Most of the best SSDs for gaming are SATA-based models, because they offer a better bang for your buck. However, pricing on faster NVMe drives are starting to come down. In fact, you can snag a 256GB model for just $36.99 today.
That's the sale price of Patriot's Scorch 256GB. While not massive, it's big enough to serve as your PC's boot drive, with room for a few programs and games (your mileage will vary, of course). It's also dirt cheap for an NVMe drive of this capacity.
The sale price is well below the drive's $79.99 MSRP. It's also cheaper than the going rate for most drives in this size and speed range, which typically go for $50 and up. Corsair's Force MP300 240GB, for example, sells for $53.99.
Speeds check in at 1,700MB/s for reads and 780MB/s for writes. For reference, the best performing SATA SSDs top out at around 550MB/s to 580MB/s. While on the lower end of NVMe territory, the speeds are comparable to Corsair's Force MP300, which offers a slower 1,580MB/s read speed and faster 920MB/s write speed.
As with all M.2 form factor drives, you don't have to fuss with SATA or power cables—just plug into an M.2 slot, which is found on most modern motherboards.
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