With as much storage as computers can include nowadays, we still somehow find a way to fill it up after a while, so you may find yourself in need of an upgrade. Even if it's not full, in some cases, slow storage can be the main thing slowing down your PC, so an upgrade can go a long way, especially if you still have an old HDD.

But buying the right storage for your PC and your needs does take some work. You need to figure out what you need and what you can afford before making a decision.

5 Compatibility

You need to know what your computer supports

First things first, you'll need to know what kind of storage device you can install on your computer. If you have a modern laptop, there's a very high chance that your computer only supports M.2 SSDs, but even then, some laptops may use traditional M.2 2280 SSDs, while others may use smaller form factors like M.2 2242 or M.2 2230. Some older or low-end PCs may have space for a 2.5-inch SATA drive, but those are becoming more and more uncommon.

Desktops are a bit more versatile. Most motherboards come with one or two M.2 slots as well, but they'll also have SATA connectors which you can use for plugging in more traditional HDDs and SSDs using cables. Your PC case should also have a space where you can insert these SATA drives securely, since you probably don't want them just dangling off the motherboard.

There are a lot of variables here, so if you still have the manuals for your computer, look through them, or if you're comfortable with it and know what to look for, you can open them up and look for the slots you need. Otherwise, look up your computer model online and you'll find information on the available slots easily. For laptops, it can be a bit more complicated, but the biggest manufacturers offer maintenance or servicing guides that let you see the available upgrade options for your computer.

4 Consider external storage

You don't have to throw out the old drive

Just because you're buying a new drive, it doesn't have to mean throwing out your old one, even if you only have one slot on your PC. There are drive enclosures out there that will allow you to keep using your existing drive as external storage, so you can have access to old data or just have a place to store extra files if you eventually fill your drive up.

External storage is slower than high-end SSDs, but if you have the budget, there are Thunderbolt-based SSD enclosures out there that can still deliver some very high speeds, so you can still use them for heavy workloads. You can even put your new SSD in an enclosure and leave the old one in your PC if you want to save yourself some hassle. Of course, if you go that route, you can just buy an integrated external SSD rather than an upgradeable one, but it's all up to your needs here.

3 Capacity

Make sure you're getting enough

You'll have to think about how much storage you need your new drive to have if you're upgrading your PC. If your computer only has one storage slot, you have to remember that the SSD you're buying is going to replace the one you have right now, so you have to be sure that your new SSD is large enough for your data. If you're buying a new SSD because you're out of space, you definitely want something larger than you currently have.

On the other hand, if you're adding it to a second slot, you may not need as much storage, since you'll still have your current SSD available. Even then, you have to consider how you're using your storage. If you work with large files frequently (for example, if you're a developer or video producer) and you think you'll fill up the drive quickly, it's best to get a larger drive, such as 1TB or more.

If you're looking to maximize storage capacity and speed is secondary to you, an HDD may be the best way to go, since they come in sizes up to 24TB (sometimes more), and they're much more affordable than SSDs for the same capacity.

2 Speed

Make the most of your purchase

Another thing worth looking into is the speed of your M.2 slot. While different versions of PCIe are perfectly compatible with each other, buying an SSD with an older PCIe version will handicap your performance, or buying a higher-performance SSD than your motherboard supports will be an extra cost you don't really need.

Most laptops coming out today support PCIe 4.0 (or PCIe Gen 4) SSDs, so options like the Samsung 990 Pro are a great fit. Some desktop PCs support PCIe 5.0 SSDs now, which double the speed of PCIe 4.0, and there are a few options there, too.

If you have both options for PCIe M.2 SSDs and SATA SSDs, remember that PCIe SSDs are much, much faster than SATA. SATA speeds max out at around 600MB/s, while a PCIe 4.0 SSD can go up to around 7,000MB/s. Even a PCIe 3.0 SSD can reach up to 3,500MB/s.

But it's also worth remembering that after a certain point, the difference in speed may not be very noticeable. a PCIe 5.0 SSD is twice as fast as a PCIe 4.0 SSD, but that speed increase really won't be noticeable unless you're doing very specific workloads, transferring very large amounts of data on a regular basis.

1 Reliability

Don't get a drive that will die on you

One aspect that's very easy to overlook when buying anything tech is reliability. The cheapest products are often cheap for a reason, and it's important to look out for common pitfalls. First off, buy from a recognizable, reliable brand. Companies like Samsung, Sabrent, Western Digital (WD), Seagate, and some others are always a good choice for an SSD because they're relatively well-known companies and you can hae some peace of mind knowing customer service is there for you if you need anything. Amazon is littered with products from no-name brands, and buying from them is a huge risk. Be careful who you buy from.

Getting past that, there are two things you can look for in the specifications. One is MTBF, or mean time between failures. This indicates the approximate time a drive is expected to last until showing signs of failure that could compromise your data. While not every manufacturer makes this available, the Samsung 990 Pro, for instance, is rated for 1.5 million hours between failures.

The other thing is called endurance, which is often rated in TBW (terabytes written), and this is more commonly used for SSDs. This provides a more tangible estimate of how much data you can write to the drive before it fails. This can also vary with the capacity of the drive. For example, the WD_BLACK SN850X SSD is rated for 600 TBW in its 1TB model, while the 2TB model is rated for 1200TBW, and so on. In some cases, manufacturers tie the warranty to the rated endurance, so you have some additional security regarding reliability.

Make sure you buy the right storage

With all of this information, you should be ready to buy the storage that makes the most sense for you. Keep in mind that if you're replacing your current SSD, you'll need to have the means to back up your data and reinstall Windows on your new drive, so you need some preparation and you'll need an additional external device to create installation media, in addition to a place to back up your user data. Otherwise, you have all the information you need to make an informed purchase.