Buying a solid state drive — a good one — is usually not cheap, but that’s changing. Some of the fastest and most spacious models no longer come with high prices. That’s great, as SSDs have become an all but necessary purchase for PS5 and PC gamers running out of space on their systems.
For one, games just keep getting bigger. And on the PC, some incoming games, like the “irresponsibly large” Starfield and the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion,actually require that you have an SSD, not one of those slower HDDs.
If you have an SSD, you already know that every aspect of using a PC is improved with one. If you don’t yet have one, or you want to upgrade to something bigger and faster, here are a couple of options that are much cheaper than usual (some of the items require you to clip a coupon to get the lowest price).
It’s possible to get most SSDs without a heatsink attached, likely saving you $10 or in the process compared to models that have a built-in heatsink. For PS5 gamers hoping to upgrade, you should get one of the models above; Sony strongly recommends using a heatsink-equipped SSD in the PS5, or else the storage could overheat once installed.
That’s not to say you can’t buy a heatsink-less model, then apply your own heatsink. It’s an easy process, and there are many options available on Amazon, like this $10.99 model.
But for PC gamers, using a heatsink isn’t a requirement, so just find the best price you can on the speed you’re looking for. Oh, and keep in mind that PS5-compatible SSDs utilize the fast PCIe 4.0 bus, which not all PC motherboards support by default (however, it is becoming the standard with newer gaming laptops and desktop motherboards). The good news is that PCIe 4.0 is backwards compatible with the more common PCIe 3.0 board.
