How to choose an SSD. — 1 TB NVMe. Gen 4. Done.

M.2 NVMe vs SATA — NVMe wins, always

Two physical types of SSD live in current PCs. SATA SSDs (the 2.5-inch ones that look like small hard drives) cap at around 550 MB/s read because they share the SATA interface with hard drives. M.2 NVMe SSDs (the gum-stick-shaped boards that slot directly into the motherboard) talk to the CPU over PCIe and hit 3,500-14,000 MB/s depending on generation.

In 2026, the price-per-GB gap between SATA and M.2 NVMe Gen 4 has narrowed to essentially nothing. For any new build, M.2 NVMe is the only sensible pick. SATA SSDs make sense only if you've run out of M.2 slots and need extra storage.

PCIe Gen 4 vs Gen 5 — Gen 4 is the 2026 sweet spot

Modern motherboards support PCIe Gen 4 (7000 MB/s peak) and increasingly Gen 5 (14,000 MB/s peak) M.2 slots. The marketing is heavy on the Gen 5 numbers. The reality is more boring.

Why Gen 5 underdelivers in real use: Games and applications don't load data fast enough to saturate Gen 4, let alone Gen 5. Tests show a Gen 5 SSD loading Cyberpunk 2077 maybe 1-2 seconds faster than a Gen 4 SSD. Gen 5 SSDs also run hot enough to need active cooling — sometimes thermal-throttling within a few minutes of sustained reads.

When Gen 5 makes sense: Creator workflows moving 50+ GB video files routinely, scientific data processing, or running large local AI models. For gaming and general productivity, Gen 4 is more than enough.

How much capacity you need

Modern games are huge. Call of Duty regularly hits 150-200 GB installed. Cyberpunk with all DLC sits at 110 GB. Baldur's Gate 3 is 150 GB. Add Windows (40-50 GB), apps (30-50 GB), and your photo / document library, and 500 GB feels small fast.

The price-per-GB sweet spot usually lands at 2 TB. A 2 TB Gen 4 NVMe is often only R500-R900 more than a 1 TB version of the same model — far cheaper than buying two 1 TB drives later. Build for the future and skip the regret.

TBW and endurance — don't worry about it

SSDs have a limited number of write cycles before they wear out. Manufacturers rate this as TBW (Terabytes Written) — a typical 1 TB SSD has 600-1,200 TBW rating.

For context: normal gaming/office use writes 5-30 TB per year. At 10 TB/year of writes, a 600 TBW SSD lasts 60 years before wearing out. The endurance limit is essentially never the failure mode for consumer SSDs.

What does kill SSDs in real life is firmware bugs, controller failures, and (rarely) NAND voltage degradation under prolonged power loss. Quality brands minimise all three. Pick a tier-1 brand with a 5-year warranty and stop thinking about TBW.

DRAM-cached vs DRAM-less

SSDs use a small amount of fast DRAM cache to track where data lives on the NAND chips. DRAM-cached SSDs include this cache chip on the SSD itself. DRAM-less SSDs use a chunk of your system RAM instead (Host Memory Buffer / HMB).

DRAM-cached SSDs are noticeably faster for sustained workloads — copying large files, installing large games, video editing. DRAM-less is fine for casual use but slows down meaningfully under heavy write loads.

The recommendation: spend the extra R200-R400 for a DRAM-cached SSD on your primary boot drive. For a secondary game drive, DRAM-less is acceptable and saves money.

Recommended SSDs by use case

Common SSD mistakes

Buying SATA in 2026. No price advantage anymore, 10× slower than NVMe. Skip it for new builds.

Overspending on Gen 5. 50-100% premium for 1-3% gaming gain. Unless you're a video creator with large 4K/8K timelines, stay Gen 4.

Buying 500 GB. Modern games make this a constant deletion exercise. 1 TB is the floor.

Installing in the wrong M.2 slot. Most motherboards have one Gen 5 M.2 slot (typically M.2_1, closest to the CPU, connected directly) and several Gen 4 slots routed through the chipset. Boot drives go in M.2_1.

Skipping the heatsink on Gen 5. Gen 5 SSDs without a heatsink thermal-throttle within minutes. Even on Gen 4, the motherboard's built-in heatsink should always be installed.

Key takeaways

• M.2 NVMe Gen 4 is the right pick for new builds — SATA is slower at no price advantage.
• Skip Gen 5 for gaming. 1-3% real-world gain at 50-100% price premium and significant heat.
• 1 TB is the 2026 minimum. 2 TB is the sweet spot for most builders.
• Don't worry about TBW — controller failures and firmware bugs kill SSDs far before write endurance does.
• Stay with tier-1 brands (Samsung, WD, Kingston, Crucial, Lexar) — the 5-year warranty matters more than spec-sheet numbers.

Frequently asked questions