Storage Rankings & Ladder

Storage rankings and ladder chart with 49 entries (NVMe, SATA, HDD). Switch between gaming, single-core, multi-core, efficiency and value; AMD, Intel and NVIDIA side by side. Data updated 2026-08-29.

NVMe Storage

  1. Samsung 990 PRO 2TB — Samsung · 2022-10 · PCIe 4.0 ceiling; excellent 4K and post-cache.
  2. WD Black SN850X 2TB — WD · 2022-08 · Well-loved gaming drive with good thermals.
  3. Crucial T705 2TB — Crucial · 2024-03 · PCIe 5.0 flagship; runs hot, needs a heatsink.
  4. 致态 TiPlus7100 / Ti600 2TB — ZhiTai · 2023-06 · Chinese mainstream; DRAM-less but HMB performs well.
  5. Kingston NV2 2TB — Kingston · 2022-10 · Entry drive; weak post-cache and 4K.
  6. Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB — Samsung · 2025-03 · Samsung PCIe 5.0 flagship, efficient.
  7. WD Black SN8100 2TB — WD · 2025-05 · Among the best PCIe 5.0 drives overall, manageable heat.
  8. 致态 TiPlus9100 2TB — ZhiTai · 2025-04 · Chinese PCIe 5.0 at a friendly price.
  9. Crucial T500 2TB — Crucial · 2023-10 · Excellent late-PCIe-4.0 drive.
  10. Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB — Samsung · 2024-10 · DRAM-less HMB, fine for everyday.
  11. Solidigm P44 Pro 2TB — Solidigm · 2022-11 · Rebadged Hynix P41, superb 4K.
  12. SK hynix Platinum P41 2TB — SK Hynix · 2022-05 · The PCIe 4.0-era 4K benchmark.
  13. Lexar NM790 2TB — Lexar · 2023-06 · DRAM-less yet excellent, great value.
  14. KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G3 2TB — KIOXIA · 2023-09 · Kioxia's own NAND, low heat.
  15. Crucial P3 Plus 2TB — Crucial · 2022-06 · QLC with very slow post-cache; archive use only.
  16. WD Blue SN580 1TB — WD · 2023-07 · Safe entry PCIe 4.0.
  17. Samsung 980 1TB — Samsung · 2021-03 · PCIe 3.0 DRAM-less entry.
  18. Samsung 950 PRO 512GB — Samsung · 2015-10 · Year one of consumer NVMe.
  19. Samsung 960 PRO 1TB — Samsung · 2016-10 · Last MLC flagship.
  20. Intel 660p 1TB — Intel · 2018-08 · QLC debut, 100 MB/s post-cache.
  21. Crucial P1 1TB — Crucial · 2018-10 · Contemporary QLC rival.
  22. Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB — Samsung · 2019-01 · Most recommended drive of the PCIe 3.0 era.
  23. WD Black SN750 1TB — WD · 2019-01 · WD Black SN750 1TB.
  24. SK hynix Gold P31 1TB — SK Hynix · 2020-08 · Ultra-efficient PCIe 3.0 drive.
  25. Samsung 980 PRO 1TB — Samsung · 2020-09 · PCIe 4.0 flagship; keep firmware updated.
  26. WD Black SN850 1TB — WD · 2020-11 · WD Black SN850 1TB.
  27. Kingston KC3000 2TB — Kingston · 2021-11 · E18 controller, high endurance.
  28. Seagate FireCuda 530 2TB — Seagate · 2021-07 · TBW 2550, the endurance king.

SATA Storage

  1. Samsung 870 EVO 1TB — Samsung · 2021-01 · SATA benchmark, top pick for older platforms.
  2. Crucial MX500 1TB — Crucial · 2018-01 · SATA evergreen.
  3. Samsung 870 QVO 2TB — Samsung · 2020-06 · High-capacity QLC, slow post-cache.
  4. WD Blue SA510 1TB — WD · 2022-03 · DRAM-less SATA entry.
  5. Intel X25-M 80GB — Intel · 2008-09 · Where consumer SSDs took off.
  6. OCZ Vertex 3 240GB — OCZ · 2011-03 · Early SATA III with many firmware failures.
  7. Samsung 840 PRO 256GB — Samsung · 2012-10 · The SATA SSD gold standard.
  8. Samsung 850 EVO 500GB — Samsung · 2014-12 · Popularized 3D NAND, sold in huge numbers.

HDD Storage

  1. Seagate IronWolf 8TB — Seagate · 2020-01 · NAS drive, CMR, somewhat noisy.
  2. WD Red Plus 8TB — WD · 2021-06 · Low-RPM CMR, quiet and efficient.
  3. Seagate Exos X18 16TB — Seagate · 2020-10 · Enterprise drive as bulk storage, loud.
  4. WD Ultrastar HC550 18TB — WD · 2020-01 · Enterprise high capacity.
  5. Toshiba N300 8TB — Toshiba · 2019-01 · The third NAS drive option.
  6. WD Black 4TB — WD · 2020-01 · Desktop performance drive, 5-year warranty.
  7. Seagate BarraCuda 2TB — Seagate · 2016-01 · SMR; only for cold data.
  8. WD Caviar Black 1TB — WD · 2008-10 · The performance drive of its day.
  9. WD VelociRaptor 300GB — WD · 2008-04 · 10,000 rpm; the performance king before SSDs.
  10. Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB — Seagate · 2009-01 · Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB.
  11. WD Red 3TB — WD · 2012-07 · The first NAS-specific drive.
  12. WD Blue 1TB (WD10EZEX) — WD · 2012-01 · The most common system drive in builds.
  13. Seagate IronWolf 4TB — Seagate · 2016-07 · Seagate IronWolf 4TB.