DatacenterDisk

Samsung PM9A3 vs WD Ultrastar

Side-by-side spec and price comparison. Live data from Amazon US.

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Our Recommendation
👑
WD Ultrastar DC SN655 7.68TB U.2

WD Ultrastar DC SN655 7.68TB U.2 wins on both price ($44.85/TB) and warranty (5 years).

Best $/TB: WD
Best Warranty: WD
Best for RAID: Samsung
Full Specification Comparison
Spec
Samsung
PM9A3 7.68TB U.2 NVMe
$162.76/TB
WD
Ultrastar DC SN655 7.68TB U.2
$44.85/TB
Brand
Samsung
WD
Model
PM9A3 7.68TB U.2 NVMe
Ultrastar DC SN655 7.68TB U.2
Series
PM9A3
Ultrastar DC
Part Number
MZQL27T6HBLA-00A07
WUS5EA176ESP7E1
$/TB
$162.76
👑$44.85
Price
$1250.00
$344.45
Condition
New
New
Capacity
7.68TB
7.68TB
Interface
NVMe-PCIe4
NVMe-PCIe4
Form Factor
U.2
U.2
Drive Type
SSD
SSD
Recording Tech
TLC
TLC
RPM
N/A (SSD)
N/A (SSD)
Cache
—
—
Sector Size
—
—
Workload Rating
—
—
DWPD
1 DWPD
1 DWPD
Warranty
👑5 years
👑5 years
Workload Tier
oltp
oltp
In Stock
✓ In Stock
✓ In Stock
Buy
Buy on Amazon →
Buy on Amazon →
Workload Fit
Workload
Samsung
WD
NAS Storage
○
○
Backup Target
●
●
OLTP Database
●●●
●●●
Cold Archive
●
●
Virtualization
●●●
●●●
AI/ML Storage
●●●
●●●
Buying Recommendation
Choose Samsung PM9A3 7.68TB U.2 NVMe if:
  • ✓ You need new-with-warranty for compliance or budgeting
Buy Samsung →
Choose WD Ultrastar DC SN655 7.68TB U.2 if:
  • ✓ You need maximum storage per dollar
  • ✓ You need 5-year warranty coverage for production
  • ✓ You need new-with-warranty for compliance or budgeting
Buy WD →

Frequently Asked Questions

WD Ultrastar offers better value at $44.85/TB vs $162.76/TB - a 72% price difference. Factor in warranty length and workload rating when the price gap is small.

Mixing drives of different models in RAID is not recommended even if capacities match. Different firmware, error handling and seek patterns can cause rebuild issues. Use identical drives within the same RAID group for reliable operation.

Both drives carry 5-year warranties and are built for enterprise operation. Check brand-specific AFR data and Backblaze drive stats for real-world failure rate comparisons.

Samsung PM9A3 is the better fit for NAS storage.