Weird SSD prices

For quite some time, I’ve been monitoring SSD prices because I need more storage on my home computer. Everybody knows that SSD and memory prices are crazy now. While I need storage, I don’t want to pay for the same device several times more than I paid 2 years ago. So I’m waiting and monitoring.

Typically, I was buying Samsung devices, and this time is not an exception. But I’m not a Samsung fan. Every time I’m doing research, and every single time, I conclude that a slightly higher price is totally worth it.

Their product line looks like this. The 990 EVO family is for budget-oriented users who don’t need much. But it's still a quite capable device. Then there is 990 Pro. This SSD provides very good performance. Pretty much maximum for PCIE Gen 4. And the top of the line is the 9100 Pro that provides extreme performance.

Obviously, everybody would assume that the 990 EVO will be the cheapest one, because it is much slower. The 990 Pro will be more expensive. And finally, the 9100 Pro will be the most expensive SSD. This is very logical. Very logical, but for some reason, it is incorrect.

Let me provide numbers. Here is 990 EVO Plus 2 TB: https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Technology-Intelligent-Turbowrite-MZ-V9S2T0B/dp/B0DHLCRF91
As you can see, I provided the direct link, no affiliate or anything like that. The price is $388.

Then 990 Pro: https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Internal-Expansion-MZ-V9P2T0B-AM

The price is $369.

And finally, 9100 Pro: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DX2DPJZ5

The price is $349.

And it is not only Amazon. The same story on NewEgg and other shops.

Just in case, I did extensive research and the 9100 Pro is better 990 Pro at every test. The 990 Pro is better only in terms of power consumption because it is slower. But the difference is only 2.4 watts in the worst case. Unless you want an SSD that will have no cooling, the 9100 Pro will be clearly a much better purchase.

Pretty much the same picture for the 990 EVO vs 990 Pro, but this time, the power consumption difference is around 1.5 watts in the worst case. To be honest, I didn’t come up with a case where you cannot use 990 Pro but can use 990 EVO. Perhaps a very hot place without any cooling at all.

So for most customers, the 9100 Pro is clearly the winner. It is clearly the king of performance. At least in the Samsung product line. Yet it is the cheapest drive. And for these prices, I simply cannot imagine the case when somebody will decide to buy the 990 EVO.

I will repeat, except for power consumption, 990 Pro is clearly better than 990 EVO, and 9100 Pro is clearly better than 990 Pro in every single characteristic. There is nothing hidden like a longer warranty, better encryption, or anything else.

But there is a much weirder story. There are 2 SSDs: WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB SanDisk Optimus GX PRO 850X 2 TB. The first one you can buy for $349: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7CMZ3QH, and for a similar price at Amazon.

The second one cost $599: https://www.bestbuy.com/product/sandisk-2tb-optimus-gx-pro-850x-pcie-4-0-x4-m-2-2280-nvme-ssd

But it is exactly the same drive. Everything is the same. Just different branding. Moreover, 2 weeks ago, the SanDisk version cost $669.99 while WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB had the same price.

I just don’t understand what’s going on with the market. Why are there such strange prices? But to be honest, when I was buying my CPU, I also got it cheaper than the 5700X tray version. So I got a faster CPU with a boxed cooler, and I also got the Cordless Air Duster that costs at least $30 for free.

Why does the top-of-the-line 9100 Pro cost way less than the much slower 990 EVO? I have no idea. Perhaps companies use some automatic system (AI?) that does not work as intended? I don’t know.

Update Jun 29^th. Looks like it was some kind of sale and the 9100 Pro cost $399 now. But everything else is still the same.

But the conclusion here is to broaden your search when you're buying something. As you can see, very often you can find a better deal that costs less.

I hope it helps someone.