Micron 4TB SSD

The Crucial T710 is the fastest 4TB Gen5 SSD we've tested, and it runs cooler than the competition. If you've got a PCIe 5.0 board and want the best, this is your drive.

What surprised us most is how cool this thing runs. Gen5 drives have a reputation for turning into tiny space heaters, but the T710's newer Micron controller keeps thermals in check, and the single-sided design means even a basic motherboard heatsink gets the job done. Sequential reads hit 14,500 MB/s and writes 13,800 MB/s, which is best-in-class, and random performance is just as impressive at 2,200K read and 2,300K write IOPS. The DRAM-less design doesn't hurt it one bit in real-world use, and the included heatsink is actually useful, not just decorative.

Against the Samsung 9100 PRO, the T710 trades blows on sequential speed but pulls ahead on random IOPS and runs cooler, which matters more in real-world use than the spec sheet suggests. The Kingston FURY Renegade is a Gen4 drive that can't touch these numbers, but it's way cheaper and still plenty fast for most people. The WD_BLACK SN850X is the same story, great drive, wrong generation. If you're on Gen4 and happy, skip the upgrade. If you're building a new Gen5 rig, the T710 is the one to beat.

Here's the thing: you can find this drive from USD 587 to USD 896 depending on where you shop, and that spread is wild. Newegg has the best deal right now at the lower end of that range, and at USD 587 for 4TB of Gen5 speed, it's actually a solid value if you need the absolute fastest storage. But if you're paying closer to USD 896, you're getting fleeced. Shop around before you pull the trigger.

The Crucial T710 is the fastest 4TB drive we've tested this year, and it's not even close. 14,500 MB/s sequential reads and 13,800 MB/s writes put it in the absolute top tier of Gen5 SSDs, and the 2,200K random read IOPS mean this thing shreds through game loads and big project files without breaking a sweat. If you want the best raw speed money can buy right now, this is it.

If you're still on a PCIe 4.0 board or you don't do heavy creative work or game loading marathons, this isn't for you. Go grab a Crucial T500 or WD_BLACK SN850X instead, you'll save a pile of cash and never notice the difference. And if you want a portable drive, look elsewhere entirely, this thing scored 24.5 out of 100 for portable use.

Buy it if you want the fastest 4TB Gen5 drive on the market and you've got a PCIe 5.0 board to feed it. The T710 delivers top-tier performance without the thermal drama that plagues most Gen5 drives, and the 4TB capacity means you won't be juggling game installs or project files. Just don't pay full retail, shop the spread and grab it from Newegg at the low end.