Samsung
Samsung 9100 Pro
$339.99
Released 2025-03
Best Internal Ssds · head-to-head
Samsung 9100 Pro vs WD_Black SN8100
A sourced, side-by-side comparison. WD_Black SN8100 is cheaper at $179.99. Every spec and price links to its source.
Western Digital
WD_Black SN8100
$179.99Cheaper
Released 2025-05
Which is better: the Samsung 9100 Pro or WD_Black SN8100?
The WD_Black SN8100 wins 2 of the 2 specs we compare head to head; the other wins 0. The WD_Black SN8100 is the cheaper at $179.99. The WD_Black SN8100 both leads on specs and costs less — the straightforward pick.
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Key specs, head to head
The numbers that decide it, drawn to scale — longer bar wins, the accent bar is the stronger figure.
Full spec sheet
✓ marks the stronger figure where "more" — or "less", for price and weight — is unambiguously better.
| Spec | Samsung 9100 Pro | WD_Black SN8100 |
|---|---|---|
| US price | $339.99 | $179.99 |
| Brand | Samsung | Western Digital |
| Released | 2025-03 | 2025-05 |
| Capacity options (TB) | 1,2,4,8 | 1, 2, 4, 8 |
| Form factor | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe | PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe |
| Seq read (Mbps) | 14800 | 14900 |
| Seq write (Mbps) | 13400 | 14000 |
| Random read kiops | 2200 | 2300 |
| Random write kiops | 2600 | 2300 |
| Nand type | TLC | TLC |
| Has dram cache | Yes | Yes |
| Endurance tbw | 600 | — |
| Warranty years | 5 | 5 |
Sources — Samsung 9100 Pro: samsung.com (verified 2026-07-11). WD_Black SN8100: sandisk.com (verified 2026-07-11).
What's the difference between the Samsung 9100 Pro and WD_Black SN8100?
Where the two actually differ on the specs we track (5 of 11). Matching specs are omitted.
- Capacity options (TB): Samsung 9100 Pro 1,2,4,8 vs WD_Black SN8100 1, 2, 4, 8
- Seq read (Mbps): Samsung 9100 Pro 14800 vs WD_Black SN8100 14900
- Seq write (Mbps): Samsung 9100 Pro 13400 vs WD_Black SN8100 14000
- Random read kiops: Samsung 9100 Pro 2200 vs WD_Black SN8100 2300
- Random write kiops: Samsung 9100 Pro 2600 vs WD_Black SN8100 2300
What reviewers say
Sourced tester consensus for each — the "what people who used it think" layer, not just specs.
Samsung 9100 Pro
Three whitelisted labs (Tom's Hardware, TechPowerUp, StorageReview) hands-on-tested the Samsung 9100 Pro, Samsung's first PCIe Gen5 consumer SSD, and agree it is among the fastest and most power-efficient consumer Gen5 drives, with record sequential reads of 14.2 GB/s (TechPowerUp) and 14,600 MB/s (StorageReview). Tom's Hardware and TechPowerUp temper the praise: both flag the premium price and frame the drive as a refined last-generation solution rather than revolutionary, and TechPowerUp additionally documents a sharp post-SLC-cache write drop (to 1.3 GB/s) and throttling without a heatsink. StorageReview is the most upbeat, calling its pricing competitive and the drive one of the most capable on the market. HotHardware was excluded as non-whitelisted. Tom's Hardware's page 2/3 benchmark figures (SLC-cache write, post-cache write, temperature) were not present on the fetched review page and were dropped as unverifiable. (3 sourced reviews, 3 lab-tested.)
Praised: Record-setting sequential read; fastest consumer SSD in their tests; Excellent real-world, all-around and gaming performance; Strong power efficiency for a Gen5 drive.
Flagged: Highest / premium price among Gen5 drives; Needs a heatsink; bare drive can throttle under sustained load; Not revolutionary — an evolution of last-gen / best Gen4 tech.
WD_Black SN8100
Three whitelisted labs (Tom's Hardware, StorageReview, PCWorld) benchmarked the 2TB WD_Black SN8100 and rate it among the fastest consumer Gen5 SSDs tested, with class-leading synthetic throughput and top-tier random IOPS plus strong power efficiency. Tom's Hardware and PCWorld flag premium pricing; PCWorld also hit write-speed inconsistency on an older motherboard that vanished on a new test bed. (TechPowerUp's review was dropped because only its intro/spec page was retrievable, leaving no verifiable quotes or measurements.) (3 sourced reviews, 3 lab-tested.)
Praised: Fastest consumer Gen5 SSD tested; record-setting synthetic throughput and top-tier random-read IOPS; Power-efficient and runs cool (peak under 50 degrees C in PCWorld's testing); Excellent all-around real-world performance, including gaming, DirectStorage and AI-model loading.
Flagged: Premium pricing versus Gen4 and rival Gen5 drives; Real-world gains over the best drives are small; overkill for most users; Write-speed inconsistency / severe drops on an older motherboard slot.