Best PCIe 3.0 QLC SSDs
There are 11 PCIe 3.0 QLC SSDs compared here. The fastest is the Intel INTEL® SSD 670P SERIES at 3500 MB/s read, and the highest-rated for endurance is the Fuzedrive P200 (3600 TBW). Sequential reads across the group span 1800–3500 MB/s.
Why this configuration
A PCIe 3.0 QLC 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. Note the QLC NAND: treat this as capacity-first — excellent for storing and reading big libraries, less ideal as a constantly-rewritten scratch disk.
Usually chosen for: budget builders, laptop upgraders and anyone leaving SATA behind.
Good fit: read-heavy storage — media libraries and game installs you rarely rewrite.
Look elsewhere for: heavy sustained writes or a video-editing scratch disk.
Ranked list
| # | Model | Tier | Controller | Read MB/s | TBW | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fuzedrive P200 900GB, 1.6TB | High-end | Phison PS5012-E12S (TSMC 12nm, 8-C | 3470 | 3600 | Find on Amazon |
| 2 | Intel OPTANE MEMORY H10 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | High-end | Silicon Motion SM2263 + Intel SLL3 | 2400 | 300 | Find on Amazon |
| 3 | Intel ® SSD 670P SERIES 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Mid-range | Silicon Motion SM2265 (Dual Core 3 | 3500 | 740 | Find on Amazon |
| 4 | Corsair MP400 NVMe 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB | Mid-range | Phison PS5012-E12S (TSMC 12nm, 8-C | 3480 | 1600 | Find on Amazon |
| 5 | Sabrent ROCKET Q 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB | Mid-range | Phison PS5012-E12S (TSMC 12nm, 8-C | 3400 | 940 | Find on Amazon |
| 6 | Silicon Power UD70 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Mid-range | PHISON E12 PS5012-E12S-32 (2-Core | 3400 | 530 | Find on Amazon |
| 7 | Crucial P2 250GB, 500GB | Value | Phison’s PS5013-E13T | 2300 | 300 | Find on Amazon |
| 8 | Intel ® SSD 665P SERIES 1TB, 2TB | Value | Silicon Motion SM2263EN (2-Core, 4 | 2000 | 600 | Find on Amazon |
| 9 | Intel ® SSD 660P SERIES 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Value | Silicon Motion SM2263EN (2-Core, 4 | 1800 | 400 | Find on Amazon |
| 10 | Intel OPTANE MEMORY H20 500GB, 1TB | — | Silicon Motion SM2265 (Dual Core 3 | 3300 | 370 | Find on Amazon |
| 11 | Kingston NV1 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | — | — | 2100 | 480 | Find on Amazon |
The parts, explained
PCIe 3.0 x4 reaches about 3,500 MB/s — plenty for everyday use and gaming, and cheaper than Gen4.
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.
Common questions
Is QLC reliable at these?
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.