Best SSD for Steam Deck in 2024: Sabrent, Western Digital & more
Do you need some more storage space in your Steam Deck? We have rounded up the best options for upgrading your SSD to ensure you always have enough space for your favorite games.
A lot of modern games take up a lot of storage space. There is only so much that compression can do with highly detailed textures, video files, and music files, and all these things are what brings quality to your favorite AAA game. So what do you do when your Steam Deck warns you that you are running low on storage?
As it turns out, there are several options available to give yourself some breathing room by simply swapping the default 2230 NVMe SSD for a newer one that can offer more storage.
To help you decide which drive is best for you, here is a rundown of the best SSDs to use with the Steam Deck.
The best Steam Deck SSD: Sabrent Rocket 2230
Right now, for the money and security, the Sabrent 2230 NVMe drive is the best Steam Deck SSD you can get right now.
We’ve done the tests between the Sabrent drive and a Western Digital SN530, however, the differences in real-world usage are not too different.
The reason for this is that the Sabrent Rocket 2230 uses PCIe 4, but the Steam Deck is limited to using slower PCIe 3 speeds. We might see an upgrade on a Steam Deck 2, but for now, performance isn’t really a big issue when choosing your Steam Deck’s drive.
The main reason we recommend Sabrent’s Rocket 2230 NVMe SSD is due to availability. Sabrent is one of few companies offering brand-new drives that you can confirm, are brand-new. A lot of eBay and third-party sellers might have come into a lot of 2230 drives, but they might also be used.
We’ve had no issues with these eBay-bought drives. However, first-time buyers not willing to risk getting a drive that’s potentially already seen heavy use should stick with the Sabrent Rocket 2230 for their Steam Deck.
For the $20 extra dollars or so, you’re going to find that the Sabrent drive is the better choice overall.
If you need even more storage, the next step up is the Sabrent Rocket Q4 2230 NVMe 4.0 2TB, which is the 2GB version of the Sabrent Rocket 2230 NVMe SSD.
Where to buy Steam Deck 2230 NVMe SSD drives
While we’ve recommended the Sabrent 2230 NVMe, you can find all our vetted sources for SSDs from eBay and Amazon below.
Drive | Size | Price (subject to change) |
---|---|---|
XPC Technologies | 2TB | $359.95 |
WD SN740 | 2TB | $249.00 |
Sabrent 2230 NVMe SSD | 1TB | $159.99 |
WD SN530 | 1TB | $139.64 |
WD SN530 | 1TB | $143.68 |
WD SN530 | 512GB | $79.89 |
Kioxia (Toshiba) BG4 256GB/512GB | 256GB | $19.99 |
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