An SSD (also known as a solid state drive) is essential to any modern computer, offering transfer speeds several times faster than an old-school hard disk drive. A faster SSD in your system will enable your device to start up faster, run smoother and offer better performance in gaming and productivity tasks.
Capacity – The main consideration when purchasing an SSD will be it’s storage capacity, which ranges from 250GB-8TB. For basic home use, anywhere from 250GB-1TB will be suitable, depending on how many files like photos and videos you will be storing. However, when using the SSD for gaming or productivity tasks like editing 4K photos/videos or CAD work, 1TB and above would be recommended.
SSD Type – Currently in circulation there are 2 types of SSD: M.2 NVMe and SATA. M.2 NVMe SSDs are the newer standard, and boast speeds several times faster than their SATA alternative. They generally come in the form of a chip/stick, and are installed directly onto the motherboard. SATA are an older standard, using the same connector as classic HDDs, and are installed separately to the motherboard. These SATA SSDs will be faster than HDDs, but still significantly slower than an M.2 NVMe SSD.
SSD Generation/Speed – M.2 NVMe SSDs span a range of generations, currently in circulation are: Generation 3, Generation 4 and Generation 5. This generation refers to the standard of connector used, and as you go up in generation, you also go up in maximum speeds. The speeds range as follows:
Gen3 = ~3500MB/s | Gen4 = 3500MB/s-7000MB/s | Gen5 = 7000MB/s-14000MB/s+
