Review Samsung 9100 Pro SSD for the Pro

Aad Munsterman and Rob Coenraads

SSDs are available in all shapes, sizes and prices, but when do you use certain SSDs or what do you need for what? For example, market leader Samsung regularly releases new SSDs, such as the Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD up to 4 TB with PCIE 4.0 and the Samsung T5 EVO 8 TB Portable SSD. Now Samsung comes with the 9100 Pro SSD that excels in speed, but is not intended for everyone. According to Samsung, this SSD is intended for both consumers and professional designers/content creators and you use a lot of content created by AI. This SSD must also be very suitable for gamers thanks to the good performance and high storage capacities of the 9100 Pro and also if you want to use them for (HI-res) video editing. Read in this review if that is the case, where we first elaborate on technology.

What speeds at PCIE 4.0 and 5?
As mentioned, there are many different types of SSDs that replace (have) the traditional hard drives in computers. These faster SSDs, for example, ensure that your computer starts up much faster and works (eg with video editing) and that ‘heavy’ games are loaded much faster. An SSD is on the motherboard in a so-called PCIe slot; PCIE stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect Express And is a standard for connecting fast components. In the consumer environment we see this in the form of graphic maps via PCI Express-Slots and NVME-SSDs via M.2 slots. PCIE 5.0 is the fifth generation PCI Express Standard and doubles the data transfer speed of PCIE 4.0 for an equal number of data, which makes it very suitable for demanding applications. To take full advantage of the performance of PCIE 5.0 SSDs, it is essential that all system components, such as processor and memory, are well matched. Recent computers (can) have PCIE 4 and there are also computers that now have motherboards with PCIE 5.0. Unfortunately, not all hardware in your computer PCIE 5.0 supports, luckily the Intel Core processors from the 12th generation and AMD Ryzen 7000s do that.
Now in theory with PCIE 5.0 you can transport no less than 64 GB/s of data in terms of speed, but then you have to use all 16 so -called so -called Lanesin Dutch jobs. With PCIE 4 you in theory get half of this speed. I also consciously write in theory, because many SSDs only work with a limited number of lanes. For example, the Samsung 990 EVO Plus tested by us works with both PCIE 4.0 X4 and PCIE 5.0 X2, with the number behind the X Lanes stands. With PCIE 4.0 with 32 GB/s, 4 lanes are used so with the result 32 GB/s times 4/16 is 8 GB/s, while the higher 64 GB/s gives you the same speed with PCIE 5.0 x2 because only 2 lanes.

Samsung 9100 Pro
However, the Samsung 9100 Pro provides higher speeds, because this SSD has PCIE 5.0 X4 or 64 GB/s times 4/16 is 16 GB/s. And this is in theory again, because in practice this speed is not achieved. Samsung does indicate that when reading 14.8 GB/s and 13.4 GB/s can be achieved during sequential reading. The 9100 Pro is a so -called 80mm m.2 pcie 5×4 SSD, available in capacities of 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB and can be supplied with or without a cooling body (heatsink). An 8TB variant is expected in the third quarter of 2025. The 9100 Pro is compatible with older PCIE versions if you want to place this SSD in a device that has it. Logically, the performance will be lower.
The 9100 Pro uses the advanced eighth generation V-NAND technology and the powerful Presto controller. In combination with a 4-lane PCIE 5.0 interface, this SSD therefore delivers sequential transfer speeds up to 14,800 MB/s (reading) and 13,400 MB/s (writing). This is twice faster than its predecessor, the 990 Pro that we have tested before. The random reading and writing speeds are 2,200k and 2,600k IOps respectively. In addition, Turbowrite 2.0 technology, in combination with a dynamic SLC buffer, significantly increases the performance of reading and writing tasks.
Higher transfer speeds result in more heat. However, thanks to the new controller and adapted firmware, heat development is effectively controlled. Yet the 9100 Pro uses more energy than the 990 Pro. For optimum performance, internal cooling is essential to prevent Throttling (switching to lower speeds).
The 9100 Pro is available with an integrated heat sink for systems that offer sufficient space for this. Take into account the dimensions, width (22.15 and 25 mm) and height (2.38 and 8.88 mm) of the SSDs differ. The MTBF (Mean Time Failure) is 1.5 million hours and the TBW (Total bytes Written) is 600, 1200 and 2400TB respectively for the 1, 2 and 4TB models. The warranty is 5 years if the maximum TBW has been reached

Test and conclusion
During our tests with the 4TB 9100 Pro-SSD in a high-end workstation we reached impressive sequential transfer speeds of 14.238 MB/s (reading) and 13.984 MB/s (writing). The random reading and writing speeds were also of a high level. The 9100 Pro SSD therefore performs better than the competitors!
The practical added value of this SSD is mainly reflected in data-intensive tasks, such as AI modeling and high-res video editing, where large amounts of data are processed. However, a PCIE 4.0 SSD often offers sufficient performance for standard office applications. This also applies, for example, to the PlayStation 5 (Pro) that has PCIE 4. An important point of attention is the heat development with intensive use, for which adequate cooling is essential to maintain performance.

Samsung 9100 Pro SSD
Suggested retail prices: € 199.99 (1 TB), € 299.99 (2 TB) and € 549.99 (4 TB); With Heatsink + € 20

Advocate
+ Ultimate reading and writing speeds
+ Better heat control and cooling options

Negatives
– Higher price than PCIE 4.0 alternatives
– requires possible extra cooling