Compare Samsung 990 PRO 2TB and WD_BLACK SN7100 2TB: prices, speeds, $/TB. Which to buy in July 2026? Full spec breakdown.
Both the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB and WD_BLACK SN7100 2TB sit in the Gen 4 category at 2 TB, so the matchup turns on controller efficiency, cache topology, and current pricing rather than raw class differences.
Hardware-wise, the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB runs on Samsung's 8nm Pascal controller, the silicon powering the 990 PRO line. The WD_BLACK SN7100 2TB pairs SanDisk's A101 controller, used in newer WD_BLACK SKUs after the SanDisk spinoff.
Price separates these two meaningfully. The WD_BLACK SN7100 2TB costs $145.00/TB versus $194.00/TB for the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB — a 25% premium that needs justification in real benchmarks, not just spec-sheet bragging.
The Samsung 990 PRO 2TB carries a dedicated DRAM chip for FTL (Flash Translation Layer) mapping; the WD_BLACK SN7100 2TB relies on HMB (Host Memory Buffer), borrowing 64 MB from system RAM. The practical gap shows up only under sustained random write loads.
If this purchase is for a PS5 storage expansion, the comparison flattens — Sony's PCIe Gen 4 controller normalizes both Samsung 990 PRO 2TB and WD_BLACK SN7100 2TB to roughly equal in-game load times. The cheaper drive is the smart pick. 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.
How do these two fit the wider Gen 4 2 TB field? Out of 11 tracked drives, the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB is #10 on $/TB and the WD_BLACK SN7100 2TB is #3. That puts at least one of them near the top of the value table — a reasonable head-to-head to be choosing from.
As of July 27, 2026, these tracked drives undercut both the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB and WD_BLACK SN7100 2TB on $/TB:
Pick the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB if you value a dedicated DRAM cache chip. Samsung's PRO line has the longest track record for firmware reliability — over a decade of consumer SSDs with global RMA support.
Pick the WD_BLACK SN7100 2TB if you value the lower retail price ($290 vs $388), and better $/TB economics ($145.00/TB).