Best PCIe 3.0 SSDs
There are 161 PCIe 3.0 SSDs compared here. The fastest is the Western Digital WD BLACK™ AN1500 NVMe at 6500 MB/s read, and the highest-rated for endurance is the Intel INTEL® OPTANE™ 905P (27370 TBW). Sequential reads across the group span 560–6500 MB/s.
Why this configuration
A PCIe 3.0 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.
Usually chosen for: budget builders, laptop upgraders and anyone leaving SATA behind.
Good fit: mainstream desktop and laptop builds.
Ranked list
The top 20 of 161 are listed. The full SSD catalogue filters on every spec.
| # | Model | Tier | Controller | Read MB/s | TBW | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Samsung 960 PRO M.2 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | SAMSUNG POLARIS CONTROLLER (5-Core | 3500 | 1200 | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 |  Western Digital WD BLACK™ AN1500 NVMe 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Top-tier | SANDISK 20-82-00705 (WD Custom Con | 6500 | — | Find on Amazon |
| 3 |  Gigabyte AORUS RAID SSD 4X512GB | Top-tier | Phison PS5012-E12 + (RAID Built in | 6300 | 700 | Find on Amazon |
| 4 |  Samsung PRO 970 M.2 500GB, 1TB | Top-tier | SAMSUNG PHOENIX CONTROLLER (5-Core | 3500 | 1200 | Find on Amazon |
| 5 |  Seagate IRONWOLF 510 250GB, 500GB, 960GB, 1.92TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5012-E12DC | 3150 | 3500 | Find on Amazon |
| 6 |  Intel ® OPTANE™ 905P 500GB, 380GB, 960GB, 1.5TB | Top-tier | INTEL EAUO8D15 SLL3D (POSSIVELMENT | 2600 | 27370 | Find on Amazon |
| 7 |  Intel ® OPTANE™ 900P 500GB, 280GB | Top-tier | INTEL EAUO8D15 SLL3D | 2500 | 5110 | Find on Amazon |
| 8 | High-end | SAMSUNG PHOENIX CONTROLLER (5-Core | 3500 | 1200 | Check price on Amazon | |
| 9 |  Samsung EVO PLUS 970 M.2 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | High-end | SAMSUNG PHOENIX CONTROLLER (5-Core | 3500 | 1200 | Check price on Amazon |
| 10 |  Samsung PM981A 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | High-end | — | 3500 | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 11 |  Samsung EVO 970 M.2 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | High-end | SAMSUNG PHOENIX CONTROLLER (5-Core | 3400 | 600 | Check price on Amazon |
| 12 |  Samsung 960 EVO 250GB, 500GB, 1TB | High-end | Samsung Polaris Controller (5-Core | 3200 | 400 | Check price on Amazon |
| 13 |  Samsung PM981 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | High-end | SAMSUNG PHOENIX CONTROLLER "S4LR02 | 3200 | — | Check price on Amazon |
| 14 |  Memblaze PBlaze5 916 6.4TB | High-end | Microsemi Flashtec PM8607 NVMe2016 | 6000 | 3 | Find on Amazon |
| 15 |  ADATA XPG SX8100 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | High-end | Realtek RTS5762 (2-Core, 8-Canais, | 3500 | 1280 | Find on Amazon |
| 16 |  ADATA XPG SX8200 PRO 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | High-end | SM2262ENG | Silicon Motion SM2262G | 3500 | 1280 | Find on Amazon |
| 17 |  ADATA XPG SX8800 PRO 500GB, 1TB | High-end | Realtek RTS5762 (2-Core, 8-Canais, | 3500 | 640 | Find on Amazon |
| 18 |  ADATA XPG GAMMIX S11 PRO 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 960GB | High-end | Silicon Motion SM2262EN (2-Core 62 | 3500 | 1280 | Find on Amazon |
| 19 |  Addlink X70 RGB 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | High-end | Phison PS5012-E12 (4-Core, 8-Canai | 3500 | 2000 | Find on Amazon |
| 20 |  Addlink S70 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | High-end | Phison PS5012-E12 (4-Core, 8-Canai | 3500 | 2000 | 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.