A faster drive at a lower price than the Corsair option.
The WD SN740 is right up there with the other options I mentioned in the intro in terms of speed, being a PCIe 4.0 drive rated up to 5150MB/s reads, 4900MB/s writes and respectable random read/write figures of 740K IOPS and 800K IOPS respectively.
Of course, the Steam Deck is limited to PCIe 3.0 speeds, so you’ll need the ROG Ally or another PCIe 4.0 capable device to make the most of this drive - though of course the actual difference in load times is miniscule given that the Steam Deck is also relatively slow in terms of its CPU and memory, which can impact load times too, and the WD SN740 is still the best value option on the market when you compare it to PCIe 3.0 drives too.
In short then, if you’re in the market for a handy upgrade for your Steam Deck or ROG Ally, this is the drive to go for - there’seven a 2TB model available for £170if you want to go all-out on your handheld’s game storage.
If you are thinking of giving this a go, I would recommend it as it’s easier than it looks. The ROG Ally install is particularly painless, requiring only the removal of the back plate and replacing the drive, but the Steam Deck install procedure is only slightly more involved; just follow along withthe iFixit guideand you’ll be fine.
