Best Internal SSDs for Video Editing
With the dramatical development of personal computers, more and more people can edit videos on their personal computers. Video editing has been dramatically popularized in recent years.
When you edit videos, you need to load a huge number of short videos and music files, cut and stitch videos, add various effects to videos, preview the editing result, and then render the video. In this process, SSD can improve the software boot speed, material loading speed, video preview speed, etc.
Although video editing software can run on most HDDs and edit some HD videos, I still recommend you to use SSDs. With an SSD, you can get a better video editing experience. In addition, if you want to edit 4K videos, an SSD is necessary.
How to choose the best SSD for video editing? In this part, I will introduce some nice options to you.
1. Samsung 970 PRO (Best M.2 SSD for Video Editing)
| Capacity | 512GB | 1TB |
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 | |
| Interface | PCIe Gen 3×4 NVMe (4GB/s) | |
| Flash Chip | 3D NAND MLC | |
| Sequential Read Speed | Up to 3,500 MB/s | |
| Sequential Write Speed | Up to 2,300 MB/s | Up to 2,700 MB/s |
| Warranty | 5 years or 600TBW | 5 years or 1,200TBW |
| Price (in Amazon) | $139.99 | $260.36 |
You should pay attention to the following things:
- MLC means that a memory cell of the SSD stores two bits of data. TLC means that a memory cell of the SSD stores three bits of data. Compared with TLC SSDs, MLC SSDs are faster and more endurable. But TLC SSDs have lower costs and offer larger capacity.
- Compared with TLC SSDs, QLC SSDs are less endurable. Therefore, please don’t use any QLC SSDs for video editing unless QLC technology gets great development in the future.
- TBW (Terabytes Written) indicates how much data a drive can write over its lifespan. For example, an SSD with 500 TBW means that the SSD can write 500 TB before it wears out.
- The price in the table is only for reference. The specific price may change when there are discounts or the discount is over.
Video editing will deal with a huge amount of data. You will read, write, and delete a lot of data on the hard drive. Therefore, I recommend you use an endurable SSD. If you don’t care about the price, this Samsung 970 PRO SSD is a good choice.
The super-fast speed can give you a great video editing experience and the long lifespan offers you reliability. Samsung is one of the best SSD producers in the world and that’s why I recommend this SSD to you. Of course, if you like other MLC SSDs, you can also choose them as your will.
2. WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD (Budget M.2 SSD for Video Editing)
| Capacity | 250GB | 500GB | 1TB | 2TB | 4TB |
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 | ||||
| Interface | PCIe Gen 3×4 NVMe (4GB/s) | ||||
| Flash Chip | 3D NAND TLC | ||||
| Sequential Read Speed (MB/s) | 3,100 | 3,430 | 3,400 | ||
| Sequential Write Speed (MB/s) | 1,600 | 2,600 | 3,000 | 2,900 | 3,100 |
| Warranty | 5 years | ||||
| TBW | 200 | 300 | 600 | 1,200 | 2,400 |
| Price (in Amazon) | $56.99 | $68.99 | $119.99 | $229.32 | $879.99 |
Most MLC SSDs are very expensive. If you think you can’t afford that price, you can choose a TLC SSD. Nowadays, TLC technology has been mature and TLC SSDs have been used in gaming. Compared with other TLC M.2 NVMe SSDs, the advantage of WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD is its lower price.
In the face of low prices, all the shortcomings can be accepted. In addition, the speed of this SSD is also enough for video editing. This one is the best M.2 SSD for video editing in terms of price.
3. Samsung 860 PRO (Best SATA SSD for Video Editing)
| Capacity | 256GB | 512GB | 1TB | 2TB | 4TB |
| Form Factor | 2.5 inch | ||||
| Interface | SATA 6 Gb/s (compatible with SATA 3 Gb/s & 1.5 interfaces) | ||||
| Flash Chip | 3D NAND MLC | ||||
| Sequential Read Speed | Up to 560 MB/s | ||||
| Sequential Write Speed | Up to 530 MB/s | ||||
| Warranty | 5 years | ||||
| TBW | 300 | 600 | 1,200 | 2,400 | 4,800 |
| Price (in Amazon) | $99 | $179 | $229 | $434.28 | $729.99 |
SATA ports are still very popular in recent years. If your computer doesn’t have M.2 ports, you may need to purchase a SATA SSD. Then, Samsung 860 PRO is the best SSD for video editing.
The reason why I recommend this SSD is that it uses MLC technology and its manufacturer is Samsung. Nowadays, most manufacturers have switched to producing TLC or QLC SSDs. It becomes harder for consumers to purchase a reliable MLC SSD.
In addition, the speed of this SSD is capable of the video editing task, although the usage experience brought by it can’t match that brought by M.2 NVMe SSDs.
Samsung QVO vs EVO vs PRO: What’s the Difference?
