What are the best internal SSDs (M.2 NVMe) for PC in 2026?

Which NVMe SSD to choose for your PC in 2026?

Allowing us to store our data, SSDs (Solid State Drives) are now essential in our computers, both desktop and laptop PCs.

If the latter were originally limited to a 2.5-inch format, the market is now focused on the M.2 format, more compact and easier to install, by simply clipping onto the motherboard.

If you need to buy an NVMe SSD, hurry! Indeed, with the RAM memory crisis, SSDs are also seeing their prices skyrocket. And it won't get better for a while...

Samsung 990 Pro: the sure value of high-end SSDs

The Korean giant has been the undisputed leader in the high-end SSD market for several years. Available in capacities ranging from 250 GB to 2 TB, it is built around TLC memory.

First observation: the speeds are excellent, with nearly 7.1 GB/s reading and 5.2 GB/s writing. Although the performance is good, consumption is nevertheless high and the disk heats up quickly. We therefore strongly recommend that you install it under a heatsink, whether supplied with your motherboard or sold separately.

The Samsung 990 Pro in brief:

- Read/write speed: 7.4 GB/s – 6.9 GB/s

- TLC memory

- Good value for money

Buy the Samsung 990 Pro SSD:

- 1 TB model: available from 191 euros

- 2 TB model: available from 292 euros

Samsung 9100 Pro: the fastest

If you want the best in 2026, go for the Samsung 9100 Pro, which is the successor to the 990 Pro. It takes full advantage of the PCIe 5.0 interface, which allows it to achieve very high speeds of up to 14,800 MB/s read and 13,400 MB/s write, a record. It will be perfect for professionals who operate intensive workloads. It also offers large capacities ranging from 1 TB up to 8 TB.

The Samsung 9100 Pro in brief:

- Read/write speed: 14.8 GB/s – 13.4 GB/s

- Advanced thermal control

- Quite simply the fastest on the market

Buy the Samsung 9100 Pro:

- 1 TB model: available from 189 euros

- 4 TB model: available from 499 euros

Crucial P510: fast for its price

The P510 is a high-end SSD that doesn't have the price. It features read/write speeds of up to 11,000/9,500 MB/s. It is PCIe Gen 5 compatible and PCIe 4.0 backward compatible.

The Crucial P510 in brief:

- Read/write speed: 7.1 GB/s – 6 GB/s

- Micron Nand memory

- Accessible for the perfs offered

Buy the Crucial P510 SSD:

- 1 TB model: available from 179 euros

- 2 TB model: available from 259 euros

Crucial P310: the best SSD for value for money

The little brother of the P310 is only PCie 4 compatible, and thus offers lower but perfectly honest transfer speeds. Above all, it remains inexpensive, which is rare at the moment. Good value for money.

Equipped with TLC memory and available in 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB versions, they offer theoretical read speeds of up to 7.1 GB/s and 6 GB/s write speeds.

The Crucial P310 in brief:

- Read/write speed: 7.1 GB/s – 6 GB/s

- TLC memory

- Accessible and often on promotion

Buy the Crucial P310 SSD:

- 1 TB model: available from 160 euros

- 2 TB model: available from 240 euros

- 4 TB model: available from 350 euros

Which M2 SSD to choose for your PC? The criteria and our advice

What is an SSD?

You are certainly familiar with hard drives, which have been equipping our computers for several decades now. Although the latter are now proven and offer ever-increasing storage capacities, they unfortunately remain limited in terms of performance. As a reminder, these operate in a “mechanical” way with platters rotating at high speed and traversed by read/write heads.

SSDs, for their part, use NAND, a type of flash memory offering superior performance while generally being more compact than our traditional hard drives. SSDs (and M.2 SSDs) are in fact large USB keys since they use the same type of memory as the latter.

Comparatively, hard drives offer, at an equivalent price, more storage space than SSDs and are more suitable than the latter for long-term data storage. Conversely, SSDs are less durable, but much more efficient than a hard drive to accommodate your operating system and your games, for example.

We will therefore generally recommend using an SSD for the most demanding operating system and games, and adding a hard drive, with more space to store your documents, media and other data that does not need to be accessed very quickly.

Is my PC compatible and how do I install an M.2 SSD?

An M.2 SSD is installed, as its name suggests, on an M.2 connector and therefore directly on the motherboard of your computer. All recent cards are equipped with this connection and you just need to consult the card's manual to check the presence of this port and its compatibility with the NVMe standard to obtain the best performance.

To install, simply locate the M.2 connector, remove the mounting screw and/or any heat sink. Then install the drive into the connector and secure parallel to the board using the screw and/or heat sink. If your card is equipped with such a device, remember to remove the protective plastic present on the thermal paste normally present under the heatsink.

