The best SSD to pair with a new GPU (UK)

Live SSD, NVMe, NAS and hard drive prices from Amazon.co.uk, ranked by price per terabyte.

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Quick answer

The cheapest option on Amazon.co.uk right now is the WD Blue SN5000 4TB SSD, M.2 2280 NVMe SSD, Read speeds up to 550 at £369.99 (£92.50/TB). When you upgrade your GPU, a fast NVMe SSD is the partner that unlocks DirectStorage and kills load screens. A 2TB PCIe Gen4 drive with DRAM is the ideal pairing for a new RTX or Radeon card: enough capacity for a modern library and full DirectStorage support without paying the Gen5 premium. The picks below are ranked by live price per terabyte on Amazon.co.uk.

As of 2 September 2026
Best price per TB
£92.50
Products tracked
18
Prices updated
13 minutes ago

DirectStorage-ready SSDs on Amazon.co.uk, by price per TB

ProductCapacityPrice£ / TBPrice DropBrandInterface
WD Blue SN5000 4TB SSD, M.2 2280 NVMe SSD, Read speeds up to 5500 MB/s, PCIe Gen4, nCache Technology, Free Acronis True Image data migration software, Internal solid state drive.4 TB£369.99£92.50-Western DigitalNVMe
Crucial P310 4TB PS5 SSD M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 with Heatsink, Up to 7100MB/s, Compatible with PlayStation 5, Desktop PC, Internal Solid State Drive - CT4000P310SSD5-014 TB£369.99£92.50-CrucialNVMe
Crucial P310 4TB SSD M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen4, Up to 7,100MB/s, Laptop & Desktop (PC) Compatible, Internal Solid State Drive - CT4000P310SSD8014 TB£371.39£92.85-CrucialNVMe
Corsair MP600 CORE MINI 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe x4 Gen4 2 SSD – M.2 2230 – Up to 5,000MB/sec Sequential Read – High-Density QLC NAND – Great for Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, Microsoft Surface Pro – Black2 TB£187.95£93.98-CorsairNVMe
Ediloca EN705 SSD 2TB PCIe Gen4, NVMe M.2 2280, 3D NAND TLC, Up to 4800MB/s, Internal Solid State Drive, Dynamic SLC Cache, Compatible with PS5、Laptops and PC Desktops2 TB£189.99£95.00-EdilocaNVMe
Crucial P310 2TB PS5 SSD M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 with Heatsink, Up to 7100MB/s, Compatible with PlayStation 5, Desktop PC, Internal Solid State Drive - CT2000P310SSD5-012 TB£191.28£95.64-CrucialNVMe
Lexar NQ790 4TB, M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe 1.4 Internal, Up to 7,000MB/s Read, Up to 6,000MB/s Write, High Performance for Intense Workloads, PS54 TB£387.99£97.00-LexarNVMe
fanxiang 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD with Heatsink, PCIe Gen4 PS5 SSD, Up to 4800MB/s2 TB£199.99£100.00-fanxiangNVMe
Lexar NQ790 4TB, M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe 1.4 Internal, Up to 7,000MB/s Read, Up to 6,000MB/s Write, High Performance for Intense Workloads, PS54 TB£399.99£100.00-LexarNVMe
Corsair MP700 PRO SE with Air Cooler 2TB PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe 2.0 M.2 SSD – M.2 2280 – Up to 14,000MB/sec Sequential Read – High-Density 3D TLC NAND – Black2 TB£212.02£106.01-CorsairNVMe
BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 4TB SSD, up to 7450MB/s Read Speed Gen4x4 NVMe M.2 2280, Internal PCIe 4.0 Solid State Drive for Gaming, PS5 Ready, Laptop and Desktop4 TB£429.99£107.50-BIWINNVMe
WD_BLACK SN7100 2TB NVMe SSD, M.2 2280, Read speeds up to 7250 MB/s, Write Speed up to 6,900 MB/s, Next Gen TLC 3D NAND, WD_BLACK DASHBOARD, Up to 1,200TBW, For Laptops, handheld gaming devices2 TB£215.06£107.53-SanDiskNVMe
Lexar NQ790 2TB SSD, M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe 1.4 Internal SSD, Up to 7000MB/s Read, Up to 6000MB/s Write, High Performance Internal Solid State Drive for Intense Workloads, PS5 SSD2 TB£219.99£110.00-LexarNVMe
Lexar NM790 4TB SSD, M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD4 TB£439.99£110.00-LexarNVMe
Lexar EQ790 4TB SSD, M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD4 TB£439.99£110.00-LexarNVMe
WD_BLACK SN7100 1TB NVMe SSD, M.2 2280, Read speeds up to 7250 MB/s, Write Speed up to 6,900 MB/s, Next Gen TLC 3D NAND, WD_BLACK DASHBOARD, For Laptops, handheld gaming devices1 TB£112.96£112.96-SanDiskNVMe
WD_BLACK SN770M NVMe SSD 2TB (Up to 5,150MB/s, M.2 2230, PCIe Gen4, for Asus ROG Ally, Steam Deck, Microsoft Surface for Compatible Laptop Gaming Devices and laptops) POWERED BY SANDISK2 TB£228.11£114.06-SanDiskNVMe
WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe SSD 4TB (Up to 7,300 MB/s read speed, Up to 6,600 MB/s write speed, M.2 2280, PCIe Gen4, Gaming Storage Expansion, High Performance Internal solid state drive) POWERED BY SANDISK4 TB£474.76£118.69-SanDiskNVMe

Why the SSD is the GPU's partner

A graphics card handles rendering, but the SSD feeds it. On a modern NVMe drive, Microsoft DirectStorage lets the GPU pull and decompress game assets directly, which shortens load times and smooths texture streaming in supported titles. Pairing a new RTX or Radeon card with a slow drive leaves performance on the table.

What to buy alongside a new GPU

  • Interface: PCIe Gen4 NVMe; it fully supports DirectStorage.
  • Capacity: 2TB minimum for a modern library; 4TB if you keep everything installed.
  • Cache: a DRAM drive holds up best for large installs and updates.
  • Skip Gen5 for gaming; the money is better on the GPU or capacity.

Value, balanced and premium pairings

TierSSDPairs with
ValueLexar NM790 2TBMid-range GPU upgrade
BalancedCrucial T500 2TBRTX 5070 / RX 9070 class
PremiumSamsung 990 Pro 2TB or 4TBRTX 5080 / 5090 class

Frequently asked questions

Does my SSD matter for a GPU upgrade?

Yes. A new GPU speeds up rendering, but load times and texture streaming depend on your SSD. A fast NVMe drive with DirectStorage support lets the GPU decompress assets directly, cutting load screens in supported games.

What is DirectStorage and do I need a special SSD?

DirectStorage is a Microsoft technology that streams game assets straight to the GPU. It needs an NVMe SSD (any modern Gen4 drive qualifies) and Windows 10 or 11. You do not need Gen5; a good Gen4 drive is plenty.

Gen4 or Gen5 SSD to go with a new GPU?

Gen4. It fully supports DirectStorage and games load just as fast as on Gen5, for less money and heat. Spend the difference on the GPU or more storage.

How much SSD space for modern games?

2TB is the comfortable choice, since single titles now exceed 100GB. Pair a new GPU with at least 2TB so you are not uninstalling games to make room.

Should I upgrade the SSD and GPU together?

It is the ideal moment. A GPU upgrade often coincides with playing bigger, newer games, which need both the graphics power and the storage speed and capacity to run smoothly.