Intel Mid-Range Gaming Build: RAM: Hard Drive (SSD)
While all of the components we are selecting here today are what we would go with, and priced from vendors we trust, it is always a good idea to shop around as deals on these, or other good options, pop up from other reliable vendors all the time. With that said, let’s dive right into the next order of business.
Hard Drive (SSD)
Western Digital WD Blue 1TB $119.99 (Currently $114.99)
60 FPS
- Good Performance In General
- Excellent Software
- Good Power Efficiency In General
30 FPS
- Not As Efficient As Other Options At Idle
- Not Quite The Best At Everything, But Still Good
- Digital Pack-rats May Fret
Hard Drive (SSD) Alternate
Samsung 970 EVO 500GB $89.99 (Currently $99.99)
60 FPS
- Fast, Amazingly Fast
- Excellent Quality
- Excellent Software
30 FPS
- Not As Efficient As Other Options
- Pricey
- 500GB, Digital Pack-rats Eject
As with our previous AMD Mid-Range Build Guide, we would love to shoehorn in here a total top of the line NVMe based SSD today. However, to do so would require us to trim back on the capacity to 500GB or so. While that should be enough capacity if you aren’t a digital pack-rat, a lot of folks would mind that choice. So, our first choice today sticks with the NVMe interface but is a Western Digital WD Blue 1TB. Sure, you won’t get Samsung 970 EVO type of performance, or build with this option, but you aren’t so far off that it will be obvious in day to day usage. If you want to go that route of a Samsung EVO, you obviously can be ready to pony up more than the budget will currently support if you want that EVO and you want 1TB or more of storage.
That said, I am going to go ahead and talk out of the other side of my mouth again today and pick the 500GB Samsung 970 EVO as our alternate choice. We are sticking with the NVMe form factor and its performance benefits, but we are slashing the capacity. That is sure to make some people question the choice, but we get everything that Samsung drives are currently known for (which is a safe pick because of the performance, build quality, software, and pedigree) with this pick. This will, of course, require some disk space management (seriously, only install the games you are actually playing and remember you can only play one at any given moment) or the use of a secondary drive. However, you are getting a top tier drive here on a Mid-Range build.