2025 is an amazing year with many new SSDs released in the Gen 5.0 category. We saw many amazing releases like Crucial T705, T710, Kingston Fury Renegade G5, Micron 4600, Samsung 9100, and now the latest Sandisk WD Black SN8100. We have done some SSD comparisons for the Gen 5.0 category, and today we are here with two of the most popular ones in the category. We are going to compare the Samsung 9100 Pro and the SanDisk WD Black SN8100.
The SanDisk WD Black SN8100 has taken the SSD world by storm with its huge performance spikes compared to any other SSD tested in the consumer setups. Previously, the Micron 4600 was considered the overall fastest SSD, but now the SN8100 has taken its place. From the 4th generation, when we compare the WD Black SN850X and Samsung 990 Pro, we said that both are competitor drives, but we can’t say it now confidently in this Gen 5.0 competition because the SN8100 has just gone to another level.
We are going to compare the benchmark scores along with the theoretical benchmarks. We will surely conclude because both drives have valid offerings and serve a specific set of audiences. So, if you are confused between these two drives, I hope I’ll be able to help you make the final decision. I’ll be commenting on all the benchmark scores. So, if you are just interested in the benchmark comparison, you can scroll down to the second section. Otherwise, let’s start with a comparison of theoretical specifications.
Theoretical Specification
| Specification | Samsung 9100 Pro | WD Black SN8100 |
|---|---|---|
| PCIe Generation/NVMe Version | PCIe Gen 5.0 x4/ NVMe 2.0 | PCIe Gen 5.0 x4/ NVMe 2.0 |
| Release Date | Feb 27th 2024 | Feb 20th, 2024 |
| Capacities | 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB | 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB |
| NAND Flash | Samsung’s V8 V-NAND TLC (236-layer) | Kioxia BiCS8 TLC (218-layer) |
| Sequential Read Speed | 1TB: 14,700 MB/s 2TB: 14,700 MB/s 4TB: 14,800 MB/s 8TB: 14,800 MB/s | 1TB: 14,900 MB/s 2TB: 14,900 MB/s 4TB: 14,900 MB/s |
| Sequential Write Speed | 1TB: 13,300 MB/s 2TB: 13,400 MB/s 4TB: 13,400 MB/s 8TB: 13,400 MB/s | 1TB: 11,000 MB/s 2TB: 14,000 MB/s 4TB: 14,000 MB/s |
| Random Read Speed | 1TB: 1,850K IOPS 2TB: 1,850K IOPS 4TB: 2,200K IOPS 8TB: 2,200K IOPS | 1TB: 1,600K IOPS 2TB: 2,300K IOPS 4TB: 2,300K IOPS |
| Random Write Speed | 1TB: 2,600K IOPS 2TB: 2,600K IOPS 4TB: 2,600K IOPS 8TB: 2,600K IOPS | 1TB: 2,400K IOPS 2TB: 2,400K IOPS 4TB: 2,400K IOPS |
| DRAM | LPDDR4X | DDR4 |
| Controller | Samsung Presto (S4LY027) | Silicon Motion SM2508 |
Benchmark Scores Comparison
All the benchmark scores are for the 2TB variants of both drives. These scores are taken from the trusted third-party sites. However, I am fully responsible for the accuracy of the comparison scores. The resources are linked in the article below.
PCMark10 Full Storage Benchmark
PCMark 10 Full Storage benchmark simulates the real-world scenarios on the drive as a primary storage drive. It simulates booting from an operating system, loading applications, and other things that are performed on the primary OS drive.
The SN8100 offers around 13% higher PCMark 10 score in the Full Drive benchmark. The bandwidth is also higher by around 14.3%. The latency is 4 microseconds lower in the SN8100 than in the 9100 Pro.
While the gains aren’t as dramatic as in the 3DMark test, the SanDisk WD Black SN8100 still provides a clear performance edge over the Samsung 9100 Pro across all key 3DMark storage metrics. This will be particularly helpful when you use your drive as the primary drive for app launching, file transfer, and overall system responsiveness.
3DMark Storage Benchmark
As you can see in the graph above, the WD Black SN8100 has around 27% higher 3DMark score compared to the 9100 Pro. If we look at the bandwidth, the SN8100 again beats the 9100 Pro by around 85% faster speed. The latency of SN8100 is 22 microseconds, while the 9100 Pro lags behind at 28 microseconds. All in all, in real-world gaming scenarios, you can expect better performance from the SN8100.
CrystalDiskMark Sequential
Looking at the Sequential 1MB at QD1, the Samsung 9100 Pro is around 6% faster than the SN8100. In all other tests, the WD Black SN8100 beats the 9100 Pro. The major performance benefits can be seen in the Sequential 1MB Write at QD1, with around 6% higher performance from SN8100. The sequential read and write performance at Queue Depth 8 is almost similar, as you can see in the bar graph comparison above.
CrystalDiskMark Random
At a queue depth of 1, the WD drive achieves 32,847 IOPS for read and 102,580 IOPS for write operations, representing approximately 27% and 18% higher performance than Samsung’s 25,745 and 86,845 IOPS, respectively. At a high queue depth of 256 (QD256), the WD Black SN8100 again leads with 1,877,582 read and 1,899,358 write IOPS, slightly edging out the Samsung 9100 Pro’s 1,852,497 and 1,819,710 IOPS. While the margin at high queue depths is less pronounced (1–4%), the WD drive’s superiority in low-latency, single-threaded tasks makes it particularly appealing for real-world applications that rely on fast responsiveness.
