The best 1TB PS5 SSD with heatsink today is the Lexar 1TB NM790 NVMe SSD w/Heatsink at $208.97 ($208.97/TB), as of 2026-10-01.
Recomputed every refresh · last updated · 7 listings in the field
The Lexar 1TB NM790 NVMe SSD w/Heatsink takes it at $208.97/TB against the runner-up's $211.95/TB - a margin of $2.98/TB, or 1.4%. That gap is computed, not asserted: it is the arithmetic difference between the two cheapest qualifying listings we hold, and it is the whole of the reason one is above the other.
It sits in a field of 7 qualifying listings. It is new stock, NVMe-PCIe4. The margin to second place is small enough that a single price change could reverse it, which is exactly why this page recomputes rather than being written once.
Best = lowest cost per terabyte among in-stock, new, known-brand 1TB drives in our PS5 SSD catalogue whose own listing title says a heatsink is fitted. The stored heatsink flag is not used - it is wrong for 57 of 118 flagged drives. We do not test speed or temperature, and this page makes no claim about either.
Most "best drive" pages do not tell you what best meant, which makes them impossible to argue with and therefore impossible to trust. Ours is one sentence and you can reject it: if you would rather optimise for warranty length, for a specific manufacturer, or for the lowest absolute price rather than the lowest price per unit, the full field is ranked below and you can take a different row knowing exactly what you are trading.
What the criterion deliberately excludes: any seller we do not recognise and anything out of stock at the moment the page rendered. Drives whose title does not say a heatsink is fitted are out, whatever our stored flag says. SAS drives are excluded here because they need a host bus adapter and a backplane that a desktop or consumer NAS does not have.
| # | Drive | Capacity | Note | Price | Per TB | Buy/View Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WINNER | Lexar 1TB NM790 NVMe SSD w/Heatsink | 1TB | Heatsink in title | $208.97 | $208.97 | Buy/View Price |
| 2 | Crucial P510 1TB with Heatsink 3D NAND NVMe PCIe5.0 M.2 SSD | 1TB | Heatsink in title | $211.95 | $211.95 | Buy/View Price |
| 3 | Crucial P510 PCIe Gen5 NVMe 1TB SSD with Heatsink | 1TB | Heatsink in title | $219.99 | $219.99 | Buy/View Price |
| 4 | Crucial T500 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe Gaming PS5 SSD with Heatsink | 1TB | Heatsink in title | $224.95 | $224.95 | Buy/View Price |
| 5 | WD WD_Black SN8100 1TB NVMe SSD with Heatsink | 1TB | Heatsink in title | $279.99 | $279.99 | Buy/View Price |
Tracking has just started for this page, so there is no change history yet. We will not invent one: the log fills when the winner actually changes hands, and until then the honest statement is that we began watching and nothing has moved. That emptiness is temporary and it is the reason this page will be worth more in three months than it is today.
PS5 owners adding a first expansion drive who want a heatsink fitted rather than bought separately.
1TB is the smallest capacity we rank for PS5 expansion, and buying a drive with the heatsink already fitted saves a separate purchase and installation. The ranking counts a heatsink only where the listing's own title says one is fitted.
Worth knowing: A heatsink adds height, and the PS5 expansion bay has limited clearance. Our compatibility page sets out what fits; check it before choosing a drive whose heatsink you have not seen dimensioned.
The 7 qualifying listings run from $208.97/TB to $339.00/TB, a spread of $130.03/TB between the cheapest and dearest drive that meets the same standard. That spread is worth looking at before you act on the verdict: a tight field means the market has settled and the winner is a few percent ahead of an equivalent product, while a wide one means the drives differ in something the criterion does not capture - usually product line, warranty term or how long the listing has been sitting.
5 brands are represented. More than one manufacturer competing at the same specification is what makes the cheapest listing meaningful rather than incidental.
The median listing in this field sits at $224.95/TB, 8% above the winner. Every drive in this field is the same capacity, so the per-terabyte ranking and the price ranking are the same ranking - the cheapest drive is the winner by definition.
This ranking counts a heatsink as fitted only where the drive's own listing title says so. Our stored heatsink flag is wrong for more than half the drives it marks, so it is not used here; a title that says 'without heatsink' is excluded.
Every drive here is in our PS5 SSD catalogue. We do not test speed or temperature and this page makes no claim about either; Sony publishes the expansion-slot requirements, and our compatibility page covers them along with the physical clearance a heatsink needs.
Cost per terabyte is the ranking because it is what we can observe across the whole catalogue every few hours. If you value a particular brand's warranty or a specific heatsink design, the full field below is ranked and you can choose a different row with the price difference visible.
It is a price-and-fitness answer and nothing more. We do not run a test lab, we publish no read or write figures, and there is no claim anywhere on this page that one drive is faster than another. Ranking storage by speed requires measuring it, and anyone who does should tell you how; we would rather rank on what a catalogue can actually observe every few hours.
It also cannot tell you how a manufacturer handles a warranty claim, how loud a drive is in a room you sit in, or whether a particular batch had a bad year. Those are the things a review is for. What this page does that a review cannot is stay correct: it is recomputed when you load it, and the field it beat is printed underneath so you can see the answer being earned rather than asserted.
This page gives one answer. If you want the full catalogue rather than a verdict, these are the pages that carry it:
PS5 SSDs compared · PS5 SSD compatibility · Best SSD for PS5 Pro · Every verdict we publish · Where prices are heading · CMR/SMR list
Today's cheapest is not a reason to buy today. This answer is recomputed from live prices, so it will change - sometimes in your favour. Buy when you need the capacity, not because a page named a winner, and read the criterion above: it ranks what we can measure, which is price and fitness, not everything that matters to you.
Lexar 1TB NM790 NVMe SSD w/Heatsink, at $208.97 ($208.97/TB). That is the lowest cost per terabyte among the 7 listings that meet this page's criteria. It is a price-and-fitness verdict rather than a performance ranking.
We log the winner every time it changes and show the last three above. This page has only just started tracking, so there is nothing to show yet - and we would rather say that than imply a history we do not have. Check back and the log will fill itself.
Because the criterion is cost per terabyte, not brand reputation, and it is printed on this page precisely so you can disagree with it. Every drive in the field passes a brand gate - we will not name an unrecognised seller as an answer - but among drives that pass, the cheapest terabyte wins. If you value a specific manufacturer's warranty handling or a particular product line, the full field below is ranked and you can pick a different row with the trade-off visible.
No, and this is the most important limitation on the page. We do not benchmark drives, we do not publish read or write figures, and nothing here claims one drive is faster than another. What we can measure is price, availability, capacity, interface and recording technology, so the verdict is built from those. Anyone ranking drives by speed should tell you how they measured; we would rather rank on what we can actually observe.
How much weight the verdict carries. 7 listings meet the criteria right now. That is a moderate field - enough for the comparison to mean something, not so deep that the answer is stable week to week.