NVMe drives are typically the most cutting-edge and fastest of modern PC and laptop internal storage devices. They’re small and thin, they don’t need extra power or data cables and if you have a desktop PC or laptop made in the last few years, you definitely have one as your boot drive.
But what is NVMe? What makes it different from SATA or M.2 drives? How fast can NVMe go?
We’ll answer those questions and more in this in-depth look at what NVMe is, and why you’ll probably be playing all your future games on one.
What is NVMe?
Non-Volatile Memory Express, or NVMe, technology is a type of interface that uses the PCI Express protocol to access data on non-volatile storage (such as an SSD), compared to SATA drives that use the AHCI standard. Much faster than was possible. It was developed to take advantage of the high bandwidth and low latency of the PCI Express protocol, which is traditionally used for add-in cards such as graphics cards and audio cards, as well as high-speed network interfaces.
Before the launch of NVMe drives, SSDs and hard drives used the SATA interface. However, the performance limitations of that communications standard meant that there was a strict limit on SSD performance, so a new interface was needed. Initially developers solved this obstacle by plugging SSDs directly into PCI Express slots, but they used non-standard specifications to do so.
With NVMe, there is a standard that every manufacturer can build upon. Today, most modern NVMe SSDs use the M.2 form factor. There are various drive sizes for this design, but the NVMe drives featured in this guide are all based on the M.2 specification.
SATA vs NVMe
SATA technology was the dominant storage technology before the advent of NVMe, and it improved rapidly over generations. However, it hit a hard wall with SATA III, with a maximum throughput of only 600 MBps. In comparison, the third generation of PCI Express drives can transfer up to 1,000 MBps per lane. With a typical NVMe drive using four PCI Express lanes, this is more than a 12x increase in potential performance.
Since then, we have launched PCIe 4 and PCIe 5 NVMe SSDs. These drives can provide sustained read and write performance around 12,000 MBps, although this is not reflective of real-world performance. As it stands, the fastest NVMe SSDs offer only modest improvements over slower NVMe SSDs, and not even such a dramatic uplift over SATA SSDs.
But they are fast, so if you want the best game load times and fastest system boot times, the latest generation NVMe SSD will give you that. Additionally, games that use the DirectStorage API for faster load times and fewer pop-ins will need an NVMe SSD to take full advantage of it. At the time of writing there are only a few games that support it, but this is likely to change in the coming years.
Another advantage of NVMe drives over SATA drives is that they are much smaller and simpler. They plug directly into a slot on the motherboard and do not require any additional cabling. They also use a fraction of the power, although higher-end models may require some passive cooling to prevent throttling the controller.
Do you need an NVMe drive?
not necessarily. The most important upgrade for any PC that uses a hard drive for boot drive or game drive is an SSD of any kind. SATA SSD spinning disks are much faster than hard drives and are now so close in price per gigabyte that there is almost no reason to use a hard drive anymore (except for long-term, mass storage).
However, if you want to improve your game load times and prepare yourself for direct storage gaming, third or fourth generation (at least) NVMe is ideal. The lower storage capacities of more affordable drive types, like 512GB and 1TB, are now roughly comparable with SATA SSDs anyway. They are small, lightweight, and very easy to install into just about anything. If you’re feeling adventurous you can even install a larger deck in your Steam Deck.
Adding secondary NVMe SSDs is also a great way to expand the storage of your PC or laptop. Most modern PCs have room for one or more NVMe SSDs, and you can add one to a native slot or get a PCIe add-in card that takes them. Still, it’s easy to find a mounting point for a SATA drive, then run power and SATA cables to it.
What are the best NVMe SSDs?
The answer to this question changes all the time, and the best SSD for you will be different from the best SSD for someone else depending on your wants, needs, and budget. Still, if you want our advice, here are our favorite SSDs at the moment.
Need help making a decision? Here’s our guide on how to buy an SSD.