The Samsung 990 Pro and 9100 Pro are currently only about $10 apart in price. I'm building a gaming-focused PC with a Gigabyte X870 motherboard, so I have access to PCIe 5.0 storage. Is the 9100 Pro worth choosing for the small price difference, and will the motherboard's built-in heatsink be enough to keep it from overheating?
4 Answers
For gaming, you probably won’t notice a meaningful difference. Game loading and installation performance are usually very similar, and even a good PCIe 3.0 SSD can perform nearly the same in many games. If the $10 matters, keeping the money is perfectly reasonable.
Before choosing between those two, check other brands and models. A Sabrent Rocket 5 may offer similar PCIe 5.0 performance for less, while Samsung’s 990 Evo Plus could be a better value than the 990 Pro for most gaming systems. The 9100 Pro is faster on paper, but gaming rarely benefits much from that extra speed.
I’d take the 9100 Pro at only $10 more, especially since you have a compatible PCIe 5.0 motherboard. The board’s heatsink should handle it, and the small premium makes the newer drive an easy choice if the prices are otherwise comparable.
Since your X870 board has a PCIe 5.0 slot, I’d probably spend the extra $10 on the 9100 Pro. Its heatsink should be adequately covered by the motherboard’s M.2 heatsink, assuming the case has reasonable airflow.
That’s reassuring. I’ll make sure the M.2 heatsink is installed properly and that the case has decent airflow.