The Samsung 990 is described as a PCIe 4.0 Solid State Drive (SSD) offering solid performance and various capacity options, but its notably high retail pricing makes it difficult to recommend in today’s competitive market.
This drive functions as a QLC-based variant of Samsung’s PCIe 5.0 990 Evo Plus, designed to be a more affordable choice for PC or PS5 storage.
However, the cost presents challenges: the 1TB model is priced at $269.99, and the 2TB version costs $529.99. These prices place it in an unfavorable position when compared to competitors such as the WD Black SN7100 and the Crucial P310, which offer comparable or better performance for significantly less money.
In terms of physical design, the 990 is unassuming, featuring an all-black, single-sided M.2 2280 form factor compatible with both PCs and the PS5 (provided an inexpensive heatsink is used).
Underneath its casing, it uses Samsung’s PiccoloQ controller and V9 QLC NAND, foregoing a dedicated DRAM cache in favor of Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology. This HMB approach uses system RAM for caching, which is common for value-oriented drives and is not considered a major issue for most users, although it may limit optimal performance for intensive scientific computing.
The drive comes with 1TB and 2TB capacities, offering endurance ratings of 400TBW and 800TBW, respectively—levels deemed reasonable but less stellar than some rivals.
Analyzing its performance data, the Samsung 990 achieved solid sequential read speeds of 7208.62 MB/s, aligning with Samsung’s published claims.
Nevertheless, its sequential write speeds measured 5762.93 MB/s, falling short both of the manufacturer’s promises and the performance metrics recorded by competing drives.
In random 4K tests, the results were deemed merely average compared to those from the Crucial P310 and WD Black SN7100.
Real-world testing showed the drive completed a 120GB file transfer in 40.3 seconds, yielding an average transfer rate of 2.98 GB/s, which was considered competitive.
For game load times, measured using the Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker benchmark, the time taken was adequate at 8.48 seconds, though competing drives could achieve results up to one second faster.
The most disappointing area was the PCMark 10 Data Drive and Quick System Drive benchmarks, where its performance mirrored those of value drives like the WD Blue SN580, which is criticized for a drive priced so high.
Ultimately, while the Samsung 990 delivers what can be called ‘cromulent’ performance sufficient for most users, its primary flaw remains its exorbitant price tag. The review notes that rivals like the WD Black SN7100 and the Crucial P310 outperform it in top-end speed, random tasks, and game load times while simultaneously being more affordable.
Furthermore, even Samsung’s older 990 Pro model is reported to be faster and more feature-rich through resellers, further eroding the 990’s overall value proposition. Consequently, the drive is concluded to be a decent SSD hampered by its pricing strategy, making it difficult to recommend when stronger and cheaper alternatives are readily available.
Source: Trusted Reviews