SSDs are getting seriously cheap, even larger models - but is it the right time to buy one?

SSD prices are down by 25% since March, according to a new report from Tom's Hardware, which has been keeping an eye on price tags in the US market (over a range of 60+ popular drives).

2

The WD Black SN850X 2TB looks like a real bargain (Image Credit: WD)

Indeed, Tom's Hardware previously observed prices falling between 15% to 30% from January to March, and now with these fresh drops of 25% (on average) midway through the year, SSD pricing really is a whole lot cheaper than the levels we saw at the start of 2023.

Looking at the 1TB SSDs Tom's tracks the prices of, some of the biggest falls come with Samsung drives. Notably the Samsung 990 Pro, which is half the price it was in March (dropping from $170 to $85). Samsung's 980 Pro SSD is also 40% less than it was three months ago (you can now pick it up for $60).

What about 2TB models? The most precipitous decline was experienced by Samsung's 990 Pro (again), which is now 44% cheaper than in March (at $160). Another significant drop was witnessed in the case of the SK Hynix Gold P31 which fell by almost as much (43%) to rest at an even more affordable $118.

Yes, that's barely more than a hundred bucks for a 2TB SSD with 3,500MBps / 3,200MBps read and write speeds respectively. Notably, the WD Black SN850X 2TB is now a steal at $135 (a healthy drop of 15%). We have this drive's predecessor and have been very happy with it.

Turning to the 4TB bracket, there aren't quite such big chunks cut off the cost of the various drives Tom's highlights, but there are 25% to 35% price cuts at best, which is still excellent news. The largest chop from the discount axe is a 35% drop for the TeamGroup MP34, a 4TB drive that can now be had for just $169 - with the caveat that it's a PCIe 3.0 model.

For PCIe 4.0 the biggest drop is 31% off the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus which is now $400. The cheapest 4TB PCIe 4.0 model, at least based on this data, is the Crucial P3 Plus at $225 (still a healthy 15% drop). There's also the Silicon Power UD90 at $175, but that SSD is new to Tom's rankings, so we don't have a price difference from earlier in the year (clearly, that's highly affordable, though, for such a roomy solid state drive).

It's worth checking out the full breakdown from Tom's Hardware (follow the link below, under sources) to have a scan for the SSD that might be right for your upgrade budget (or indeed your next PC build, perhaps).

An ongoing erosion of prices

SSDs have been getting much more wallet-friendly for some time now, since around a year ago, due to an oversupply of NAND flash memory and drop in demand for drives. Certainly on the consumer front, demand is ebbing as many folks suffer an unfortunate combination of financial pressures (inflation and cost of living increases, hiked interest rates on mortgages, and so forth).

It's a great time to buy in some ways, if you have the money to spare, that is, but the odds are that prices will drop even further still, and deals for Prime Day and Black Friday could be some real tempters. Waiting a bit longer might not be a bad idea, in short (remembering that Amazon's big sale is only just over a couple of weeks away).

Meanwhile, on the capacity front, we recently reported that 300TB SSDs could arrive in 2026, although they'll be very far from cheap (but there are significant caveats with the type of drives we're talking about here).