Samsung has SSDs in all shapes and sizes, here you can read in the review of the NVMe SSD 990 EVO Plus how it performs and in which sizes it is available.
Aad Munsterman
The Samsung 990 EVO NVMe SSD M.2 was the first Samsung SSD for use up to and including PCI5. A Plus version of this model has now been released with significant improvements and also a variant with 4 TB. We tested both the 1 and 2 TB variants in a high-end computer.
Design
An NVMe-type SSD is a narrow strip of 22 x 80mm (M.2-2280) that is inserted into a PCI slot on a motherboard and then screwed into place. It fits in any PCI slot, but this SSD achieves optimal results in a PCI4 slot with 4 lanes (Gen4 x4) or a PCI5 slot with 2 lanes (Gen5 x2). PCI5 compatibility is limited to 2 lanes, because using more lanes requires more power and therefore increases the temperature. This model is available in 1, 2 and 4 TB. For SSDs, it is recommended to choose a model with excess capacity to cover future needs, but also to evenly distribute the wear and tear of the flash memory and thus extend its lifespan. In addition, overprovisioning also used to improve performance by creating a cache for faster read and write operations.
Technology
This SSD uses a controller developed by Samsung that has been optimized for use in this SSD via the firmware. The V-NAND memory has also been adjusted, resulting in much better transfer speeds. In addition, the power efficiency increased by 73%, which keeps the SSD cooler. Samsung’s intelligent TurboWrite 2.0 is used to optimize transfer performance. The 990 EVO series has the special feature that it performs very well random read and write, making it ideal for many applications.
Performance
We test the samples in a separate PCI4x4 slot of a high-end PC and use CrystalDiskMark as a testing tool. This for free tool can be used by anyone to determine the performance of the hard drive or SSD. The Samsung Magician software is available for status and performance display of Samsung SSDs. Samsung also provides free migration software from any disk to a Samsung SSD.
We measured sequential R/W transfer speeds of up to 7069/6285MB/s for both samples, while the 990 EVO (without Plus) reaches 5085/3557MB/s: the Plus version therefore performs much better! Random-R/W reports 3532/4056MB/s for the 1TB and 4168/4032MB/s for the 2TB SSD.
Conclusion
The Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus delivers significantly improved speeds and performance and is now also available with 4TB storage.
Product: Samsung NVMe SSD 990 EVO Plus1 and 2 TB
Recommended retail prices: €129.99 (1 TB) and €219.99 (2 TB)
Pros:
* can be used up to and including PCI5
* nice test results
Negatives:
* price
* 1TB version lags slightly in performance