(
).
Samsung’s new Solid-state drives (SSDs), 9100 PRO Series include the first 8TB NVMe consumer SSD from the company. The latest models are based on the PCIe 5.0 standard. This is a very fast standard that, unless you train AI for a living, will be overkill for most PC users.
Samsung’s 9100 PRO series provides up to twice the storage capacity of its predecessor line, the 990 PRO. It will be available in 1TB, 4TB, and 2TB models. The 8TB models won’t be available until later this year. Each tier comes in models with or without a heatsink. (Whether you need one depends on whether your motherboard has one for NVMe drive).
According to the company, the 9100 PRO SSDs can achieve sequential read speeds up to 14,800MB/s and sequential writing speeds up to 13,400MB/s. Their random read speeds can reach 2,200K (input-outputs per second) and their random write speeds can reach 2,600K. The company claims that the 9100 PRO line is up to 49 percent more energy-efficient than its 990 PRO counterparts and has a profile as thin as 0.35 inches (8.9mm).
However, as Engadget’s Igor Bonifacic explained in our SSD buying guide: very few real-world applications require such speeds. Think of people training large-scale AI algorithms and the like. PCIe 4.0 drives are already far superior to what gamers and other consumers need. They cost half as much.
In March, the first 9100 PRO HDDs will be available: 1TB ($200), 4TB ($550), and 2TB ($300). Heatsink-equipped variants add $20 to these prices. Samsung has not announced pricing for the 8TB tier. It will arrive in the second half of this year.