4. Crucial MX500 (Budget SATA SSD for Video Editing)
| Capacity | 250GB | 500GB | 1TB | 2TB | 4TB |
| Form Factor | 2.5 inch | ||||
| Interface | SATA 6 Gb/s | ||||
| Flash Chip | 3D NAND TLC | ||||
| Sequential Read Speed | Up to 560 MB/s | ||||
| Sequential Write Speed | Up to 510 MB/s | ||||
| Warranty | 5 years | ||||
| TBW | 100 | 180 | 360 | 700 | 1,000 |
| Price (in Amazon) | $49 | $52.99 | $84.99 | $167.99 | $359.99 |
This SSD is the best seller on Amazon. Compared with other SSDs, Crucial MX500 offers a lower price for 500GB, 2TB, and 4TB. But if you want a cheap 1TB SSD, you can consider SanDisk SSD PLUS SATA instead. If you want a cheap 240GB SSD, you can consider PNY CS900 SATA SSD. In addition, the PNY CS900SSD offers more capacity options.
M.2 SSD vs. SATA SSD: Which One Is Suitable for Your PC?
Best External SSDs for Video Editing
If you just want to back up videos that have been edited, you can choose an external HDD. If you want to edit videos on an external drive or edit videos on the go, you should choose an external SSD.
1. Samsung X5 (Best Thunderbolt 3 SSD for Video Editing)
| Capacity | 500GB | 1TB | 2TB |
| Interface | Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) | ||
| Flash Chip | 3D NAND TLC | ||
| Sequential Read Speed | Up to 2,800 MB/s | ||
| Sequential Write Speed | Up to 2,300 MB/s (Up to 2,100 MB/s for 500GB) | ||
| Warranty | 3 years | ||
| Price (in Amazon) | $149.99 | $349.99 | $786.69 |
If your computer has a Thunderbolt 3 port and you want to edit videos on external drives, you can purchase a Thunderbolt 3 external SSD like Samsung X5. This portable SSD offers super-high read and write speeds, which is much enough for video editing. The X5 is designed for tech-savvy professionals who want to render or compile high-resolution content faster than ever.
Thunderbolt vs USB 3.0: What’s the Difference?
2. SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD V2 (Cost-Effective USB SSD for Video Editing)
| Capacity | 500GB | 1TB | 2TB | 4TB |
| Interface | USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gb/s) | |||
| Flash Chip | 3D NAND TLC | |||
| Sequential Read Speed | Up to 1,050 MB/s | |||
| Sequential Write Speed | Up to 1,000 MB/s | |||
| Warranty | 5 years | |||
| Price (in Amazon) | $84.99 | $119.99 | $224.99 | $449.99 |
This external SSD is one of the best sellers on Amazon. Its price can even be lower than that of some USB 3.0 SSDs. This SSD is the most cost-effective and that’s why I think it is the best external SSD for video editing.
If your budget is limited and you also want to get an external SSD with notable performance, you should consider SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD V2.
In this part, I only recommend the above external SSDs to you. This is because most external SSDs with a lower speed (like Samsung T5) are even more expensive than the SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD V2. Therefore, I think buying those SSDs with lower speed is not worthy.
In addition, I find a cheap external SSD indeed (Crucial X6 portable SSD). This SSD read speed is up to 540MB/s and the price is low enough. But I can’t ensure it’s a TLC SSD. so, I also don’t recommend such an external SSD to you for video editing.
Migrate OS to New SSD
In general, you should prepare 500GB to 1TB SSD internal storage for video editing. Does your PC meet the storage requirements? If not, you may need to buy a new SSD and then use it to replace the original hard drive. In addition, if you want a better video editing experience, you can also replace the original hard drive with a new and faster SSD.
To avoid reinstalling apps and transferring a huge number of files, I recommend you migrate OS with MiniTool Partition Wizard, which is a professional disk and partition management tool. Here is the guide:
MiniTool Partition Wizard DemoClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 1: Connect the new SSD to your PC via a USB adapter (USB to SATA or USB to M.2).
Step 2: Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard to get its main interface. Then click on Migrate OS to SSD/HDD in the action panel.
Step 3: Choose a suitable method to migrate the system disk and click Next. In this step, Option A is recommended so that you can copy the OS as well as all data from the original hard drive to the new SSD.
Step 4: Choose the new SSD as the target disk and click Next. A window will pop up warning you that all data on the new SSD will be destroyed. If it’s OK, click Yes.
Step 5: Choose the right copy options and adjust the target disk layout, and then click Next.
1. In most cases, I recommend you to keep the default Copy Options.
2. If your original drive is an MBR disk while you want to apply GPT style to your new SSD, you can check the Use GUID partition table for the target disk. Click MBR vs GPT to know more information.
3. You can resize partition size and location manually in the Change Selected Partition section.
Step 6: Read a note and click Finish. Then, click the Apply button to execute the pending operations.
Step 7: Now, install the new SSD into your PC. Boot your PC and enter firmware to set the new SSD as the first boot device. Then, you can boot your PC from the new SSD.
Bottom Line
Is this post helpful to you? Do you know other SSDs suitable for video editing? Please leave a comment for sharing. In addition, if you have difficulty in migrating OS, please feel free to contact us via [email protected]. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Linda has been working as an editor at MiniTool for 5 years. She is always curious about computer knowledge and learns it crazily. Her articles are simple and easy to understand. Even people who do not understand computer can gain something. By the way, her special focuses are disk management, data recovery and PDF editing.