Black Friday Storage Bonanza: Fueling AI with High-Speed, High-Capacity SSD & MicroSD Deals
By Jeff Dunn
Published on November 24, 2025| Vol. 1, Issue No. 1
Content Source
This is a curated briefing. The original article was published on Engadget.
Summary
This briefing details Black Friday 2025 discounts on a range of storage devices, catering to various computing and gaming needs. Key offers include microSD Express cards from Lexar, Samsung, and SanDisk, specifically noting their relevance for the new Nintendo Switch 2. The internal SSD category features deals on high-performance PCIe 5.0 NVMe drives like the SK Hynix Platinum P51, Crucial T710, and the ultra-high-capacity Samsung SSD 9100 Pro (up to 8TB), alongside the compact M.2 2230 Crucial P310. Portable storage discounts highlight the Crucial X10 portable SSD and proprietary Seagate Storage Expansion Cards for Xbox consoles. The article emphasizes finding genuine savings on well-reviewed storage solutions, often matching or nearing all-time low prices for enhanced performance and capacity.
Why It Matters
For professionals in the AI industry, the continuous evolution and affordability of high-performance storage are foundational. The Black Friday deals highlighted, particularly on PCIe 5.0 SSDs and high-capacity drives, are more than just consumer bargains; they represent critical infrastructure components for advanced AI workloads. Training cutting-edge AI models, such as large language models (LLMs) or complex generative AI, demands immense datasets-often terabytes or even petabytes-that require not only vast storage but also incredibly fast read/write speeds to prevent I/O bottlenecks. PCIe 5.0 SSDs, with their significantly increased bandwidth, directly translate to faster data loading for training epochs, quicker checkpointing, and more efficient real-time inference, thereby accelerating research cycles and deployment times for data scientists and engineers.
Furthermore, the availability of 8TB PCIe 5.0 SSDs at reduced prices addresses the growing need for high-density, high-speed local storage in workstations or smaller AI clusters, where storing massive model parameters or extensive experimental data is paramount. Even the mention of advanced microSD Express cards, while framed for gaming, signals broader advancements in compact, fast storage that are vital for edge AI and embedded systems. These devices allow for localized data processing and model deployment in IoT devices, autonomous systems, or specialized hardware where physical footprint and power consumption are critical constraints. The economic incentives of Black Friday deals make high-end storage more accessible, lowering the barrier for smaller teams, startups, or independent researchers to acquire the necessary hardware to pursue computationally and data-intensive AI projects, ultimately fueling innovation across the AI landscape by making powerful compute infrastructure more attainable.