Samsung is finally stepping into the PCIe Gen 5 SSD market with the upcoming Samsung 9100 Pro series, set to launch in March 2025. While competitors like Seagate and Crucial have been shipping Gen 5 SSDs for nearly two years, Samsung has taken its time to bring a consumer-ready NVMe 2.0 SSD to market.
Blazing Speeds & Configurations
At launch, the Samsung 9100 Pro will be available in 1TB ($199.99), 2TB ($299.99), and 4TB ($549.99) variants in an M.2 form factor, with or without an integrated heatsink. Even more exciting is the planned 8TB model, a first for Samsung NVMe SSDs, expected in the second half of 2025.
Performance-wise, the 9100 Pro is set to double the speeds of its predecessor, the Samsung 980 Pro (PCIe Gen 4). It boasts random read and write speeds of 2,200K and 2,600K IOPS, far exceeding previous generations. Meanwhile, sequential read and write speeds hit an impressive 14.8GBps and 13.4GBps, respectively—2–3GBps faster than many early PCIe Gen 5 SSDs like the Seagate Firecuda 540 and Crucial T700.
What Does This Mean for Users?
For everyday gaming, early benchmarks suggest PCIe Gen 5 SSDs haven’t shown massive improvements over Gen 4 SSDs. However, professionals dealing with large datasets, video editing, or high-speed file transfers will likely see noticeable gains. Samsung’s V-NAND TLC V8 technology and a custom-built controller ensure top-tier endurance and efficiency.
Future-Proofing Your Storage
While PCIe Gen 6 is already on the horizon, the Samsung 9100 Pro delivers some of the fastest SSD speeds available today. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your high-performance PC or future-proof your storage, this new entry from Samsung is shaping up to be one of the most compelling PCIe Gen 5 SSDs yet.
