PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs

PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives reach around 7,000MB/s, roughly twice PCIe 3.0 and about thirteen times a SATA SSD. For most builds this is the sensible place to be.

The honest position on the generations: the transformative difference is SATA to NVMe. Beyond that, in booting, launching applications and loading games, PCIe 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 feel much the same. Sequential speed shows itself in large sustained transfers — video files, large project folders, disk images. PCIe 4.0 gives you plenty of that headroom without the cost and heat of Gen 5, which generally needs a heatsink.

Check the slot. Motherboards list each M.2 slot’s generation. A 4.0 drive works in a 3.0 slot but at 3.0 speed, so on an older board a cheaper drive is the better buy. Also check the length — nearly all are 2280, but compact laptops and handhelds may need 2230 or 2242.

For most people capacity matters more than peak speed; running out of space is felt daily.

The range covers Kingston, Samsung, Team Group, ADATA, WD, Crucial, PNY and Patriot.