fanxiang S660 1TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2

The fanxiang S660 is a budget PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD that works in the PS5 and delivers solid gaming performance for the price. It's DRAM-less and slower than flagship Gen4 drives, but most users won't notice the difference. Just make sure you're getting a genuine TLC unit and a price under $80 before pulling the trigger.

The S660's 5000 MB/s sequential read speed puts it in the 68th percentile for speed in our database. That's solid, middle-of-the-pack territory for PCIe 4.0 drives. It's nowhere near the 7000+ MB/s you'd get from a Samsung 990 Pro or WD Black SN850X, but it's also a lot cheaper. In practice, you won't notice the difference in most games. Loading screens might be a fraction of a second longer, and large file transfers will take a bit more time, but for everyday use and gaming, this drive feels fast.

The DRAM-less design is worth mentioning. Without onboard DRAM, the S660 uses your system's memory via HMB (Host Memory Buffer) to handle the mapping tables. This works fine for most consumer workloads, but sustained writes can slow down once the SLC cache fills up. The 1TB model has a decent-sized cache, so you'll only see drops during very large transfers. The heatsink does its job too, keeping temperatures in check during extended gaming sessions, which matters for PS5 use where airflow can be tight.

Stacked against the Samsung 9100 PRO, the S660 is in a completely different league. The 9100 PRO is a Gen5 drive with speeds over 10,000 MB/s, and it costs accordingly. If you have a Gen5-capable motherboard and money to burn, that's the drive to get. The S660 is for people who don't need that kind of speed. The Micron T710 and Crucial T710 are also high-end options that blow past the S660's 5000 MB/s, but again, you're paying for it.

Against more realistic competitors like the WD Black SN7100 or Lexar NM1090 PRO, the S660 holds its own on price but falls behind on peak performance. The SN7100 is a Gen4 drive that hits around 7000 MB/s and has a proven track record. The Lexar NM1090 PRO is a Gen5 drive that's surprisingly affordable. If you can stretch your budget by $20-30, either of those is a better long-term investment. But if the S660 is on sale and you just need a PS5 game drive, it'll do the job.

Pricing on the S660 is a bit murky. We see one US listing at $200 and one Canadian listing at CAD 254, but those seem high for a 1TB budget drive. For context, you can often find 1TB Gen4 drives from more established brands in the $60-90 range. If the S660 is actually selling for $200, that's a terrible deal. If it's closer to $70-80, it's competitive. The 5-year warranty (or is it 3-year? The product page says both) adds some peace of mind, but fanxiang doesn't have the track record of Samsung, Crucial, or WD. For budget buyers, the Crucial P3 Plus or WD Blue SN580 are safer bets at similar prices. For PS5 expansion specifically, the S660's included heatsink does save you a few bucks.

The fanxiang S660 is a budget PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive aimed at gamers and PS5 owners who want fast storage without paying Samsung or WD prices. It's a DRAM-less design using TLC NAND (though one reviewer claims their unit shipped with QLC, so there's some inconsistency there) and relies on HMB plus SLC caching to hit its rated speeds. The 1TB model we're looking at promises up to 5000 MB/s reads and 4500 MB/s writes, and it comes with a heatsink pre-installed or in the box depending on the listing.

For a drive in this price bracket, the S660 is positioned as a value play. It's not trying to compete with flagship Gen4 drives that push 7000 MB/s. Instead, it's for people who want a noticeable upgrade from SATA or older Gen3 drives, or who need to expand their PS5 storage without spending a fortune. The 4.6-star rating across 3,741 reviews suggests most buyers are happy, but the review text reveals some caveats worth digging into.

Is the fanxiang S660 good for gaming? For most people, yes. Game load times will be dramatically better than a hard drive and roughly on par with other mid-tier Gen4 drives. The PS5 compatibility is a big selling point, and the included heatsink means you don't have to buy a separate one to meet Sony's thermal requirements.

Skip the S660 if you're doing heavy video editing, running a database, or regularly moving massive files. The DRAM-less design and potential QLC NAND mean sustained write performance will tank once the SLC cache fills. You'd be better off with a drive that has onboard DRAM and guaranteed TLC, like the WD Black SN850X or Samsung 990 Pro. Also skip it if you're paying anywhere near $200. At that price, you can get a faster, more reliable drive from a brand with actual customer support. And if you're building a Gen5 system, this drive isn't even in the conversation.

Should you buy the fanxiang S660? If you find it at a genuinely budget price, say under $80 for the 1TB model, and you need a PS5-compatible drive with a heatsink, it's a reasonable choice. The real-world performance is fine for gaming, and most buyers seem happy with it. The 4.6-star rating isn't nothing.

But there are enough red flags to give us pause. The TLC vs QLC confusion is a real issue. If fanxiang is shipping QLC drives while advertising TLC, that's a bait-and-switch, intentional or not. The warranty messaging is also inconsistent. And at $200, this drive is simply overpriced. For that money, you could get a faster, more reliable drive from a brand with actual customer support infrastructure. Wait for a sale, or spend a little more on something you can trust.