File Transfer Rate
While the 9100 Pro leads slightly when writing a 6.5GB zip file with 5,117 MB/s versus 4,887 MB/s, the WD excels in larger tasks, delivering faster write (2,347 MB/s vs. 2,294 MB/s) and notably higher read speeds (2,889 MB/s vs. 2,582 MB/s) when handling a 50GB file folder. This suggests the SN8100 is better optimized for large file workloads, particularly read-heavy operations.
Power Consumption and Efficiency
In terms of power efficiency, the WD Black SN8100 (2TB) outperforms the Samsung 9100 Pro (2TB) across the board. It delivers higher throughput per watt (686 MB/s vs. 503 MB/s), consumes less power during file transfers (4W vs. 5W), and maintains lower idle (1,410 mW vs. 1,924 mW) and peak power consumption (7.45W vs. 8.41W). These advantages make the WD drive a more energy-efficient choice, especially for systems where thermal and power budgets are critical.
Endurance and TBW
| Feature | Samsung 9100 Pro | WD Black SN8100 |
|---|---|---|
| Endurance (TBW) | 1TB: 600 TBW 2TB: 1200 TBW 4TB: 2400 TBW 8TB: 4800 TBW | 1TB: 600 TBW 2TB: 1200 TBW 4TB: 2400 TBW 8TB: 4800 TBW |
| Warranty | 5 Years | 5 Years |
| DWPD | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| MTBF | Unknown | 1.8 Million Hours |
All the reliability numbers, including warranty, DWPD, and TBW, are exactly the same in both drives.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Samsung 9100 Pro | WD Black SN8100 |
|---|---|---|
| Controller | Samsung’s Presto (S4LY027) | Silicon Motion SM2508 |
| Controller Architecture | ARM 32-bit Cortex-R8 | ARM 32-bit Cortex-R8 + ARM 32-bit Cortex-M0 |
| DRAM Specifications | Samsung’s LPDDR4X DRAM 1TB: 1×1024 MB 2TB: 1×2048 MB 4TB: 1x 4096 MB 8TB: 1x 8192 MB | DDR4 DRAM 1TB: 1×1024 MB 2TB: 1×2048 MB 4TB: 1x 4096 MB |
| SLC Write Cache | 1TB: approx. 114 GB (108 GB Dynamic + 6 GB Static) 2TB: approx. 226 GB (216 GB Dynamic + 10 GB Static) 4TB: approx. 442 GB (432 GB Dynamic + 10 GB Static) 8TB: – | 1TB: approx. – 2TB: approx. 600 GB 4TB: approx. – |
| NAND Flash | Samsung’s V8 TLC V-NAND | Kioxia BiCS8 TLC NAND |
| Topology | 236-Layers | 218-Layers |
| NAND speed | 2400 MT/s | 3600 MT/s |
| Read Time (tR)/Program Time (tProg) | 40 µs/390 µs | 40 µs/unknown |
| Die Read Speed | 1600 MB/s | Unknown |
| Die Write Speed | 164 MB/s | 205 MB/s |
| Encryption | AES-256, TCG Opal | AES-256, TCG Opal |
| Power Loss Protection | No | No |
| SMART/TRIM/PS5 Support | Yes/Yes/Yes | Yes/Yes/Yes |
About the controllers, the Samsung Presto controller is A 5‑core ARM Cortex‑R8 controller built on Samsung’s 5 nm FinFET process, with 8 flash channels at 2,400 MT/s. It is designed in-house with support for 236-layer V8 VNAND. It comes with the integrated LPDDRX DRAM with different sizes for different variants. This controller is used for the first time in the Samsung 9100 Pro.
The Silicon Motion SM2508 controller is a dual-core ARM Cortex-R8 controller that targets efficiency and performance. It is known for its lower power consumption, and the real-world results can be seen above in our benchmarks. The controller is already utilized by popular SSDs like Kingston Fury Renegade G5.
Currently, for the SLC cache, I have data only for the 2TB variant for SN8100, and it is way bigger than the same variant of 9100 Pro. Samsung 9100 Pro has a higher number of NAND layers than the SN8100. But, the better raw performance of SN8100 is also possible because of its higher raw NAND speed and Die read/write speed.
Price
Which one should you choose? Samsung 9100 Pro or WD Black SN8100
If you want the best of the best in terms of Gen 5.0 performance, just go for the Black SN8100. This is unarguably the overall fastest drive in the consumer market. In terms of gaming, raw read/write, and real-world performance, the SN8100 beats the 9100 Pro any day. However, you’ll have to pay a higher amount for it. By the time I am writing this article, the 2TB variant of SN8100 is around 20$ expensive than the 9100 Pro 2TB. So, if you think that the price is justified for the higher performance that you get with the SN8100, you should go for it.
On the other hand, most people would find the SN8100 an overkill. In fact, both these drives are overkill if you are not using them with the latest hardware and for high-end applications. In the real world, most people would not see any performance difference. So, going for the 9100 Pro will give you a little lower performance but will help you save some money. Also, if you are one who prioritizes brands over value, it might also change your decision. So, if I have to choose one of these. I would surely save some money for my graphics card and just go for the 9100 Pro. Again, to get the best of the best, SN8100 is hands down the right option for you.
Resources:
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ssds/sandisk-wd-black-sn8100-2tb-ssd-review
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ssds/samsung-9100-pro-ssd-review/2
