Is the Samsung 9100 Pro worth $10 more than the 990 Pro for a gaming PC?
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MellowCedar42
The Samsung 990 Pro and 9100 Pro are currently only about $10 apart in price. I'm building a primarily gaming-focused PC with a Gigabyte X870 motherboard, so I'll have access to a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot. Is upgrading to the 9100 Pro worthwhile, or would the 990 Pro perform essentially the same for gaming? I'm also wondering whether the motherboard's built-in M.2 heatsink will be enough to keep the 9100 Pro from overheating.
Answers
If the prices really are only $10 apart, I’d lean toward the 9100 Pro, especially since your board supports PCIe 5.0. Just don’t expect a noticeable improvement in ordinary game loading compared with the 990 Pro.
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For gaming, you probably won’t notice a meaningful difference. Game loading and Steam unpacking times are very similar between these drives, and even a good PCIe 3.0 SSD is often close in real-world gaming performance. I’d only choose the 9100 Pro if the extra $10 is insignificant to you or you want PCIe 5.0 for future workloads.
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Before choosing either Samsung drive, check current pricing on other PCIe 5.0 models. Drives such as the Sabrent Rocket 5 may offer similar performance for less, while a Samsung 990 Evo Plus could provide practically identical gaming performance to the 990 Pro at a lower price.
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Since you have a PCIe 5.0 slot, spending the extra $10 on the 9100 Pro seems reasonable. The X870 motherboard’s M.2 heatsink should handle it fine as long as the case has decent airflow.
MellowCedar42: That’s helpful. My main concern was whether the faster drive would run too hot, but it sounds like the motherboard heatsink should be sufficient.
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MellowCedar42: Thanks, I’ll compare the Evo Plus and Rocket 5 as well instead of automatically going with one of these two.