Next to buying RAM, finding a fast, high-capacity NVMe SSD at a reasonable price has been a challenge during RAMageddon. I don’t want to say it’s getting easier, but one of Samsung’s latest SSDs is cheaper than it has sold for since February 2026. That’s something, right? Amazon has the heatsink-less version of the Samsung 9100 Pro with 2TB of storage for $302.99, which is about $100 less than the usual price. Granted, it sold for a low of $169.99 back in October 2025, but it’s a smart purchase right now compared to buying the 1TB model for $250.
The 9100 Pro is Samsung’s first SSD to support PCIe Gen 5, making it a great fit if you have the right motherboard and other parts to get as much speed from it as possible. Its theoretical maximum random read and write speeds are at least twice as fast as the 990 Pro SSD that it replaced. However, it’s good (albeit slower than advertised) in a PCIe Gen 4 setup, as well.
It’ll work fine without a heatsink in a PC or laptop (though, it’s never a bad idea to use one that fits in your system). However, you’ll need to install a heatsink in order to use this in a PlayStation 5, due to potential heat issues that could damage the SSD if used without one. Thankfully, heatsinks are super affordable, and come in a range of designs and price points.