There's no question that two brands represent the gold standard of SSDs: WD (Western Digital) and Samsung. These drives are reliable, they're fast, and perhaps most importantly, they're not hard to find at a reasonable price point. Day 1 of the Amazon Prime Day sale saw some excellent deals on Samsung's current generation 2280 M.2 solid state drives, including its new 9100 Pro series of PCIe Gen 5 SSDs. Now that we're into day 2, WD has thrown its hat into the ring. Prices have dropped on its two newest models, including what is considered by many to be the fastest SSD ever.
Amazon Prime Day Deals on WD SSDs
If there is any other SSD brand that garners the same reputation as Samsung, it's Western Digital. The WD Black SN7100 and Black SN8100 are the two latest models from Western Digital. The WD Black SN7100 is a direct competitor to the Samsung 990 Evo Plus. This is a DRAM-less PCI-e Gen 4 SSD with sequential transfer speeds of up to 7,250MB/s read and 6,900MB/s write and an equally low Prime Day price tag to boot. The WD Black SN8100 is likewise a direct competitor to the Samsung SN9100 Pro. In fact, several reviewers including The SSD Review, StorageReview, and Tom's Hardware describe this SSD as "the fastest ever tested," "the pinnacle of SSD design," and "the most well-rounded Gen5 drive". This is a PCI-e Gen 5 SSD with blistering sequential speeds of up to 14,900MB/s read and 14,000MB/s write.
Amazon Prime Day Deals on Samsung SSDs
The Samsung 990 Evo Plus is an excellent drive for both your gaming PC and your PlayStation 5 console. It exceeds Sony's minimim speed recommendation for the PS5, boasting sequential speeds of up to 7,250 read and 6,300MB/s write. This is a much faster drive than the 990 Evo non-Pro but not quite as fast as the 990 Pro. The main difference between this drive and the more expensive 990 Pro is that this is a DRAM-less drive. For PS5 performance, it makes no difference. For gaming PCs, the 990 Evo Plus supports HMB (host memory buffer), which makes up for the lack of DRAM by using an inconsequential amount of RAM from your system memory. Gamers will not notice any difference between the two.
Samsung 990 Pro SSD Deals for Prime Day
Among PCIe 4 solid state drives, the Samsung 990 Pro is widely considered the fastest SSD on the market. It boasts blazing sequential speeds of 7,450MB/s read and 6,900MB/s write and random speeds of 1400K/1550K IOPS. Unlike most other SSDs, the components are manufactured in-house. The 990 Pro utilizes the new Samsung Pascal controller and 7th gen TLC NAND flash chips. Unlike the 990 Evo Plus, the 990 Pro has a built-in DRAM cache, so it doesn't need to rely on HMB or system memory for buffering. As mentioned above, PS5 gamers and most PC users won't actually notice any performance difference upgrading to this drive. However, the 990 Pro is legitimately faster, and for people who need maximum bandwidth from a PCIe 4 drive, there's nothing out there that's better.
Samsung 9100 Pro SSD Deals for Prime Day
Welcome to the new era of SSDs. The Samsung 9100 Pro is a PCIe 5 drive with legitimate PCIe 5 speeds. This SSD is capable of blistering sequential speeds of up to 14,800MB/s and random speeds of up to 2,600 IOPS. That's literally twice as fast as the Samsung 990 Pro. I rarely see a 4TB PCIe 5 SSD with these kinds of speeds drop below the $400 price point. On the other hand, unless you know what you're doing, I'd venture that you'd be wasting your money going with one of these drives instead of the 990 Pro or 990 Evo Plus. This kind of performance isn't utilized very often in regular day-to-day scenarios for most users, including heavy gamers, and getting this would really just be a flex. Don't even think about adding it to your PS5 console either unless you like throwing away your money.
Are these SSDs a good fit for the PlayStation 5?
Either the Samsung 990 Evo Plus or 990 Pro would make excellent storage expansion options for your PS5 console. They exceed Sony's minimim speed recommendation for the PS5 and are the proper (2280) size. Performance-wise you won't notice any difference going with either, so budget conscious users should opt for the Evo Plus. However, the Evo Plus does not include a pre-attached heatsink, so you'll have to pick one up for under $10 and install it yourself for peace of mind. The 990 Pro is a bit pricier, but at least it has a pre-attached heatsink so it is drop-in ready.
More Prime Day Deals on PS5 SSDs
Looking for more options? Check out our favorite PS5 SSDs for the PS5 console.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
