Cost per TB is the number that matters, but the cheapest drive is often slow QLC with no cache. So this shows value and quality together. Every current SSD ranked by dollars per TB, with the interface, speed, DRAM and endurance right beside it. Filter to fast Gen 4 with a cache and you get the real best buy.
Prices reviewed 11 July 2026. A NAND shortage is pushing SSD prices up through 2026, so check the live listing before buying.
| Drive | Size | Bus | Read MB/s | DRAM | TBW | Price | $/TB |
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A NAND shortage has pushed prices up, so the bar is higher than before. Under about 70 dollars per TB for a decent Gen 4 NVMe is a good deal, and 4TB drives give the lowest cost per TB. Sort by $/TB to see today's best.
For gaming and general use, no, a DRAM-less drive is fine and cheaper. For sustained large writes, video work or a busy work drive, a DRAM cache holds speed far better under load. Filter by cache to see only drives that have one.
For gaming, barely. Load times are almost identical, and Gen 5 costs more and runs hotter. It only earns its price for pro workloads moving huge files.
1TB is the floor, 2TB is the sweet spot, 4TB gives the best cost per TB. Filter by capacity to compare drives of the same size fairly.