Side-by-side: Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB ($239) vs WD Blue SN5100 1TB ($180). $/TB winner, specs, real-world picks for September 2026.
This is a generational matchup at 1 TB: the older-gen drive offers proven reliability and better $/TB, while the newer-gen sibling brings raw bandwidth that most users never tap.
Hardware-wise, the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB runs on Samsung's Piccolo controller — DRAM-less with PCIe 4.0/5.0 dual-mode support. The WD Blue SN5100 1TB pairs the SanDisk controller.
Prices favor the WD Blue SN5100 1TB by $59.00/TB ($180.00/TB versus $239.00/TB). Not a huge gap, but enough to be the tiebreaker if performance is similar.
For PlayStation 5 builds, the console's internal M.2 slot tops out around 5,500 MB/s sustained, so both Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB and WD Blue SN5100 1TB hit the same wall — pick whichever is cheaper at the moment you buy. Comparing across generations always invites the same question: does the bandwidth gap convert into user-visible improvements? Honest answer for the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB vs WD Blue SN5100 1TB pairing: only for sustained sequential reads of multi-GB files. Heavy write workloads — video editing, RAW photo libraries, backup operations — favor the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB's 6,300 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 990 EVO Plus 1TB ranks #2 of 6 Gen 5 1 TB drives we track by $/TB, while the WD Blue SN5100 1TB ranks #1 of 4 Gen 4 1 TB drives. One of them is genuinely among the cheapest options in its class, so this matchup includes a real value pick.
At $180.00/TB, the WD Blue SN5100 1TB is already among the cheapest 1 TB drives we track — nothing in this class undercuts it. See the full $/TB ranking.
The 990 EVO Plus uniquely supports both PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 5.0 x2 modes — useful flexibility if you might upgrade motherboard generations.
Go with the WD Blue SN5100 1TB for the lower retail price ($180 vs $239), and better $/TB economics ($180.00/TB).