It’s time we admit it: SSD prices are bold-faced lies. This year especially, the listed prices of each model changes depending on the retailer, supply, and I guess the movement of stars with each new day. While that’s true enough for 1TB drives, the problem only worsens as you move up the capacity scale. 2TB and 4TB drives can have these laughably high prices that go into the five and sometimes six hundreds. In other words, they’re even harder to keep track of, and for that reason, I usually don’t recommend them very often.
However, Prime Day is bringing me a bit of hope, because one of the best drives I’ve tested is actually seeing a reasonable deal at the moment in 4TB form. The Samsung 990 Pro is probably the pound-for-pound king of the SSD world at the moment, and right now you can get its 4TB model for $299 at Amazon (the retailer says it was $464.99, but its average price at Amazon is actually $339).
For what I deem one of the best SSDs for gaming, that isn’t all that bad. Especially since Prime Day PC deals are yet to officially begin. You get sequential read/write speeds that pretty much tap out what a PCIe Gen 4 M.2 drive is capable of here, and enough space that you won’t need to think about upgrading again for a very long time.
There are a few caveats you should know here. Firstly, while I use this enormous SSD in my PS5, the model in this limited-time deal doesn’t have an integrated heatsink. That means that if you’re planning on making the most of this price as a Prime Day PS5 deal, you’ll need to grab one of the best PS5 heatsinks to place on top of it.
The second thing you should know is that while this doesn’t appear to be a Prime-exclusive deal, it is a limited-time one, so if you’re tempted to buy, don’t wait too long. It’s always possible that Prime Day gaming deals could force this drive’s price down even further, but that relies on stock holding.
Should you buy the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB?
Short of going for a Gen 5 SSD like the Crucial T700 Pro, which is even more expensive, you’re not going to find a better SSD for gaming than the Samsung 990 Pro. The 4TB version specifically is one I use every day, so it’s one I can recommend with ease.
When we reviewed the 2TB model (which is always a good testing point for the other sizes in a product range), we found sequential read speeds of 7,462MB/s and 6,877MB/s writes. The Seagate Firecuda 530 is probably the closest competitor to that, along with the likes of WD Black’s SN850X, and Corsair’s MP600 Elite. While any of those drives will give you the best loading times a Gen 4 drive can, Samsung’s 4TB model is the one I’d choose because of its really solid random 4K performance.
Moreover, in terms of value for money, this deal comes in under the SN850X’s 4TB size, which is up at $309 currently, and is claiming to be reduced from $699.99. The Seagate Firecuda 530 doesn’t seem to be available in 4TB at the moment, which is par for the course for that very popular drive. And Corsair‘s MP600 Elite is all the way up at $399 at Amazon, still claiming to be discounted to that price.
Overall, this is a great SSD for a reasonable price, which is nice to see in 2024 when SSDs have been getting pricier.
For more Prime Day buying advice, check out Prime Day Meta Quest deals, Prime Day Kindle deals, and Prime Day gaming laptop deals.
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