Currently, there is a profusion of M.2 SSDs on the market. NVMe Non-Volatile Memory Express SSDs are by far the fastest of them. They work via the PCI-Express bus as a flash memory 4 times faster than the SATA hard disk. The big headache remains the capacity of the M.2 NVMe SSD to choose. In this guide, we will introduce you to the best 1TB NVMe SSDs.
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Our selection
"With the Samsung 970 EVO Plus and its 5th generation 3D TLC NAND, meet your performance and storage expectations. It has an M.2 2280 form…"
"Find the best value with the Crucial P2 CT1000P2SSD8 1TB M.2 SSD. This M.2 NVMe SSD has 1GB of storage capacity and an average speed…"
"The Samsung 970 ProMZ-7P1T0BW is the reference if you are looking for a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD. It offers very high speeds: from 3500 MB/s…"
"Featuring Toshiba TLC flash memory, the Corsair MP600 Force Series relies on a next-generation PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe interface with Phison drive. This M.2 NVMe…"
With the Samsung 970 EVO Plus and its 5th generation 3D TLC NAND, meet your performance and storage expectations. It has an M.2 2280 form factor, with 1GB of TLC memory with LPDDR4 cache.
See the priceThe Samsung M.2 970 EVO Plus internal SSD is based on the latest generation of 3D TLC NAND technology. This technology is combined with an optimization firmware, a Phoenix controller and a Samsung exclusive technology: TurboWrite. This 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD has a read speed of 3500MB/s and a write speed of 3300MB/s. In addition to the M.2 type 2280 format, it relies on a PCIe 3.0×4 interface with NVMe 1.3 technology.
This SSD with 600TB write endurance has a 5-year warranty. It comes with Samsung Magician software to monitor its status and keep it updated. To enhance its performance, the Samsung M.2 970 EVO Plus is equipped with a nickel-reinforced controller and a Dynamic Thermal Guard heat spreader to maintain optimal operating temperatures.
Find the best value with the Crucial P2 CT1000P2SSD8 1TB M.2 SSD. This M.2 NVMe SSD has 1GB of storage capacity and an average speed of 2400MB/s over a PCI-Express 3.0×4 interface.
See priceThe Crucial P2 CT1000P2SSD8 consists of 3D NAND TLC NX959 flash memory with a Phison PS5013-E13 memory management chip. This M.2 NVMe SSD connects via PCIe 3.0×4 NVMe and has a capacity of 1 TB. Its read speed reaches 2400 MB/s and the write speed can go up to 1800 MB/s. This module can boost a computer with shorter load time and fast data transfers.
Crucial's P2 series comes with a 5-year warranty with a write endurance of 600 TB. To ensure the evaluation of its status, it comes with a software called Storage Executive. The latter displays detailed statistics such as the amount of data written or the percentage of wear.
The Samsung 970 ProMZ-7P1T0BW is the reference if you are looking for a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD. It offers very high speeds: from 3500 MB/s read and 2700 MB/s write. The endurance is equivalent to 1200 TB of writing.
See the priceThe Samsung 970 ProMZ-7P1T0BW gives access to reliable and very fast performance. It uses the PCIe 3.0 x4 interface as well as NVMe 1.3 technology. Its flash memory features 2-bit MLC V-NAND memory. The SSD is also equipped with a Phoenix voltage controller. Transfer speeds reach 3500 MB/s read and 2700 MB/s write with 1 GB of DDR4-SDRAM cache.
This M.2 NVMe SSD weighs 8 g and measures 81 x 22 x 2 mm. It benefits from Dynamic Thermal Guard to control temperatures and minimize performance drops. The Samsung 970 ProMZ-7P1T0BW has a 1,200TB write endurance that can be monitored by Samsung Magician, a software that allows to perform updates and status of the SSD and even improve its performance.
Featuring Toshiba TLC flash memory, the Corsair MP600 Force Series relies on a next-generation PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe interface with Phison drive. This M.2 NVMe SSD claims 4950 MB/s transfer speed.
See priceThe Corsair MP600 Force Series stands out for its exceptional read and write speeds. To illustrate, Corsair claims sequential read speeds of 4950MB/s and 4250MB/s for writes. Equipped with an ultra-efficient aluminum heatsink, the SSD is in NVMe-compatible M.2 format on a 4th generation PCI-Express interface and PCIe 3.0 backwards compatible.
The flash memory adopts Toshiba's 3D TLC NAND, a new generation 64-layer 1GB cache. This M.2 NVMe SSD is perfect for high-end gamer and power user PCs. Backed by a 5-year manufacturer's warranty, the Corsair MP600 Force Series offers 3,600TB of write endurance.
