DirectStorage SSD guide for UK gamers

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). DirectStorage needs an NVMe SSD and Windows 10 or 11, and any good PCIe Gen4 drive already qualifies: you do not need Gen5. It lets the GPU decompress game assets directly for faster loads in supported titles. Buy a 2TB Gen4 NVMe drive with a DRAM cache and you are set; the compatible options below are ranked by live price per terabyte.

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

DirectStorage-ready NVMe drives 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

What DirectStorage actually requires

  • An NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen4 recommended); SATA and hard drives do not qualify.
  • Windows 10 or 11 with current GPU drivers.
  • A supported game; unsupported titles simply load at normal NVMe speed.
  • No Gen5 needed: a good Gen4 drive gets the full benefit.

How it helps

DirectStorage lets a game stream compressed assets straight to the GPU, which decompresses them. That removes a CPU bottleneck and shortens load times and texture pop-in in supported games. It is the reason a modern NVMe SSD matters as much as your graphics card for a smooth experience.

What to buy

TierDriveWhy
ValueLexar NM790 2TBCheap, DirectStorage-ready
BalancedCrucial T500 2TBDRAM, flagship Gen4
PremiumSamsung 990 Pro 2TBFastest Gen4, 5-year warranty

Frequently asked questions

What SSD do I need for DirectStorage?

Any NVMe SSD, ideally PCIe Gen4, plus Windows 10 or 11 with up-to-date GPU drivers. A SATA SSD or hard drive does not qualify. You do not need Gen5; a quality Gen4 drive is fully supported.

Does DirectStorage need a Gen5 SSD?

No. Gen4 NVMe is plenty and games do not read fast enough to benefit from Gen5. Buy Gen4 and spend the saving on capacity or your GPU.

How much faster is DirectStorage?

In supported games it can noticeably cut load times and smooth texture streaming by letting the GPU decompress assets. The exact gain depends on the game; unsupported titles simply load at normal NVMe speed.

Do I need to enable DirectStorage?

It is built into Windows and used automatically by supported games; there is no manual setting. Keep Windows and your GPU drivers current, and install games on an NVMe drive.

Does DirectStorage work on a SATA SSD?

No. DirectStorage requires an NVMe SSD. A SATA SSD or hard drive will still run the game, but without the DirectStorage streaming benefits.