Compare all 9 NVMe Gen 5 SSDs by price per TB. Cheapest: Crucial T710 2TB at $90.00/TB. Samsung 9100 Pro, Crucial T710, WD Black SN8100 compared. Is Gen 5 worth the premium? Updated March 2026.
Cheapest Gen 5 NVMe: Crucial T710 2TB — $179.99 ($90.00/TB)
Best value 2TB Gen 5: Crucial T710 2TB — $179.99 ($90.00/TB, 14,900 MB/s)
Fastest overall: WD Black SN8100 — 14,900 MB/s read, 14,000 MB/s write
| $/TB | $/GB | Price | Capacity | Interface | Gen | Read | Write | NAND | Warranty | Cond. | Product |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $90.00BEST | $0.090 | $179.99 | 2 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 5 | 14,900 MB/s | 13,800 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Crucial T710 2TB |
| $105.00 | $0.105 | $209.99 | 2 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 5 | 14,900 MB/s | 14,000 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Black SN8100 2TB |
| $117.50 | $0.117 | $469.99 | 4 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 5 | 14,900 MB/s | 13,800 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Crucial T710 4TB |
| $125.00 | $0.125 | $249.99 | 2 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 5 | 14,800 MB/s | 13,000 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Samsung 9100 Pro 2TB |
| $133.75 | $0.134 | $1069.99 | 8 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 5 | 14,800 MB/s | 13,000 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Samsung 9100 Pro 8TB |
| $150.00 | $0.150 | $599.99 | 4 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 5 | 14,800 MB/s | 13,000 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Samsung 9100 Pro 4TB |
| $159.99 | $0.160 | $159.99 | 1 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 5 | 14,500 MB/s | 11,000 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Black SN8100 1TB |
| $197.99 | $0.198 | $197.99 | 1 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 5 | 14,900 MB/s | 12,000 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Crucial T710 1TB |
| $229.99 | $0.230 | $229.99 | 1 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 5 | 14,800 MB/s | 12,000 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Samsung 9100 Pro 1TB |
PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSDs deliver up to 14,900 MB/s sequential reads — roughly double Gen 4's 7,000 MB/s ceiling and 40x faster than SATA SSDs. In March 2026, there are 9 Gen 5 consumer drives available from three manufacturers: Samsung (9100 Pro), Crucial/Micron (T710), and Western Digital (SN8100). Prices start at $90.00/TB — a significant premium over Gen 4, which starts at $60/TB for 2TB drives.
Crucial T710 — available in 1TB ($197.99), 2TB ($179.99), and 4TB ($469.99). Uses the Phison PS5026-E26 controller paired with Micron's 232-layer TLC NAND. The 2TB model is the value leader at $90/TB. Sequential specs: 14,900 MB/s read, 13,800 MB/s write. Random IOPS: up to 1,500K read / 1,400K write. The T710 runs cooler than some competitors thanks to its efficient power management — Tom's Hardware measured 62°C sustained load with a basic heatsink.
WD Black SN8100 — 1TB ($159.99) and 2TB ($209.99). WD's in-house controller delivers the fastest write speeds in the Gen 5 category: 14,900 MB/s read, 14,000 MB/s write. The 1TB model at $159.99 is the cheapest Gen 5 SSD overall — making it the entry point for Gen 5 adoption. 5-year warranty, 1,200 TBW at 2TB.
Samsung 9100 Pro — the premium and most comprehensive lineup: 1TB ($229.99), 2TB ($249.99), 4TB ($599.99), and 8TB ($1,069.99). Samsung's in-house "Pablo" controller and 200+ layer V-NAND deliver 14,800 MB/s read, 13,000 MB/s write. The 9100 Pro is the only Gen 5 drive available up to 8TB — making it the only choice for single-drive maximum capacity. Samsung's Magician software provides detailed health monitoring, firmware updates, and performance optimization.
On paper, Gen 5 doubles Gen 4's sequential bandwidth. In practice, the benefits depend heavily on workload. AnandTech and TechPowerUp benchmarks consistently show:
Gaming: Gen 5 shows 0-5% improvement in game load times over Gen 4. Games are primarily limited by random 4K read performance and decompression speed, not sequential bandwidth. Even with DirectStorage, which can leverage NVMe bandwidth for GPU texture streaming, adoption remains limited in March 2026 — fewer than 10 major titles support it.
Boot and app launch: Negligible difference. Windows boot, Chrome launch, and Office startup are bottlenecked by CPU and software initialization, not storage speed. Both Gen 4 and Gen 5 feel "instant."
File transfers: This is where Gen 5 shines. Copying a 100GB video file takes ~7 seconds on Gen 5 vs ~14 seconds on Gen 4. For professional workflows involving regular multi-gigabyte file moves, Gen 5 saves measurable time. Copying between two Gen 5 drives is even faster.
Content creation: Video editors working with 4K/8K ProRes RAW or RED footage see genuine benefits. Timeline scrubbing is smoother, export times are shorter, and multi-stream playback is more stable. Photographers working with large RAW catalogs (50-100MP images) also benefit from faster library browsing.
Gen 5 NVMe SSDs require a motherboard with a PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot. Compatible platforms as of March 2026 include Intel 14th Gen (Raptor Lake Refresh) with Z790 boards, Intel Core Ultra with Z890 boards, and AMD Ryzen 7000/9000 series with X670E, X870E, or B650E chipsets. Not all M.2 slots on compatible boards support Gen 5 — typically only the primary M.2 slot connected directly to the CPU. Secondary slots often run at Gen 4 speeds. Check your specific motherboard's M.2 specifications before purchasing.
Gen 5 drives consume significantly more power than Gen 4 — 7-11W under sustained load versus 3-6W. This translates directly to heat. Without a heatsink, Gen 5 SSDs will thermal throttle during sustained writes, potentially dropping to Gen 4 or even Gen 3 speeds. A basic aluminum M.2 heatsink ($8-15) prevents throttling in most cases. Motherboard-integrated heatsinks (standard on most 2023+ boards) are sufficient. Avoid massive tower-style SSD coolers — they're unnecessary and can interfere with GPU clearance.
Yes, if: You're a professional video editor working daily with multi-stream 4K/8K footage. You're a data scientist frequently moving 50GB+ datasets between storage and compute. You're building a new high-end workstation and want maximum future-proofing. You're an enthusiast who values bleeding-edge specs.
No, if: You primarily game — a 2TB Gen 4 drive at $120 delivers 95%+ of Gen 5's gaming performance at 33-50% lower cost. You're on a budget — Gen 4 offers dramatically better value per TB. Your motherboard doesn't have a Gen 5 M.2 slot — Gen 5 drives work in Gen 4 slots but run at Gen 4 speeds, wasting the premium you paid.