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The best 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD in 2021
The best entry-level 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
The best high-end 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
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| TOP OF THE TOP | CHEAP | TOP OF THE LINE | EXCELLENT | |
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Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2
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Crucial P2 CT1000P2SSD8
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Samsung 970 ProMZ-7P1T0BW
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Corsair MP600 Force Series
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With the Samsung 970 EVO Plus and its 5th generation 3D TLC NAND, meet your performance and storage expectations. It has an M.2 2280 form factor, with 1GB of TLC memory with LPDDR4 cache.
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Find the best value with the Crucial P2 CT1000P2SSD8 1TB M.2 SSD. This M.2 NVMe SSD has 1GB of storage capacity and an average speed of 2400MB/s over a PCI-Express 3.0×4 interface.
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The Samsung 970 ProMZ-7P1T0BW is the reference if you are looking for a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD. It offers very high speeds: from 3500 MB/s read and 2700 MB/s write. The endurance is equivalent to 1200 TB of writing.
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Featuring Toshiba TLC flash memory, the Corsair MP600 Force Series relies on a next-generation PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe interface with Phison drive. This M.2 NVMe SSD claims 4950 MB/s transfer speed.
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Read speed
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3500 MB/s
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2400 MB/s
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3500 MB/s
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4950 MB/s
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NAND memory
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TLC
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TLC
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MLC
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TLC
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Interface
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PCIe 3.0×4
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PCIe 3.0×4
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PCIe 3.0×4
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PCIe 4.0×4
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Write endurance
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600 TB
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600 TB
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1200 TB
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3600 TB
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Constructor warranty
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5 years
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5 years
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5 years
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5 years
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M.2 NVMe SSDs are differentiated by a four-digit number listed in their specifications or names. It is given in millimeters, with the first two digits indicating the width of the drive and the next two digits telling you its length. In practice, all M.2 SSDs are designed at a width of 22 mm, so you can expect this number to start with 22. The most common lengths are 80 mm (M.2 Type-2280) and 60 mm (M.2 Type-2260). The longer the drive PCB, the more surface area it will have for the chips to fit on. Length matters most if you're installing an M.2 drive in a laptop.Most desktop motherboards with M.2 slots have mounting points for multiple drive lengths, while most laptops are only suitable for one size. So check the available space before you shop.
The most important points come down to speed. Using an M.2 NVMe SSD as a boot drive will speed up your computer's startup, while installing programs will mean they start up faster and are also more responsive. The most demanding tasks will see the biggest improvements. This will be measured in Megabytes per second of reading and writing data. For most SSD performance improvements, a faster read speed is much more critical than a faster write speed.
Any flash memory has a finite lifetime, which means that once a given storage cell is written a certain number of times, it will stop holding data. Mean TimeBetween Failure or MTBF measured in thousands of hours is a measure of reliability that is used with varying definitions in various industries. Disk manufacturers often specify a disk's rated endurance in total terabytes written (TBW) or disk writes per day (DWPD). But most drives include over-provisioning, which reduces some of the drive's capacity to a backup of sorts.
NVMe M.2 SSDs differ in the type of memory. A flash memory cell stores 1 to 4 bits of data depending on the technology. In theory, the higher the number of bits, the lower the memory performance, especially for writing, with a shorter lifespan. There are four types of NAND Flash:
The manufacturers of M.2 SSDs generally offer a disk management tool supplied with the module or as a free download. This one allows to know the state of the M.2 SSD, but especially to update its firmware to improve the performance and correct possible errors. Most manufacturers also offer a cloning program, which simplifies the transfer of the OS and other programs from the existing drive to the M.2 NVMe SSD.
Slowness is a sign you can check for yourself that alerts you first. It is possible that the machine restarts by itself or shuts down automatically and this is another symptom. In these situations, it is very likely that bad sectors are causing the problem.
One reason would be a very fragmented hard disk. Another reason why storage disks are in bad sectors is heat. This type of PC component is extremely sensitive to temperature rise and even the most minor warping of a platter could cause bad sectors.
What you need to understand is that when your disk is in bad sectors, this state evolves. The reason for this is that when Windows encounters it, it will continue to use that sector, and by reusing it, it means that the head resets each time for another run in that sector. As this abuse of the hard drive continues, there is a high probability that there will be more bad sectors in that area.
It is totally recommended to know if these are bad sectors? There is a very simple way to find out, download the DEMO of Recover It All Professional. Configure the program to do a slow logical scan and wait to see if you get an RD ERR, then you will know that you have bad sectors on the hard disk.
NVMe is a type of SSD connected to a PCI Express or PCIe slot on a main board. These slots were originally designed for graphics cards, so they are incredibly fast. Speeds on NVMe drives can reach an interface throughput of 32 Gbps with a throughput of 3.9 Gbps. This can be very useful if you are doing something that requires a lot of disk throughput.
Although very powerful, M.2 NVMe SSDs are extremely expensive and only available for desktop computers or it may require replacing the main board to take full advantage of its performance.
