTEST: there are faster ones, although, for your gaming sessions, this SSD is enough for you.

Crucial was one of the first manufacturers to introduce, The 4-bit-per-cell (QLC) NAND memory, which qualitatively improves drive performance.

The main advantage of this new memory is cost reduction (so the market price is lower), but in return, it has less durability: 100 TBW for the 500 GB version and 200 TBW for the 1 TB version.

However, its performance is better than expected from such a cheap product. This is due to the caching system (fast-access data storage) used by Crucial, dubbed Hybrid-Dynamic Write Acceleration.

Technical characteristics:

• Models according to capacity: 500 GB/1 TB.
• Interface: PCIe Gen 3 x4 M.2.
• Read/write speed: 2,000/1,700 MB/s.
• Durability:  100/ 200TBW.

pros

EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE – This SSD performs better than other supposedly higher-end drives at a lower price, making it quite attractive.

WORKS PERFECTLY ON OTHER DEVICES: on computers with a Mac operating system and consoles.

cons

DON’T RUN OUT OF MEMORY: When there’s a lot of free memory, its caching technology works great, but when it starts to get low, performance drops dramatically