Best 500GB QLC DRAM-less SSDs
There are 15 500GB QLC DRAM-less SSDs compared here. The fastest is the Patriot VP4300 Lite at 7400 MB/s read at 500GB, and the highest-rated for endurance is the Kingston NV1 (480 TBW). Sequential reads across the group span 520–7400 MB/s at 500GB.
Why this configuration
A 500GB QLC DRAM-less SSD is a capacity-per-dollar configuration. QLC packs more gigabytes per dollar in exchange for lower rated endurance.
500GB is a sensible OS-plus-a-few-games size.
Usually chosen for: bulk storage and read-heavy media libraries.
Good fit: read-heavy storage — media libraries and game installs you rarely rewrite; value builds and gaming where cost per gigabyte matters.
Look elsewhere for: heavy sustained writes or a video-editing scratch disk; databases, virtual machines and other sustained random-write workloads.
Ranked list
Speeds on this page are the manufacturer's 500GB ratings where published (13 of 15 drives), not the family headline figure. 1 of the 15 are rated slower at 500GB than at their fastest capacity. Rated writes at 500GB run 510–6700 MB/s.
| # | Model | Tier | Controller | Read MB/s (at 500GB) | TBW | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patriot VP4300 Lite 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Mid-range | Maxio MAP1602 | 7400 | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 | Crucial P310 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Mid-range | Phison E27T | 7100 | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 | Western Digital Blue SN5100 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Mid-range | Polaris 3 | 7100 | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 4 | Patriot P400 V4 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Mid-range | Maxio MAP1602 | 6200 | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 5 | ADATA Legend 860 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Value | RTS5772DL | 6000 | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 6 | Kingston NV3 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Value | Silicon Motion SM2268XT2 | 6000 | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 7 | Western Digital Blue SN5000 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Value | WD Polaris 3 | 5500 | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 8 | Addlink S91 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Value | Phison E21 | 5000* | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 9 | MSI Spatium M461 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Value | Phison E21T | 5000 | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 10 |  Crucial P2 250GB, 500GB | Value | Phison’s PS5013-E13T | 2300 | 300 | Find on Amazon |
| 11 |  ADATA SU630 250GB, 500GB, 960GB, 1.92TB | Low-end | SILICON MOTION SM2259XT (1-Core, 4 | 520* | 400 | Check price on Amazon |
| 12 |  Acer GTi 715 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | Low-end | PHISON PS3111-S11-13 (1-Core 40nm, | 560 | 300 | Find on Amazon |
| 13 | Inland QN450 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Avoid | Realtek RTS5772DL | 5000 | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 14 |  Kingston NV1 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | — | — | 2100 | 480 | Find on Amazon |
| 15 |  Crucial Externo CRUCIAL X6 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | — | "Silicon Motion SM2258XT (1-Core, | 560 | — | 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.
QLC NAND stores more per cell for a lower price per terabyte, but sustained writes and rated endurance are lower, so it suits read-heavy storage.
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.
Is QLC reliable at 500GB?
QLC is fine for typical and read-heavy use; just expect a lower rated endurance (TBW) than a comparable TLC drive, and slower writes once the SLC cache fills.