Best 1TB PCIe 3.0 AIC SSDs
There are 7 1TB PCIe 3.0 AIC SSDs compared here. The fastest is the Western Digital WD BLACK™ AN1500 NVMe at 6500 MB/s read at 1TB, and the highest-rated for endurance is the Gigabyte AORUS RGB AIC NVMe SSD (1600 TBW). Sequential reads across the group span 2200–6500 MB/s at 1TB.
Why this configuration
A 1TB PCIe 3.0 AIC SSD is an affordable NVMe step up from SATA. Gen3 is roughly six times SATA's throughput yet often costs little more, making it the easy default for a first NVMe drive or a laptop that only supports Gen3.
1TB is the capacity most single-drive builds settle on.
Usually chosen for: budget builders, laptop upgraders and anyone leaving SATA behind.
Good fit: mainstream desktop and laptop builds.
Ranked list
Speeds on this page are the manufacturer's 1TB ratings where published (7 of 7 drives), not the family headline figure. Rated writes at 1TB run 1300–4100 MB/s.
| # | Model | Tier | Controller | Read MB/s (at 1TB) | TBW | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Western Digital WD BLACK™ AN1500 NVMe 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Top-tier | SANDISK 20-82-00705 (WD Custom Con | 6500 | — | Find on Amazon |
| 2 |  Gigabyte AORUS RGB AIC NVMe SSD 500GB, 1TB | High-end | Phison PS5012-E12 (4-Core, 8-Canai | 3480 | 1600 | Find on Amazon |
| 3 |  Plextor M9Y+ AIC 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | High-end | Marvell 88SS1092 (3-Core ARM Corte | 3400 | 640 | Find on Amazon |
| 4 |  Plextor M9Pe 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | High-end | Marvell 88SS1093 "Eldora" | 3200 | 640 | Find on Amazon |
| 5 |  Plextor M8PeY 128GB, 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | High-end | Marvell 88SS1093 | 2500 | 768 | Find on Amazon |
| 6 | High-end | Phison PS5007-E7 | 2200 | — | Find on Amazon | |
| 7 |  OCZ RD400 AIC 128GB, 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | Mid-range | TOSHIBA TC56NCP070GSB (POSSIVELMEN | 2600 | 592 | Find on Amazon |
The parts, explained
1TB is the mainstream single-drive capacity.
PCIe 3.0 x4 reaches about 3,500 MB/s — plenty for everyday use and gaming, and cheaper than Gen4.
Add-in-card drives use a PCIe slot, often with a large heatsink.