Best 500GB PCIe 3.0 DRAM-less SSDs
There are 39 500GB PCIe 3.0 DRAM-less SSDs compared here. The fastest is the Intel INTEL® SSD 760P SERIES at 3230 MB/s read, and the highest-rated for endurance is the Intel INTEL® OPTANE™ 905P (27370 TBW). Sequential reads across the group span 1450–3230 MB/s at 500GB.
Why this configuration
A 500GB PCIe 3.0 DRAM-less 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.
500GB is a sensible OS-plus-a-few-games size.
Usually chosen for: budget builders, laptop upgraders and anyone leaving SATA behind.
Good fit: value builds and gaming where cost per gigabyte matters.
Look elsewhere for: databases, virtual machines and other sustained random-write workloads.
Ranked list
The top 20 of 39 are listed. The full SSD catalogue filters on every spec.
Speeds on this page are the manufacturer's 500GB ratings where published (10 of 39 drives), not the family headline figure. 2 of the 39 are rated slower at 500GB than at their fastest capacity. Rated writes at 500GB run 940–2600 MB/s.
| # | Model | Tier | Controller | Read MB/s (at 500GB) | TBW | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Intel ® OPTANE™ 905P 500GB, 380GB, 960GB, 1.5TB | Top-tier | INTEL EAUO8D15 SLL3D (POSSIVELMENT | 2600* | 27370 | Find on Amazon |
| 2 |  Intel ® OPTANE™ 900P 500GB, 280GB | Top-tier | INTEL EAUO8D15 SLL3D | 2500* | 5110 | Find on Amazon |
| 3 |  Intel ® SSD 760P SERIES 128GB, 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Mid-range | Silicon Motion SM2262G (2-Core 575 | 3230* | 576 | Find on Amazon |
| 4 |  Samsung 980 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | Mid-range | SAMSUNG PABLO "S4LR033" CONTROLLER | 3100 | 600 | Find on Amazon |
| 5 |  ADATA FALCON 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Mid-range | Realtek RTS5762DL (Dual Core, 8-Ch | 3100* | 1200 | Find on Amazon |
| 6 |  Mushkin HELIX-L 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | Mid-range | Silicon Motion SM2263XT | 2105 | 600 | Find on Amazon |
| 7 |  Integral M Series M.2 2280 128GB, 250GB, 500GB | Mid-range | Silicon Motion SM2263XT (2-Core, 4 | 2000* | 256 | Find on Amazon |
| 8 |  Teclast NP800C 250GB, 500GB, 960GB | Mid-range | Silicon Motion SM2263XT (2-Core, 4 | 1900* | — | Find on Amazon |
| 9 |  Teclast NP800 250GB, 500GB | Mid-range | Silicon Motion SM2263XT (2-Core, 4 | 1900* | — | Find on Amazon |
| 10 |  Patriot P300 128GB, 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | Value | Silicon Motion SMI 2263XT / Phison | 2100* | 320 | Check price on Amazon |
| 11 |  TeamGroup MP33 128GB, 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Value | Silicon Motion SM2263XT | Phison P | 1800* | 1000 | Check price on Amazon |
| 12 |  Crucial P2 250GB, 500GB | Value | Phison’s PS5013-E13T | 2300 | 300 | Find on Amazon |
| 13 |  ADATA XPG SX6000 PRO 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | Value | Realtek’s RTS5763DL | 2100* | 600 | Find on Amazon |
| 14 |  ADATA XPG GAMMIX S5 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Value | Realtek’s RTS5763DL | 2100* | 1200 | Find on Amazon |
| 15 |  Asgard AN2 M.2 PCI-E 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Value | Silicon Motion SM2263XT (2-Core, 4 | 2100 | — | Find on Amazon |
| 16 |  HP EX900 128GB, 250GB, 500GB | Value | Silicon Motion SM2263XT (Remarcado | 2100 | 200 | Find on Amazon |
| 17 |  Lexar ® NM610 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | Value | Silicon Motion's SM2263XT (2-Core, | 2100 | 500 | Find on Amazon |
| 18 |  Goodram PX500 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | Value | Silicon Motion SM2263XT (2-Core, 4 | 2050* | — | Find on Amazon |
| 19 |  Biostar M700 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | Value | Silicon Motion's SM2263XT (2-Core, | 2000* | — | Find on Amazon |
| 20 |  ADATA XPG SX6000 Lite 128GB, 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | Value | Realtek’s RTS5763DL | 1800* | 480 | Find on Amazon |
* family rating — the manufacturer does not publish a 500GB figure for this drive.
The parts, explained
500GB is a comfortable OS-and-games starting point.
PCIe 3.0 x4 reaches about 3,500 MB/s — plenty for everyday use and gaming, and cheaper than Gen4.
DRAM-less drives use the Host Memory Buffer (HMB) instead — cheaper, and fine for everyday use and gaming, with a small penalty under heavy random writes.
Common questions
Is a DRAM-less 500GB SSD good enough?
For gaming and everyday use, yes — HMB covers those workloads well. If you run sustained heavy random writes (databases, VMs), a drive with a DRAM cache stays more consistent.