SLC, MLC, TLC, QLC: what are the different types of memory?

While browsing the SSD technical sheets, you have undoubtedly noticed that for each reference, the type of flash memory used is specified. There are currently 4 main types on the different SSDs on the market which directly influence the performance of SSDs. This list is ordered from the most efficient and durable (and most expensive) to the least efficient and durable (and therefore least expensive):

- SLC (Single Level Cell): each cell can store a single bit. It is the most expensive memory and is generally intended for professional applications. It is also the most efficient and durable memory with several tens of thousands of write cycles.

- MLC (Multi Level Cell): each cell can store several bits (generally 2). The performance is lower than SLC memory and the lifespan does not exceed 10,000 cycles.

- TLC (Triple Level Cell): each cell can store 3 bits. This type of memory is less efficient and less durable than the two previous ones with around 3000 write cycles.

- QLC (Quad Level Cell): each cell can store 4 bits. The most recent technology, they offer performance below TLC memory, but its low cost allows you to benefit from more storage capacity.

To overcome the performance problems of less expensive memories, manufacturers often use more efficient cache memory. Thus, for small operations, SSDs equipped with SLC cache memory (for example) will benefit from very good performance. We cover this point a little later on this page.

I don't have enough M.2 slots on my motherboard, what should I do?

Apart from a few ultra high-end motherboards, the vast majority of PCs only have two NVMe slots. However, it is possible to add more via PCI Express expansion cards. A basic model that can accommodate PCI Express 3.0 only costs around twenty euros. For around a hundred euros, you can find models capable of 4 slots wired in PCI Express 4.0. Enough to stock up on ultra-fast storage without breaking the bank.

SATA or NVMe, what are the main differences?

There are two main “types” of M.2 SSDs: those compatible with SATA (AHCI protocol) and those compatible with PCI Express (NVMe protocol). These two standards are not necessarily dependent on connectivity, but define the bus used by the system to access storage. To explain things simply, you need to understand that the SATA (Serial ATA) standard was originally created for hard drives and other optical drives whose speeds were not the same as those of our SSD drives.

Thus, the SATA standard caps in its version 3 at 600 MB/s. You could use the strongest SSD on the market, it could not exceed this speed if you use it in SATA. The NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) standard was specifically designed for flash memory drives and uses the much more efficient PCI Express bus.

Most M.2 SSDs sold on the market are now NVMe stamped and, similarly, the vast majority of recent motherboards are compatible with these drives. Thanks to this, you will be able to obtain speeds of several GB/s.

What are the maximum flow rates that I can achieve?

We talk a lot about M.2 SSD speeds in these lines. This is certainly one of the most important characteristics when choosing your new drive, but you should be careful about the data indicated by the manufacturers.

Indeed, very often, these flow rates are obtained under optimal conditions and several factors can hamper performance. We have seen that the type of memory used is important and that it partly defines the performance of the disk. QLC memory drives are starting to arrive en masse on the market and this memory does not offer exemplary performance. This is why manufacturers add a cover whose size can vary depending on the model.

This cache, made up of more efficient memory, will improve read and write throughput as long as it is not filled. This method will be very effective for one-off and light accesses, but will unfortunately not be sufficient when transferring very large files which will involve a significant drop in performance. Nothing prohibitive, however, if you use your disk in a “normal” way.

Another point to take into account: cooling. This point is similar to the previous one since this behavior will be more likely to occur in the case of very intensive use of your disk. Just like a processor, an M.2 SSD must maintain the correct temperature to operate in good conditions. Therefore, if your disk is not properly cooled, its performance can collapse on very large transfers so that everything can remain at the correct temperature. You will also notice that on some motherboards, heat sinks are present on the M.2 slots.

When installing your M.2 SSD and copying all your games and files onto it, don't worry about not getting the speeds indicated on the box. This is “normal” and totally dependent on the technical characteristics of your SSD.

What are PCI-Express 5.0 SSDs worth?

PCI-Express 4.0 has barely been democratized when its successor is already here, introduced with the 12th generation Intel processors. The bandwidth of the interface is doubled and the first compatible disks seem to show an increase in speeds of the same order of magnitude.

SSD and video game, what advantages?

Compared to a traditional hard drive, an SSD will not give you a real performance gain. So don't expect to significantly increase the number of frames per second in your favorite games. The processor and graphics card are much more important here and will have a real impact on performance.

On the other hand, thanks to its reduced access times and the better speeds it offers, the SSD will significantly reduce loading times. Thus, all games will benefit from faster startup and loading of environments or maps. Certain very demanding titles (mainly open worlds) will also benefit from a more “fluid” experience. The use of ultra-fast SSDs on the PS5 and Xbox Series has opened the door to better use of SSDs in games, with, for example, almost no loading times.