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 Ediloca EN760 SSD with Heatsink 4TB PCIe Gen4, NVMe M.2 2280, 3D at £279.99 (£70.00/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 18 July 2026
Best price per TB
£70.00
Products tracked
18
Prices updated
3 hours ago

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

ProductCapacityPrice£ / TBPrice DropBrandInterface
Ediloca EN760 SSD with Heatsink 4TB PCIe Gen4, NVMe M.2 2280, 3D NAND, Up to 5000MB/s, Internal Solid State Drive, Dynamic SLC Cache, Compatible with PS5 and PC…4 TB£279.99£70.00▼ 10%EdilocaNVMe
Ediloca EN705 SSD 4TB PCIe Gen4, NVMe M.2 2280, 3D NAND, Up to 5000MB/s, Internal Solid State Drive, Dynamic SLC Cache, Compatible with PS5、Laptops and PC Desktops4 TB£289.99£72.50▼ 10%EdilocaNVMe
Ediloca EN855 Internal Gaming SSD with Heatsink 4TB PCIe Gen4, Up to 7400MB/s, NVMe M.2 2280, 3D TLC NAND Flash, Solid State Drive, Configure DRAM Cache, Compatible with PS5 and PC4 TB£299.99£75.00▼ 10%EdilocaNVMe
fanxiang 4TB SSD - NVMe SSD M.2 PCIe 4.0 Internal Solid State Drives - with Heatsink, Dynamic SLC Cache, Up to 5000MB/s, Compatible with PS5, Laptop, PC Desktop4 TB£309.99£77.50▼ 10%fanxiangNVMe
Kingston NV3 NVMe PCIe 4.0 Internal SSD 500GB M.2 2280-SNV3S/500G500 GB£40.44£80.88▼ 10%KingstonNVMe
Ediloca EN870 SSD 4TB PCIe Gen4, Up to 7300MB/s, 3D TLC NAND Flash, NVMe M.2 2280, Dynamic SLC Cache, Internal Solid State Drive, Compatible with PS5 and PC4 TB£339.99£85.00▼ 10%EdilocaNVMe
Fikwot FX991 4TB SSD, M.2 2280 NVMe SSD, PCIe Gen4x4, Up to 7300MB/s, HMB+SLC, High Performance Gaming Internal Solid State Drive for PS5, Laptops, Desktop(PC)4 TB£345.99£86.50▼ 10%FikwotNVMe
Samsung 990 EVO Plus, 4TB, PCIe 4.0 x4 / 5.0 x2, NVMe2.0 (up to 7250 MB/s), NVMe M.2 (2280), Internal Solid State Drive (SSD), MZ-V9S4T0BW4 TB£349.84£87.46▼ 10%SamsungNVMe
fanxiang 4TB PCIe NVMe SSD Gen 4 Gaming SSD M.2 2280, Up to 7000MB/s Compatible with PS5, Internal Solid State Drive for Gamers, Professionals, Creators S880E4 TB£349.99£87.50▼ 10%fanxiangNVMe
Crucial T500 2TB SSD PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2, Up to 7400MB/s, TLC NAND, Laptop and Desktop Compatible, Microsoft DirectStorage, Solid State Drive - CT2000T500SSD82 TB£176.77£88.39▼ 10%CrucialNVMe
fanxiang 4TB M.2 SSD Up to 7000MB/s 4TB NVMe SSD PCIE GEN4 M2 2280 with Heatsink Internal Solid State Drive for Gamers Professionals PS5 Laptop Desktop4 TB£359.99£90.00▼ 10%fanxiangNVMe
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▼ 10%Western DigitalNVMe
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▼ 10%CrucialNVMe
fanxiang M.2 SSD 2TB, Up to 5000MB/s, 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 2280, PS5 SSD with Graphite Cooling Sticker, Internal Solid State Drives for Laptop, Desktop-S690Q2 TB£189.99£95.00▼ 10%fanxiangNVMe
Crucial T705 2TB SSD PCIe Gen5 NVMe M.2, Up to 14,500MB/s, Microsoft DirectStorage, PCIe 4.0 Backwards Compatible, Internal Solid State Drive - CT2000T705SSD32 TB£191.55£95.78▼ 10%CrucialNVMe
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£192.82£96.41▼ 10%CrucialNVMe
Ediloca EN870 SSD 2TB PCIe Gen4, NVMe M.2 2280, Up to 7400MB/s, Internal Solid State Drive, Dynamic SLC Cache, Compatible with PS5 and PC2 TB£194.99£97.50▼ 10%EdilocaNVMe
Crucial P510 2TB SSD NVMe M.2 PCIe 5.0 x4 Gen5, Read/Write Speeds up to 10,000/8,700 MB/s, Laptop & Desktop (PC) Compatible, Solid State Drive - CT2000P510SSD8-012 TB£199.13£99.57▼ 10%CrucialNVMe

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.