1
Intel ® OPTANE™ 905P
500GB, 380GB, 960GB, 1.5TB
Best 960GB PCIe 3.0 DRAM-less SSDs
960GBPCIe 3.0DRAM-less
There are 5 960GB PCIe 3.0 DRAM-less SSDs in our database — each linked via an Amazon search on its part number. The fastest is the Intel INTEL® OPTANE™ 905P at 2600 MB/s read. Sequential reads across the group span 1600–2600 MB/s.
Why this configuration
A 960GB PCIe 3.0 DRAM-less SSD is an affordable NVMe step up from SATA. Gen3 is roughly six times SATA's throughput yet often costs little more, making it the easy default for a first NVMe drive or a laptop that only supports Gen3.
Usually chosen for: budget builders, laptop upgraders and anyone leaving SATA behind.
Good fit: value builds and gaming where cost per gigabyte matters.
Look elsewhere for: databases, virtual machines and other sustained random-write workloads.
Ranked list
Ranked by tier, then link type, then sequential read. Drives we hold a product link for show a price button; the rest open an Amazon search on the manufacturer part number. Stock and prices are not shown here — they change too often.
2
Teclast NP800C
250GB, 500GB, 960GB
3
Western Digital SN350
250GB, 500GB, 960GB
4
Maxsun MS960GB
960GB
5
Maxsun MS480GB
960GB
The parts, explained
PCIe 3.0 x4 reaches about 3,500 MB/s — plenty for everyday use and gaming, and cheaper than Gen4.
DRAM-less drives use the Host Memory Buffer (HMB) instead — cheaper, and fine for everyday use and gaming, with a small penalty under heavy random writes.
Common questions
Is a DRAM-less 960GB SSD good enough?
For gaming and everyday use, yes — HMB covers those workloads well. If you run sustained heavy random writes (databases, VMs), a drive with a DRAM cache stays more consistent.
How do the links to Amazon work here?
0 of the 5 drives listed have a direct product link; for the rest we link an Amazon search on the manufacturer part number, which lands on the right listing. We deliberately don't display stock or prices on this page — check both on Amazon, they change constantly.