Until last year, there was plenty of talk about declining SSD prices. However, as we showed a few months ago, that trend has reversed. The AI race.
Until last year, there was plenty of talk about declining solid-state drive prices. However, as we showed a few months ago, that trend has reversed.
With employees returning to the office after the pandemic, NAND manufacturers faced an oversupply of chips and consequently reduced production. Nevertheless, demand has continued to soar, especially with current-gen games recommending or even requiring SSD storage.
Additionally, the AI race has become a significant factor, with models requiring vast amounts of data for training, which is also starting to affect disk drive prices.
For our previous SSD pricing update (Q1/24), we selected some of the most popular SSDs across three different capacities and analyzed how their average prices on Amazon have fluctuated over the past year. Now is the time to see how things have changed since then.
The SK Hynix P41 Platinum is arguably the fastest 500GB drive on the market. While some of its competitors start at 1TB, the question remains: Is it a good deal? A year ago, it cost $105. At one point, it could be had for just $41, but more often it sold for $66. Now, it’s selling for $83.
For those buying multiple 500GB drives to upgrade several systems, these price fluctuations are significant.
The Corsair MP600 Pro is a drive we recommend for its sustained write speed. The 500GB version has fewer NAND chips, which halves the speed compared to higher-capacity versions, but it remains a decent option. The PlayStation 5-optimized LPX version started at $76 at the beginning of 2023, often sold for $53, and now goes for $70.
The Samsung 970 Evo Plus is an excellent choice for systems that only support PCIe 3.0 speeds. It began last year at $70, dropped to as low as $25, and more commonly sold for $30. It’s now back up to $75.
The Crucial MX500 is a top-choice SATA drive. It was a good deal at the beginning of 2023 for $45, and for much of that year it could be found for $35, but now it’s risen to $55.
The Samsung 870 Evo is a good alternative to the Crucial MX500. A year ago, it cost $60, but since then, it was available for $30, more often for $40, and now it’s back to $60, exceeding the price of the Crucial drive.
Moving on to 1TB drives allows us to add several drives and models to the comparison. The Samsung 990 Pro used to cost $170 a year ago, dropped to $60, and then stabilized around $80 for a few months. It now costs $120.
Another high-end PCIe 4.0 drive, the WD Black SN850X, was about $110 in January 2023, and for a while it could be had for $60.
