If you’re thinking of upgrading the SSD in your gaming PC, we recommend doing it now, rather than later, as SSD prices are expected to soar in the coming months. Thankfully, the biggest price increases are expected in the enterprise world, but the cost of standard desktop PC SSDs is also predicted to increase.
Prices of the best gaming SSD models have already been steadily increasing worldwide this year, with total inflation expected to end up sitting at around 23-28% for the first quarter of 2024. This corresponds directly with the increase in the cost of manufacturing 3D NAND wafers, which contain the flash memory chips you find inside your SSD. However, SSD price inflation is expected to accelerate beyond manufacturing costs in the second quarter of this year.
According to a report by tech market research firm TrendForce, the price of an average “client SSD” (which includes the M.2 and SATA SSDs we put in our PCs, from the likes of Samsung and Western Digital) is predicted to go up by 10-15% in Q2 (April to June) this year, while the cost of wafers is only expected to increase by 5-10%. On the plus side, though, this price increase is still much smaller than the 20-25% inflation predicted to hit enterprise SSDs.
There are a few factors at play here. In the report, TrendForce points to most SSD suppliers keeping “their production strategies conservative,” with Kioxia and Western Digital named as outliers who have boosted their production capacity.
The report states that “some PC OEMs [are] cutting their 2Q24 orders,” and that demand for NAND flash wafers is “declining” as SSD makers “show no need for stockpiling.” The report also points to “subdued demand in the retail market,” as a reason why SSD price inflation is lower for consumer drives than enterprise devices.
While it looks like enterprise customers are going to bear the brunt of these latest price increases, a 15% bump in the price of an SSD is still significant, particularly when it comes to the latest PCIe 5.0 devices, such as the Crucial T705, which has a $399.99 MSRP for a 2TB drive. A 15% price increase would take that up to $459.99.
For cheaper drives, though, such as our favorite PCIe 4.0 WD Black SN850X, a 10-15% price increase is less of an issue, particularly when these drives are regularly discounted in the latest tech deals.
If you’re thinking of buying an SSD now, before the prices go up, make sure you read our full guide on how to install an M.2 SSD, where we take you through every step of the process.