An SSD is required for FireCuda Forge to operate. The SSD is not included with the device and must be purchased separately.
Your SSD must meet the following specification:
- M.2 2280 NVMe SSD
- PCIe Gen3 or higher
- 1TB (FireCuda Forge recognizes only up to 1TB of SSD capacity. Higher capacities do not improve performance.)
- Minimum 2,400/2,000 MB/s read/write
- DRAM cache recommend
| SSD specification | Results |
| PCIe Gen3 | Supported. |
| PCIe Gen4 or later | Supported, but PCIe generations greater than PCIe 3 do not improve performance. |
| 1TB capacity | Recommend for optimal performance. |
| Greater than 1TB | Supported, but FireCuda Forge recognizes only up to 1TB of SSD capacity. Higher capacities do not improve performance. |
| Less than 1TB | Supported, but performance may be reduced. |
| No heatsink | Do not use an SSD with a heatsink. Heat management is provided by the thermal pads included in the box. |
Removing the drive labels on your NVMe is not necessary and may void the warranty on your NVMe. For Seagate drives, this will void your warranty. Placing the thermal pads over the labels will still allow proper heat dissipation.
The table below covers the drives that were officially qualified with FireCuda Forge. While SSDs that meet the required specifications are expected to work, Seagate recommends one of the drives in the table.
| Vendor | Model | Model Number/SKU |
| Samsung | 990 Pro | MZ-V9P1T0B/AM |
| Western Digital/SanDisk Optimus | SN850X/GX Pro 850X | WDS100T2XHE-00BCA0/WDS100T2X0E-00BCA0/SDSP81100TAN-000E0 |
| Western Digital/SanDisk Optimus | SN7100/GX7100 | WDS100T4X0E-00CJA0/SDSP71100TAN-000E0 |
| Seagate | FireCuda 530R | ZP1000GM3A063 |
