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Best PCIe 3.0 QLC SSDs

PCIe 3.0QLC

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

#ModelTierControllerRead MB/sTBW
1
Fuzedrive P200
Fuzedrive P200
900GB, 1.6TB
High-end Phison PS5012-E12S (TSMC 12nm, 8-C34703600 Find on Amazon
2
Intel OPTANE MEMORY H10
Intel OPTANE MEMORY H10
250GB, 500GB, 1TB
High-end Silicon Motion SM2263 + Intel SLL32400300 Find on Amazon
3
Intel ® SSD 670P SERIES
Intel ® SSD 670P SERIES
500GB, 1TB, 2TB
Mid-range Silicon Motion SM2265 (Dual Core 33500740 Find on Amazon
4
Corsair MP400 NVMe
Corsair MP400 NVMe
1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB
Mid-range Phison PS5012-E12S (TSMC 12nm, 8-C34801600 Find on Amazon
5
Sabrent ROCKET Q
Sabrent ROCKET Q
1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB
Mid-range Phison PS5012-E12S (TSMC 12nm, 8-C3400940 Find on Amazon
6
Silicon Power UD70
Silicon Power UD70
500GB, 1TB, 2TB
Mid-range PHISON E12 PS5012-E12S-32 (2-Core 3400530 Find on Amazon
7
Crucial P2
Crucial P2
250GB, 500GB
Value Phison’s PS5013-E13T2300300 Find on Amazon
8 Value Silicon Motion SM2263EN (2-Core, 42000600 Find on Amazon
9
Intel ® SSD 660P SERIES
Intel ® SSD 660P SERIES
500GB, 1TB, 2TB
Value Silicon Motion SM2263EN (2-Core, 41800400 Find on Amazon
10 — Silicon Motion SM2265 (Dual Core 33300370 Find on Amazon
11
Kingston NV1
Kingston NV1
500GB, 1TB, 2TB
— —2100480 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.