Samsung regularly introduces new SSDs and this time it is the 990 EVO with 1 or 2 TB. Read the review of the Samsung 990 EVO NVMe SSD with 2 TB here and why this could be a good SSD for you.
Aad Munsterman and Rob Coenraads
Samsung and SSDs are almost the same as Samsung and smartphones: Samsung is indispensable in both product groups. That is why you will often find reviews of these SSDs on pcactive.nl, such as the Samsung T9 SSD 2 TB and the Samsung PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD 990 PRO 4TB. Now Samsung is launching the 990 EVO NVMe SSD with 2 TB.
Samsung 990 EVO NVMe SSD 2TB
This 990 EVO SSD is a type M.2 (2280), so a narrow strip of 80 x 22 mm. The EVO line is specific for general use, versus the PRO which is developed for professional use. The speed of the PCIe bus to which this SSD is connected increases with every generation. The 990 EVO SSD is designed for 4-path PCIe4 (Gen4x4) and compatibility with dual-path PCIe5 (Gen5x2). This makes this SSD suitable for general use in laptops, PCs and work and game computers with a PCIe3 to PCIe5 bus. Because all components are placed on one side, this SSD is easy to install in small systems, such as laptops.
Technology
It uses Samsung’s sixth version V-NAND technology in combination with the Picollo controller, which enables sequential read and write speeds of up to 5000/4200 MB/s. More important with this model, however, are the random read and write actions of 700K/800K IOPS. This puts this SSD at the top and is therefore ideal for general use in PCs, laptops and the like. Compared to the previous EVO model, the 970 EVO Plus SSD (PCIe3), performance is more than forty percent higher. Another important point is that the power efficiency has been greatly improved, so that the battery of a laptop runs out less quickly. The SSD is equipped with a heat spreader and Samsungs Dynamic Thermal Guard ensures that the temperature remains within the optimal range.
Compatibility with PCIe5
This SSD is fully compatible with PCIe5 and automatically uses only 2 paths without loss of performance compared to a PCIe4 bus. This technology is expected to become the standard in laptops to keep energy consumption within limits and therefore also heat development. This SSD can also be used as a pair in RAID configurations for fault tolerance or extra high performance.
Migration and management
As part of a Samsung SSD, the Samsung Magician Software can be downloaded, providing extensive performance testing, monitoring and management software. Any firmware updates can also be performed with this. Migrating from a hard disk to an SSD or from SSD to another SSD can also be started from this software. The issued Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) is 1.5 million hours. The warranty is 5 years or 600 TB and 1200 TB respectively for the 1 and 2 TB model.
Conclusion
This SSD is a future-oriented universal model for general use in various systems. The sequential speeds are slightly lower than expected (R5058/W4042), but the random access is higher (R3137/W3163). The introductory price is a bit on the high side.
Samsung 990 EVO NVMe SSD M.2 2TB
Recommended retail price: €199.99 (2 TB) and €119.99 (1 TB)
Positives
+ universal model with high random performance
+ PCIe5 with 2 paths possible
Negatives
– sequential times reasonable
– high recommended retail price
