Compare Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB and Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB: prices, speeds, $/TB. Which to buy in July 2026? Full spec breakdown.
Both run on Gen 5 hardware but at different capacities: 1 TB for the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB versus 2 TB for the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB. Whether the larger drive's $/TB advantage justifies the higher upfront cost depends on how much you actually need.
Hardware-wise, the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB runs on the proprietary Samsung Presto silicon found only in the 9100 PRO line. The Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB pairs Samsung's Piccolo — a DRAM-less controller with flexible PCIe generation support.
Price separates these two meaningfully. The Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB costs $184.50/TB versus $249.00/TB for the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB — a 26% premium that needs justification in real benchmarks, not just spec-sheet bragging.
In the read department, the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB leads by roughly 7 GB/s. The difference is more academic than practical for typical use, but it does matter for video editors moving multi-GB project files.
Write performance separates them too. The Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB sustains 13,400 MB/s writes versus 6,300 MB/s for the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB — a real advantage for video editors and anyone doing heavy file operations.
The Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB carries a dedicated DRAM chip for FTL (Flash Translation Layer) mapping; the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB relies on HMB (Host Memory Buffer), borrowing 64 MB from system RAM. The practical gap shows up only under sustained random write loads.
Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB earns higher TBW ratings (1,200 vs 600 TBW) — relevant for sustained write workloads, irrelevant for everything else.
If this purchase is for a PS5 storage expansion, the comparison flattens — Sony's PCIe Gen 4 controller normalizes both Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB and Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB to roughly equal in-game load times. The cheaper drive is the smart pick. For content creators routinely rendering 4K or 8K video, the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB's 13,400 MB/s sustained write is the deciding factor — multi-GB project files land noticeably faster than on the alternative. Note for handheld gamers: M.2 2280 is the desktop/laptop standard. Steam Deck and the ROG Ally line need 2230 drives — neither Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB nor Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB fits without modification.
Market context: the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB ranks #4 of 6 Gen 5 1 TB drives we track by $/TB, while the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB ranks #4 of 11 Gen 5 2 TB drives. Neither is a value leader right now — if $/TB is your priority, check the cheaper alternatives below before committing.
Pick the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB if you value the lower retail price ($249 vs $369), meaningfully faster reads (14,700 MB/s), higher sustained writes (13,400 MB/s), and a dedicated DRAM cache chip. Among consumer SSD makers, Samsung's PRO series consistently scores highest on long-term reliability surveys (Backblaze, Puget Systems Q1 2026 data).
Pick the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB if you value better $/TB economics ($184.50/TB), and a higher TBW endurance rating (1,200 TBW). Samsung designed the 990 EVO Plus around the Piccolo controller's dual-PCIe support — a hedge against both Gen 4 holdouts and Gen 5 early adopters.