I'm building a compact gaming PC/console for my sister and brother-in-law and already have an AMD BC-250 board. I'll be designing and 3D-printing a custom case, then installing SteamOS. My sister mainly plays lighter games such as Animal Crossing-style cozy titles, Palworld, and Cult of the Lamb, while my brother-in-law plays everything from Tetris to Elden Ring and games daily.
I have a spare 256GB SSD, but that probably won't be enough for a modern game library. I'm looking for a reliable 1TB or 2TB SSD that I can buy in the United States, preferably under $200. Fast speeds and long-term reliability matter more than having the absolute highest-end drive. I'm also considering an ASRock Steel Legend 650W Gold PSU, though I'm unsure whether the PSU affects SSD choice.
Any recommendations for the SSD—or other components that would be especially important for this build—would be appreciated. I want something dependable and capable of running their games smoothly without going overboard.
2 Answers
The PSU doesn’t really affect SSD selection. An NVMe drive only uses a few watts, so the 650W unit is more than enough from a storage perspective.
The important detail is that the BC-250’s M.2 slot is limited to PCIe 2.0 x2. That means even a fast PCIe 4.0 SSD won’t reach its advertised peak speeds. I’d look for an affordable TLC-based drive such as the Klevv CRAS C910. It should perform well enough for this system, particularly for writes, without paying for speed the motherboard can’t use.
For gaming, even many slower PCIe 3.0 drives will saturate the slot’s bandwidth. Game loading should be fine; the main benefit of a better TLC drive is generally stronger sustained performance and a better balance of reliability and price.
Because the M.2 slot only supports PCIe 2.0 x2, there’s little reason to buy a premium Gen 4 drive. A reasonably priced TLC NVMe SSD in the 1TB–2TB range is the sensible choice. The Patriot P300 or TeamGroup MP33 are examples of budget options, although current pricing should be checked before buying.
The ASRock Steel Legend power supply is a solid unit, but it’s more capability than this low-power build needs. A less expensive reputable 650W Gold model—or even a suitable 650W Bronze unit—could free up money for storage or another component. Also, PC hardware cannot natively run Nintendo console games; only compatible PC versions or legally supported alternatives will work.
That clears things up—especially the PCIe generation and lane limitation. I didn’t realize the motherboard would cap the drive’s performance, so I’ll move the C910 near the top of my list instead of paying for an expensive high-end SSD.