Best PCIe 4.0 SSDs 2026: 5 top picks from the PC experts

Recent computing equipment typically supports the 16Gbps PCIe 4.0 protocol as its baseline data transfer/SSD storage technology.

While Gen 4 is slowly being supplanted by 32Gbps PCIe 5.0 (most computers mix the two), the difference in real-world performance is not as great as you might think. A lot of software, which unfortunately includes Windows, can’t take full advantage. Alas, PCIe 5.0 still demands a hefty surcharge.

As to surcharges… At the time we were bringing this article up to date, SSD prices were soaring and availability shrinking — thanks in large part to the AI gold rush. Hence, the newly researched prices shown below will not match the older ones in the linked reviews.

The recommendations below represent the cream of the nearly three dozen PCIe 4.0 SSDs that we’ve reviewed, best suited for a variety of needs. Whether you want to upgrade or add more storage, there’s a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD for you. Read on to learn more, including what to look for.

Why you should trust PCWorld for PCIe 4.0 SSD reviews and buying advice: We’re not called PCWorld for nothing. Our reviewers have been testing PC hardware for decades. Our storage evaluations are exhaustive, testing the limits of every product — from performance benchmarks to the practicalities of regular use. As PC users ourselves, we know what makes a killer product stand out. Only the best SSDs have made our list of picks.

Other notable PCIe 4.0 SSD reviews

• Samsung 990: Slower than the older 990 EVO Plus and not a bargain, even given the current NAND crunch.
• Orico OS5: This drive is marketed for the PS5, but uses a non-supported HMB design.
• Teamgroup T-Create C47: Stands out in super-long writes.
• Lexar NQ780: Makes a very good showing in a field of stiff competition.
• Orico IG740-Pro: Fast enough, decently affordable SSD that ships with some nice-to-have extras.
• PNY CS2342: A 2230 small form-factor SSD sized for Steam Deck, which performs very well with light workloads.
• Teamgroup MP44Q: A great everyday performer.
• Addlink A93/S93: A solid-performing PCIe 4.0, DRAM-less NVMe SSD that might save you a few bucks. But the A93 with its heatsink faces heavy competition from many similarly priced and often faster SSDs.
• WD SN850X 8TB SSD: Far faster than the previously tested 2TB version, but currently you’ll pay a staggering premium for it.
• 990 EVO Plus: An update to Samsung’s 990 EVO hybrid drive that can use either the PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0 interface — although the latter is limited to PCIe 4.0’s theoretical bandwidth.
• T-Force G50: This drive should be on your short list. It’s a relatively inexpensive, solid performing PCIe 4.0 drive for everyday tasks.
• Kingston NV3: Proof that DRAM-less drives — those that use a Host Memory Buffer (HMB) as cache — can offer competitive performance.
• Sabrent Rocket Nano 2242: Features a smaller form factor (22mm x 42mm) that was tailor-made for Lenovo’s Legion Go and Thinkpads — but can also be used in a standard slot as well.

How to choose the best PCIe 4.0 SSD

There are a few things to look out for when purchasing a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, but most importantly you’ll want to focus on capacity, price, and warranty length. Three-year warranties are standard with bargain drives, but nicer models are generally guaranteed for up to five years.

A good indicator of expected longevity is an SSD’s TBW (terabytes written) rating which mitigates the warranty period like the miles in an automobile warranty. This is the number of terabytes the vendor thinks you’ll be able to write before it runs out of extra (overprovisioned) cells to replace worn ones. This is an equation based on the type of NAND being used, but also incorporates financial concerns. I.e., the cost of replacing the drive should it not last as long the rating.

Unlike the early days of SSDs and NAND, modern drives won’t generally wear out with normal consumer usage, as Tech Report tested and proved years ago with a grueling endurance test. We’re talking petabytes of writes in many cases. That said, QLC NAND generally carries a lower TBW rating than TLC NAND.

Another crucial thing to watch out for is the technology used to connect the SSD to your PC. For more details and buying advice see below, or you can read our in-depth guide on which type of SSD you should buy.

A few handy definitions

PCIe: This is the standard modern memory transfer bus, to the tune of nearly 4GBps over PCIe gen 3 and well over 10GBps when you reach PCIe 5.0. The transport technology pairs nicely with the NVMe protocol (see the next entry) used by all modern M.2 PCIe SSDs. Most M.2 slots (some older ones are SATA — see below) are PCIe and you can buy adapters that allow you to employ “gumstick” (2280) M.2 drives in a PCIe slot. PCIe 4.0 drives are significantly faster than PCIe 3.0, but require an AMD Ryzen 3000-series or Intel Core 11th-gen (or newer) processor, along with a compatible PCIe 4.0 motherboard. PCIe 5.0 is even faster — up to 15GBps with storage.

NVMe: Non-Volatile Memory Express technology takes advantage of PCIe’s bountiful bandwidth and the unique properties of NAND such as multiple lanes and caching to create blisteringly fast SSD performance. Check out PCWorld’s “Everything you need to know about NVMe” for a nitty-gritty deep-dive.

M.2: You might assume all M.2 drives are PCIe/NVMe. However, before NVMe was a thing, some M.2 slots and SSDs were mSATA. If you’re shopping to upgrade an older computer make sure which technology you need — NVMe or SATA.

mSATA and U.2: You may also stumble across mSATA in older equipment, and U.2 SSDs for enterprise-grade servers and the like, but consumer motherboard support is almost nil for the latter.

Speed matters, of course, but most modern SSDs, even the slower ones are ridiculously fast — so don’t overbuy. A PCIe SSD will only perform as fast as the generation of the device it’s installed in. In other words, don’t expect a PCIe 5.0 SSD to perform at its rated speed on a PCIe 3.0 computer.

Speaking of which, you can expect roughly 3.5GBps max from PCIe 3.0, 7.5GBps max from PCIe 4.0, and somewhere just north of 14GBps with PCIe 5.0 under optimal conditions — i.e., using synthetic benchmarks or software that supports NVMe’s multiple queues. Single-queue Windows limits all flavors to under 4GBps during normal transfers, so again — don’t overbuy in terms of performance.

Note: If you want better transfer performance from your SSDs, check out FastCopy. It can transfer files two to three times faster than Windows Explorer.