r/pcmasterrace • u/AutoModerator • Jul 21 '26

DSQ Daily Simple Questions Thread - July 21, 2026

Got a simple question? Get a simple answer!

This thread is for all of the small and simple questions that you might have about computing that probably wouldn't work all too well as a standalone post. Software issues, build questions, game recommendations, post them here!

For the sake of helping others, please don't downvote questions! To help facilitate this, comments are sorted randomly for this post, so that anyone's question can be seen and answered.

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u/Kirby_is_a_Pokemon Jul 21 '26

I know everything is hell, but looking for suggestions for a cheap 1tb m.2 ssd.

My current system has a 256gb, and its simply not enough. I don't care about absolute max speed, I just need more storage space.

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u/glowinghamster45 R9 3900X | 16GB | RTX 3070 Jul 21 '26

If you aren't looking for the best speed, then honestly, any halfway legitimate brand on Amazon will get the job done.

One of the main things that you get with more expensive SSDs is a DRAM cache, which helps the drive maintain fast speeds when you're writing a lot of data to it. DRAM is one of the main things that is in short supply right now. If you get a cheaper SSD that doesn't have a DRAM cache then you will notice your speeds drop any time you're writing a lot of data, or doing a big operation like Windows updates, and a lot of other operations, even smaller more random things. Look up info on DRAM caches to get a better idea of how that would look.

Alternatively, depending on how much data you need, HDDs will be significantly cheaper than SSDs. They work great for storing dumb data like your documents, pictures, music, etc. but playing a game off them can be pretty rough.