Crucial P310 2TB M.2 2230 - SSD for Steam Deck and ROG Ally

Our analysis

Length is the line: 30 mm here (M.2 2230) against 80 mm for the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB (M.2 2280), so this one fits a Steam Deck or a ROG Ally and the Samsung does not. In a desktop, where both fit, the 990 PRO lists a DRAM cache and 7450 MB/s reads against 7100 MB/s here.

What stands out

• Short M.2 2230 format. It fits the slot in handhelds and compact machines where a standard 2280 drive simply will not go.
• 2 TB of space. Moving from 512 GB means you stop deciding every week which game to delete to make room for the next one.
• Up to 7100 MB/s reads and 6000 MB/s writes over PCIe 4.0 x4. The same speed as its full-size sibling, so the smaller size costs you nothing in performance.

Where it falls short

Expect to pay more than for the 2280 model; short drives always come with a surcharge. The swap also takes some prep: clone your system with a USB enclosure before you open the handheld, which is far faster than reinstalling from scratch.

Look elsewhere if

Your machine takes a standard drive: the Crucial P310 2TB in M.2 2280 gives you the same 7100 MB/s reads and 2 TB for less. If the drive is for a PS5, the Optimus GX PRO 850X with heatsink (formerly WD_BLACK SN850X) comes with the heatsink already fitted.

We cover handheld upgrades and how much space you really need in our best gaming SSD guide, and the rest of the drives are in the SSD storage category.