M.2 SSDs are enjoying increasing popularity, both in PCs and in Playstation 5 consoles as storage expansion. The advantages are obvious: little installation space, fast transfer rates, and, above all, significantly shorter loading times for gamers. Samsung was well-represented with the 980 Pro but recently had to give up a bit due to weak competition, especially against Western Digital's WD Black SN850(X). With the Samsung 990 Pro, however, the manufacturer wants to be at the forefront again.
Samsung is initially launching two models of the 990 Pro, namely a 1 TB variant for EUR 174.90 and a 2 TB variant for EUR 324.90. A 4 TB model will follow next year. Both models are available as a standard version, as well as with an additional heat sink for use in notebooks and PS5 consoles for an additional charge. The size of the heat sink versions is suitable for this and, at 8.2 mm, remains below the maximum height of 8.8 mm.
Initially, it was expected that Samsung would release the 990 Pro as a PCIe 5.0 variant, but the manufacturer decided to release a normal NVMe 2.0 PCIe 4.0 version, probably not to outperform the competition in what is now a fairly broad market segment let it go, because it has caught up a lot with the Phison E18 controller. Probably not a bad decision, because even if PCIe 5.0 is currently an issue, PCIe 4.0 is likely to dominate the market for a long time.
Samsung, on the other hand, relies entirely on its own solutions with TLC flash, a further developed controller, and the seventh generation of Samsung V-NAND 3-bit TLC. With the latest configuration, Samsung wants to exhaust the possibilities of PCIe 4.0 as far as possible. In addition, the manufacturer has worked on energy efficiency and improved it noticeably, and the Dynamic Thermal Guard technology for heat regulation should reduce any throttling at high temperatures.
Above all, however, the focus is on speed. On paper, the 990 Pro handles a whopping 7,450 MB/s sequential read speed and 6,900 MB/s write speed. This would also pretty much exhaust the possibilities of PCIe 4.0, but of course, there is a lot of theory in the values that relate to optimal configurations.
But: the Samsung 990 Pro comes damn close in practice (about 5-10 percent less in our configuration) and also gives most of the competition the stinky finger or, in the case of Western Digital's WD Black SN850X, affords an exciting head-to-head head race.
CONCLUSION
Return to the top class
If you consider that the Samsung 980 Pro is already two years old and has caught up and even overtaken the competition in a market segment that will probably be dominant for some time to come, Samsung's decision to use a PCIe 4.0 SSD again is likely to bring to the market must be completely correct and understandable. In any case, it is certain that Samsung is once again in the top group and that the competition is thinning out considerably. Although other high-end SSDs like the WD Black SN850X can keep up, any differences are rather marginal. The optional variant with a heat sink for use in notebooks and PS5 consoles is commendable. It is a pity that we still have to wait a few months for a 4 TB version, which Samsung says will not follow until next year.
PROS
- high reading speed
- high writing speed
- Variant with heat sink
- reduced power consumption
CONS
- expensive
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