If you’re still booting from a mechanical hard disk drive, you should seriously consider upgrading to a speedier solid-state drive.
Solid-state drives (SSDs) are probably the core component that will make the most difference to your computer experience. SSDs are much faster than traditional, mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs), and swapping out an HDD for an SSD can breathe a new lease of life into your computer or laptop. It’s not difficult to upgrade, either; most SSDs slot into where you hard drive would be. While it’s certainly true that SSDs are more expensive than HDDs, and typically offer less storage space, there are some great deals to be had. Here’s our round-up of some of the best budget SSDs currently on the market. We’ve included some really affordable drives, as well as some speedy, high-capacity drives that offer good value for money.
Toshiba OCZ TR200
Using TLC NAND flash technology, the Toshiba OCZ TR200 series offers decent speeds at an affordable price. Available in capacities ranging from 240GB to 960GB, this SSD is insanely cheap – prices start at £33.13 on Amazon. Write speeds come in at 540MB/s, while read speeds are 555MB/s. While these speeds aren’t lightning-fast compared to some SSDs, they’re still magnitudes faster than those found on HDDs. This Toshiba SSD is a great way to dip your toes into the world of solid-state technology if you haven’t already. As mentioned above, the 240GB model is priced at £33.13, while the 480GB and 960GB models come in at £57.15 and £109.92, respectively.
Samsung 970 EVO
Powered by Samsung’s V-NAND technology, this solid-state drive offers sequential write speeds of up to 520MB/s and sequential read speeds of up to 540MB/s. Furthermore, RAPID mode utilises unused PC memory as cache storage, boosting data processing speeds on a system level by up to 2x. Security-wise, the 850 EVO SSD is equipped with an AES 256-bit hardware-based encryption engine, and Dynamic Thermal Guard protects it from overheating. This SSD is available in capacities ranging from 250GB to a whopping 4TB. Prices start at around £84.99 for the 250GB model.
WD My Passport SSD
This is a portable SSD, and works in exactly the same way as an external hard drive would – only this drive utilises NAND flash memory rather than spinning magnetic platters. Measuring just 90x45x10mm, his portable SSD is light and incredibly compact, making it a perfect drive for taking out and about. While the upper storage limit might be a drawback for many – the capacity caps at 1TB – for many, this will be perfectly suitable. Like the Samsung 870 EVO, the WD My Passport SSD also includes 526-bit AES encryption, which can be turned on using the WD Security software provided. With read/write speeds up to 512MB/s, it’s by no means slow. This portable SSD is available in storage capacities starting from 256GB, which comes in at £59.99.
Crucial MX500
This SSD offers a fast, high-endurance drive for an incredible price. Available in storage capacities from 250GB to 1TB. This SSD has a sequential read speed of 560MB/s and a sequential write speed of 510MB/s. It’s a standard 2.5” drive, so it’ll fit into any standard computer or laptop. With a five year warranty and coming in at £41.98 for the 250GB model, this is a great value SSD.
