Solid State Drives

SSD Buying Guide: How to Choose the Best SSD in the UK

In any PC or laptop designed for any purpose, be it gaming, creative professionals, or everyday use, slow-performing storage can lead to big bottlenecks, forcing your processor or GPU to slow down. Therefore, choosing the right storage is critically important for enhanced performance. Of all the available storage solutions, Solid State Drive or SSD stands out because of comparatively better speed, durability, energy efficiency, noise reduction, compact size, and improved heat management. SSD storage solutions come in a great variety; you may end up overwhelmed when you encounter a large number of options there. In this regard, check out our SSD collection, featuring the best laptop SSD, desktop SSD, NAS SSD, 2TB SSD, SATA SSD, NVMe SSD, and more. 

Therefore, you should spend some time searching about types of SSDs, how big Solid State Drive solution you should buy, and many similar questions. Concerning this, we have solved this puzzle for you. In this article, we are discussing all the major factors that you should consider before making a final choice. Ready to dig in? Let’s get started!

How to Choose the Best SSD in the UK:

Similar to IT professionals or gaming enthusiasts living elsewhere, UK-based users must also take a few factors into account. Here we are going to discuss them one by one.

Form Factor: 2.5" SSD vs PCIe SSD vs M.2 SSD

These are three form factors available in the market. Each offers a unique set of capabilities. 

2.5" SSD is the standard storage that can be installed in a majority of laptops and desktops through slots or drive cages built specially for SSD. 2.5-inch SSD is often equipped with a SATA interface, capable of supporting up to 550MB to 600MB speed. This is the cheapest SSD and the most compatible storage you can find in the market; however, the speed is comparatively slower in comparison with M.2 or PCIe SSD solutions.

M.2 SSD is for compact-size devices, suitable for laptops, ultrabooks, and similar devices. It comes with either a SATA or NVMe interface, NVM M.2 SSD is comparatively faster than SATA M.2 SSD. This interface is perfect for high-performing devices, but it comes at a cost. M.2 SSD is more expensive than a 2.5-inch Solid State Drive.

PCIe SSD is the most advanced and fastest SSD available in the market. It has a bigger size than M.2 SSD and it is used in servers, workstations, and similar high-performing devices. PCIe SSDs are capable of supporting extremely fast data transfer, you can thus use it for mission-critical devices. However. The downside of this storage is that it is quite expensive, making it unsuitable for mid-range users.

Read/Write Speed:

After the interface, read/write speed is another important consideration. Normally, SSD is considered faster than Hard Drives, which is right obviously, but it does not mean that you buy every Solid-State Drive without going through its specs. For instance, you may end up buying a PCIe 3.0 SSD, or even a SATA SSD which are slower and can lead to poor performance on your desktop or laptop.

Here are some recommendations in this regard

SATA SSD is the slowest SSD available, capable of supporting 500MB/s to 600MB/s read/write speed. 

PCIe 3.0 SSDs are much faster than SATA SSDs, they can deliver up to 3,500MB/s read speed, whereas, PCIe 4.0 SSDs are capable of supporting up to 7000 MB/s speed. What’s more, there are PCIe 5.0 SSD solutions as well, which can deliver an incredible 14,500MB/s or even beyond speed. You can now determine which PCIe best suits you. PCIe 5.0 SSD is only for high-end users, you are therefore suggested to choose from PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 3.0 SSD storage.

Storage or Capacity:

After thoroughly considering read/write speed and SSD interface, you should now look at the very basic question: how big SSD storage should be to meet your needs? SSDs available in various sizes, such as 128GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB, or even 30TB. To determine the right SSD size, you should know the purpose of using your Desktop PC or laptop. 

Here are some recommendations in this regard: 

128GB SSD is normally considered best for laptops or other compact devices, but nowadays, 128GB or even 256 GB SSD is not enough. For instance, Windows 11 can consume 30GB of space, leaving very little space for you for applications and other kinds of storage needs. For everyday uses, you are recommended not to buy an SSD that is less than 512GB. 

Similarly, if you are a power user and set to use your system for content creation or video editing, 1TB SSD is the bare minimum, it is always worth buying 2TB storage for these tasks. 

SSD storage above 2TB is worth buying only if you are sure how to use that space, normally, for AI, machine learning, and other high-end professions, 4TB storage is recommended. 

SSD Buying Guide:

Now, we are going to make some specific recommendations to make your SSD buying undertaking quite easy. 

Best SSD For Laptops: 

Crucial T500 is ranked as the best M.2 SSD for laptops. Featuring x4 PCIe 4.0 / NVMe 2.0 transfer interface and 7,400 / 7,000 MB/s read/write speed, Crucial T500 offers an exceptional storage solution that is power efficient as well.

Best SSD For PS 5: 

Seagate Game Drive SSD is highly recommended SSD storage for PlayStation 5. It features PCIe 4.0 NVM interface and it is available in 1TB and 2TB models. You can thus store plenty of titles as well as enjoy excellent 4K performance.

Best SSD for Gaming:

WD Black SN850X is ranked as the best SSD solution for gaming. It comes with M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 and 7,300 Mbps/6300 Mbps read and write speed. It is available in 500 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB capacity, making it suitable for various storage needs. 

Best SSD for Data Backup:

SanDisk Desk Drive 10Gbps is recommended as the best external SSD for data backup. It comes in 4TB and 8TB capacities and can support up to 10Gbps data transfer performance.

Cheapest SSD: 

Addlink AddGame A93 is the most affordable M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD solution for gamers. It is available in up to 4TB capacity and compatible with PlayStation 5 and other gaming consoles.

How Can We Help You: 

Morgan Ingland Ltd is a leading IT firm in the UK, specializing in offering premium storage solutions at the best price in the market. Our storage portfolio is extensive, covering HDD drives as well as SSD drives including SATA SSD, NVMe SSD, and high-end SSD designed specifically for laptops, desktops, gaming consoles such as PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, XBOX, and more. 

What’s more, we deal with every storage manufacturer including but not limited to Samsun, Crucial, Seagate, Western Digital, Kingston, and more. 

Whether you are a gaming, or creative professional or just want space for files, we have got a perfect storage solution for you. Contact us today and discover the most extensive hard drives and SSD storage in the UK market.