The best SSDs for video editing
107 drives meet the rule below, 33 of them with a live Amazon listing. Editing is write-heavy and works on large files, so this page ranks on rated sequential write and requires a DRAM cache and a 1 TB or larger option.
What is on this list
A drive is included when it meets all of:
- Onboard DRAM cache
- Available at 1TB or larger
- Rated sequential write of 2,000 MB/s or more
What this data does not tell you:
- Rated write speed is measured inside the SLC cache. Once that fills on a long ingest, real write speed drops, sometimes sharply, and how far is not a published figure.
- QLC drives fall furthest once the cache is exhausted, which is the main reason to prefer TLC for a scratch disk.
Ranked by write
The top 20 of 107 are listed. The full SSD catalogue filters on every spec.
| # | Model | Tier | Controller | Read MB/s | TBW | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  TeamGroup CARDEA A440 M.2 PCIe 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5018-E18 (TSMC 12nm, 8 Ca | 7000 | 1400 | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 |  Samsung 980 PRO 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | SAMSUNG ELPIS CONTROLLER (Samsung | 7000 | 1200 | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 |  Samsung 960 PRO M.2 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | SAMSUNG POLARIS CONTROLLER (5-Core | 3500 | 1200 | Check price on Amazon |
| 4 |  Patriot VIPER GAMING VP4300 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Innogrit IG5236 “Rainier” Controll | 7400 | 2000 | Find on Amazon |
| 5 |  ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Innogrit IG5236 “Rainier” Controll | 7400 | 1480 | Find on Amazon |
| 6 |  Anacomda i4 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5018-E18 (TSMC 12nm, 8 Ca | 7000 | — | Find on Amazon |
| 7 |  Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 7000s 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5018-E18 (TSMC 12nm, 8 Ca | 7000 | 1400 | Find on Amazon |
| 8 |  Gigabyte AORUS Gen4 7000s Premium 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5018-E18 (TSMC 12nm, 8 Ca | 7000 | 1400 | Find on Amazon |
| 9 |  Reletech P400 EVO 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5018-E18 (TSMC 12nm, 8 Ca | 7000 | — | Find on Amazon |
| 10 |  Corsair Gen4 PCIe MP600 Pro 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5018-E18 (TSMC 12nm, 8 Ca | 7000 | 1400 | Find on Amazon |
| 11 | Top-tier | Phison PS5018-E18 (TSMC 12nm, 8 Ca | 7000 | 1400 | Find on Amazon | |
| 12 |  Western Digital WD BLACK™ SN850 NVMe 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | WD_BLACK G2 | Sandisk Modelo 20-82 | 7000 | 1200 | Find on Amazon |
| 13 |  Western Digital WD BLACK™ AN1500 NVMe 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Top-tier | SANDISK 20-82-00705 (WD Custom Con | 6500 | — | Find on Amazon |
| 14 |  ADATA XPG GAMMIX S50 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5016-E16 (TSMC 28nm, 2-Co | 5000 | 3600 | Find on Amazon |
| 15 |  Addlink S90 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5016-E16 (TSMC 28nm, 800M | 5000 | 3600 | Find on Amazon |
| 16 |  Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5016-E16 (TSMC 28nm, 2-Co | 5000 | 3600 | Find on Amazon |
| 17 |  Patriot VIPER GAMING VP4100 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5016-E16 (TSMC 28nm, 2-Co | 5000 | 3600 | Find on Amazon |
| 18 |  Reletech P400 PRO 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5016-E16 (TSMC 28nm, 2-Co | 5000 | 1800 | Find on Amazon |
| 19 |  Sabrent ROCKET 4.0 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5016-E16 (TSMC 28nm, 2-Co | 5000 | 3600 | Find on Amazon |
| 20 |  Seagate FireCuda® 520 500GB, 1TB, 2TB | Top-tier | Phison PS5016-E16 (TSMC 28nm, 2-Co | 5000 | 2800 | Find on Amazon |
Sustained write, not peak write
Every consumer drive writes its first few tens of gigabytes into a fast SLC cache. Ingesting an afternoon of footage runs past that, and the drive then writes at its native speed. A DRAM cache and TLC flash are what keep that fallback speed reasonable.
Separate the scratch disk from the archive
The usual arrangement is a fast NVMe drive for the active project and cache files, and cheaper high-capacity storage for finished work. Buying one enormous fast drive to do both costs more and helps less.
Capacity headroom prevents slowdowns
A nearly full SSD has less room to manage its SLC cache and its garbage collection, and write speed suffers. Leaving meaningful free space on a working drive matters more here than in most other uses.
Common questions
Is QLC acceptable for video editing?
For storing and playing back finished footage, yes. As a scratch disk it is the weakest choice, because sustained write once the cache fills is where QLC drops furthest.
How large should an editing drive be?
It depends on codec and footage volume more than on any general rule. The practical guide is to size the working drive for the largest single project you expect to have open, and archive elsewhere.