Which is better, Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB or Lexar NM790 4TB? July 2026 side-by-side with prices, specs, and verdict.
Cross-generation comparisons reveal whether you're paying for peak speed or sustained value. Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB vs Lexar NM790 4TB at 4 TB is a perfect lens for that question.
Hardware-wise, the Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB runs on Samsung's in-house Presto controller, designed specifically for the 9100 PRO series. The Lexar NM790 4TB pairs MaxioTech's MAP1602 silicon, the default choice for budget Gen 4 drives in 2024-2026.
At a 43% price gap, the Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB needs to be measurably better in your specific use case to justify the spend. For gaming and general PC use, the Lexar NM790 4TB's lower $/TB tilts the value equation decisively in its favor.
Read speeds favor the Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB: 14,800 MB/s versus 7,400 MB/s for the Lexar NM790 4TB, a 50% advantage. Sequential-heavy workloads notice; transactional workloads don't.
The Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB writes about 51% faster (13,400 MB/s vs 6,500 MB/s). Whether that matters depends entirely on what you write to the drive — gameplay capture and large project saves benefit, browsing and gaming do not.
Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB bundles a DRAM cache chip; Lexar NM790 4TB is DRAM-less. This sounds like a big deal but reviewers have been arguing for years about whether it actually matters in consumer use. For most workloads, no.
For PlayStation 5 builds, the console's internal M.2 slot tops out around 5,500 MB/s sustained, so both Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB and Lexar NM790 4TB hit the same wall — pick whichever is cheaper at the moment you buy. Generational difference matters mainly for sequential-heavy workloads. The Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB's 14,800 MB/s read beats Lexar NM790 4TB's 7,400 on paper, though in practice both feel identical loading games. Heavy write workloads — video editing, RAW photo libraries, backup operations — favor the Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB's 13,400 MB/s sustained write speed. Both drives use the 2280 form factor, which is too long for Steam Deck or ROG Ally — you'd need a 2230 variant if either manufacturer offers one, or a dedicated handheld-format drive instead.
Market context: the Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB ranks #5 of 6 Gen 5 4 TB drives we track by $/TB, while the Lexar NM790 4TB ranks #1 of 6 Gen 4 4 TB drives. That puts at least one of them near the top of the value table — a reasonable head-to-head to be choosing from.
At $127.50/TB, the Lexar NM790 4TB is already among the cheapest 4 TB drives we track — nothing in this class undercuts it. See the full $/TB ranking.
Lean toward the Samsung 9100 PRO 4TB when meaningfully faster reads (14,800 MB/s), higher sustained writes (13,400 MB/s), and a dedicated DRAM cache chip top your priority list. Samsung's PRO line has the longest track record for firmware reliability — over a decade of consumer SSDs with global RMA support.
Lean toward the Lexar NM790 4TB when the lower retail price ($510 vs $898), and better $/TB economics ($127.50/TB) top your priority list. Budget-tier drives like the Lexar NM790 4TB have closed the gap with premium NVMes — the MAP1602 controller is genuinely competitive for everyday workloads at half the price.