The SATA III interface formally known as SATA 6Gbps is the third generation of SATA interface clocked at 6 Gbps. The bandwidth rate that is supported by the interface can reach 600 Mbps. This interface is backward compatible with the SATA 3 Gbps interface.
Compared to the new generation of M.2, it offers excellent R/W performance thanks to the latest generation integrated controller and SLC flash technology, increased durability. M.2 SATA SSDs guarantee data storage in case of sudden power failure.
Both types of SSDs are currently the most widely used. But the arrival of the NVMe interface has made it possible to exceed the 600 Mbps that is the theoretical limit of SATA 3. On the other hand, M.2 NVMe SSDs are more expensive than M.2 SATA SSDs because they offer significantly higher performance.
How to use your M.2 NVMe SSD
An M.2 NVMe SSD takes a bit of getting used to, especially if you want to optimize it to get the most out of its capacity and extend its endurance. The first thing to consider is not filling your storage space more than 60%. On an SSD drive, the circuit controller needs as much free space as possible in order to better distribute the data across the cells. Then use the Trim command to reset the cells in your storage. The more rewrites a cell undergoes, the less efficient it is, even if the data has been correctly erased. The TRIM command helps to alleviate this problem by resetting the cells marked as deleted. And finally, never defragment the M.2 SSD. Defragmenting will result in a lot of writes that will bode poorly for its lifespan.
Measuring the speed of your M.2 SSD
Depending on
the spin speed and cache, the measured speeds can be very different. These write and read speeds are expressed in Mbps. There are several utilities to find out the performance of your M.2 SSD. The most widely used utility is CrystalDiskMark, a free and comprehensive software to measure the write and read speed of your hard disk. Start by downloading the software and installing it. By applying CrystalDiskMark, you can set the number of passes, the size of the write and read blocks and the Mbps or Gbps scale. To start your test, choose the drive letter and therefore the speed of the disk to be evaluated. Then launch the test by closing all open programs by clicking on the All button. The tool will first perform a read test and then move to the write test.
Optimizing your M.2 SSD under Windows
You
should always leave a free space for a great longevity and performance of an SSD. Most M.2 SSDs use a wear balancing algorithm. If you fill up a drive, it can slow down. To improve performance, it's best not to format storage space, but to leave 25% of the SSD's disk space free for best performance. Never defragment an SSD. Disable the Hibernate mode of your Windows by default. To free up more space by turning off Hibernate, type the following command: powercfg -h off in a command prompt. Disable disk indexing. This is a good feature but useless on an M.2 SSD. Then finally, try adjusting the paging setting as well to balance performance and space usage.
Importance of BIOS configuration of M.2 NVMe SSDs
When
you install a new M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD, you'll notice messages referring to a configuration to improve the speed of NVMe SSDs, or whether or not to enable shared bandwidth between SATA and NVMe ports. Understanding the concepts behind this technical aspect, and knowing where to find detailed information will allow you to configure your hardware for optimal performance. This setup will help you avoid malfunctions, such as a hard drive or SSD that is not recognized by the system.
Connecting your M.2 NVme SSD
Start
by turning off your computer completely. If it's a laptop, remove the battery, then hold the power button for 5 sec to discharge all residual electricity from the system, and open the cover. Locate the M.2 PCIe slot. This slot is usually easy to locate in desktops, but its position in laptops may vary. Finally, insert the M.2 SSD. Depending on your computer, you may need to remove a heat sink or screw before you can insert your new NVMe PCIe SSD. To insert your Crucial NVMe PCIe SSD, hold it gently by the sides. Do not touch the gold pins on the connector. Align the notches on the SSD with the notches on the PCIe connector, then insert it at a 30° angle. Do not force to insert the SSD. To fix the drive, it may be necessary to insert the screw into the bracket provided in the motherboard. Do not over tighten the screw.
The best 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD depends on your needs and budget. Read our buying guide to find the best products out there.
The BIOS can normally be accessed when the computer is booted. You usually have to press a function key, such as F1, F2 or F10, to access it. Sometimes it is not a function key, but the DELETE or ESC keys.
The majority of recent computers support M.2 NVMe SSDs. But to find out, it is suggested that you check your computer's system specifications and user manual for compatibility before choosing an M.2 NVMe SSD.
Different lengths allow for different capacities. The longer the SSD, the more NAND Flash chips it can hold, in addition to the controller and possibly a DRAM memory chip. The 2230 and 2242 SSDs can hold between 1 and 3 NAND Flash chips. The 2280 and 22110 models accept up to 8 NAND Flash chips, making it possible to create 2TB of capacity with the largest of the M.2 form factors.
Not necessarily, M.2 NVMe SSDs, like other storage drives, use the same standard drivers in the operating system. However, it may require activation in the system BIOS.
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