I couldn't care less about PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs until I tried this one — finally down to a reasonable price for Amazon Prime Day

WD_BLACK SN8100 PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD held in hand with an orange background
The WD_BLACK SN8100 PCIe Gen 5 NVMe solid-state drive offers 2TB of storage with read speeds up to 14,200MB/s, and it's a beast. (Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

If you're anything like me, you probably don't enjoy spending money on PC upgrades, but sometimes, it's less of a luxury and more of a necessity. Most SSDs I've used over the years, both PCIe Gen 3 and 4, never actually died, but one that did had me feeling more conscious of my storage.

I was firmly in the "PCIe 4.0 is fast enough" camp when WD_BLACK offered its Gen 5 SN8100 NVMe SSD, but sure enough, it almost doubled the performance of the Gen 4 Samsung 990 PRO acting as my Windows 11 boot drive.

It was, however, a little too expensive at launch, so anyone looking for Amazon Prime Day PC gaming deals should consider it now that it's dropped to under $210 at Amazon with a Prime membership. 2TB is plenty, too, or at least it always felt that way.. not sure if 2TB is becoming the new normal(?)

Alienware AW2723DF
PCIe 5.0
Save 34%
WD_BLACK SN8100 2TB NVMe SSD: was $319.99 now $209.98 at Amazon

"Reads twice as fast as my Samsung 990 Pro, and it proves better value in one area."

Windows Central review ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

✅ Great for: Ultra-future-proofed desktop gaming rigs doubling as video editing suites.

❌ Avoid if: You don't absolutely need the faster read/write speeds.

👉 See at: Amazon.com

💰 Price check: $269.99 at Newegg

I've relied on using Samsung's PCIe 4.0 990 PRO SSDs as primary boot drives in Windows 11 for a while, but it'll soon be time to upgrade. (Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

If you're building (or recently built) a gaming desktop PC with a PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD slot, you probably entertained the idea of picking up a compatible storage drive before noticing how hilariously expensive they are. I know I did, but the proof of how fast these WD_BLACK SN8100 drives can be is almost completely justified by a better "dollar per MB/s" value than my PCIe Gen 4 champion, the Samsung 990 PRO.

WD_BLACK SN8100 PCIe 5.0 2TB vs. Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 1TB SSD in CrystalDiskMark. (Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

Yes, that's 14MB per second. It's a significant jump with the new PCIe generation, but it doesn't come without a trade-off. When the WD_BLACK SN8100 is under stress, say, when installing a game, it gets hot.

I know WD_BLACK says you can, but do not use this SSD without a heatsink. That's my tip.

Plenty of motherboards come with an SSD heatsink these days, but if you haven't finalized your component choices yet, make sure you choose one that does. It's not like it won't work at all, but keeping the temperatures under control ensures that the SN8100 doesn't have to throttle its speeds to maintain healthy operation.

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Specification

WD_BLACK SN8100

Capacity

2TB

Interface

PCIe 5.0 x4, NVMe 2,0

Sequential read

Up to 14,900 MB/s

Sequential write

Up to 14,000 MB/s

Form factor

M.2 2280

Oh hey, my motherboard is on sale, too

I'll never be a fan of pins in the AM5 socket, but the cover keeps them protected as usual. (Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

Yep, if you wanted to be a complete copycat and just build the same PC as mine, you could spring for the previously reviewed ASUS ROG STRIX B650-A GAMING WIFI while it's enjoying a similar discount for Amazon Prime Day.

ASUS ROG STRIX B650-A GAMING WIFI
Perfect for Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Save 25%
ASUS ROG STRIX B650-A GAMING WIFI: was $219.99 now $165 at Amazon

"An extremely tempting pick without splurging into the ultra-high-end of X670 boards.

Windows Central review ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

✅ Great for: AM5 socket CPUs, including Ryzen 7 7800X3D and 9800X3D gaming processors.

❌ Avoid if: You don't need multiple NVMe drives or are sticking to mid-range parts.

👉 See at: Amazon.com

💰 Price check: $179.99 at Newegg

Originally, I used it to test the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and, later, to run its successor, the 9800X3D, and it's still going strong. The SSD heatsink has been through a lot, too, as I keep swapping it out to change M.2 drives for data transfer and testing, but it keeps the temperatures lower, and I've never suffered any noticeable data slowdowns.

Ben Wilson
Senior Editor

Ben is a Senior Editor at Windows Central, covering everything related to technology hardware and software. He regularly goes hands-on with the latest Windows laptops, components inside custom gaming desktops, and any accessory compatible with PC and Xbox. His lifelong obsession with dismantling gadgets to see how they work led him to pursue a career in tech-centric journalism after a decade of experience in electronics retail and tech support.

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