Samsung 990 SSD

Specs

• Solid storage options on offer
• No DRAM cache as HMB is used instead
• Reasonable endurance rating and warranty

The 990 isn’t overly exciting by way of looks, with an all-black frame and a small sticker on the front showing the Samsung logo and model designation over the NAND chips.

It is a single-sided drive for better thermals under a heatsink, and this is a drive that’s compatible with both PC and PS5, being both the standard M.2 2280 size and form factor that’ll fit in the respective PCIe 4.0 slot. 

The sample I have is a 1TB option, although it is also possible to get the 990 in a larger 2TB model if you want more storage.

The controller that the 990 features is Samsung’s own PiccoloQ controller – the same as in the 990 Evo Plus – while the NAND is also Samsung’s own V9 QLC. You won’t find a DRAM cache here, either, as Samsung has opted to go for HMB, the same as with the WD Black SN7100.

This isn’t uncommon for more affordable drives and isn’t a big issue for most use cases outside of intensive scientific computing, instead using system RAM for caching data as opposed to a dedicated cache on the drive itself.

One thing that is strange is that the speeds of the drive aren’t consistent across the range. The 2TB drive is slightly faster in terms of its sequential reads as well as its random read and write speeds. It’s because the 2TB variant has enough flash memory working in parallel to make the most of the controller and to get more optimal performance.

The reliability here is scaled across the two capacities, with Samsung offering a 400TBW for the 1TB model and 800TBW for the 2TB variant. This is in line with key rivals, although isn’t as spectacular as other drives we’ve tested, such as the Kingston Fury Renegade‘s 2000TBW rating.

Full Specs

Test Setup

Of course, for testing any quantity of PC components, SSDs included, I needed to make sure I had a solid PC to do so. Hence, I took the decision back in early 2024 to upgrade my ailing HP pre-built to a fully custom rig with a system that benefits from brisk gaming performance and excellent compatibility with modern and future hardware.

The full system specs can be found below:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
• Motherboard: NZXT N7 B650E
• GPU: Nvidia RTX 4080 Super Founder’s Edition
• RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 CL36
• Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
• PSU: 1200W NZXT C1200 80+ Gold ATX 3.0
• Case: NZXT H9 Flow

The long and short of the setup is that the Samsung 990 was placed in a compatible PCIe 4.0 x4 slot on my B650E motherboard, and then a range of real-world and synthetic tests were run. These included the classic CrystalDiskMark 8 with its Sequential speeds at a queue depth of 8 and 1, as well as its Random 4K performance at depths of Q32 and Q1. The Sequential tests are handy in proving the actual raw speed of the drive for fast file copies and access, while the Random 4K tests are more indicative of loading a game up.

For the usefulness of a quantifiable ranking, I’ve also included the Quick System Drive and Data Drive benchmarks from the PCMark 10 suite.

As for real-world testing, I’ve elected to see the transfer rates in moving over a set of test files totalling 120GB (in reality, a set of ripped Blu-Rays of recent Marillion concert film and hi-res audio) using the Windows File Explorer, noting down its average transfer rate, and to see the speeds at which it can move over the 110GB Dirt Rally 2.0 using Steam. As for game loading times, I’ve taken note of how quickly the Optimus GX7100M runs the Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker standalone benchmark running at 1080p and Maximum settings, as is consistent with our other testing.

Performance

• Decent sequential performance
• Random performance in the ballpark against rivals
• PCMark10 results are a little off

The 990 served up some decent results across the wide range of tests put in front of it, with some good numbers in the CrystalDiskMark tests that match well against the claimed speeds from Samsung.

As for its top-line results, this Samsung SSD provided solid sequential speeds of 7208.62 MB/s for reads and 5762.93 MB/s for writes. The reads are in line with Samsung’s own claims, although the writes fall short of both its claims and those of rivals from Crucial and WD.

However, its results at the Q1 level were somewhat behind in some areas, while its 4K results were simply average against the P310 and WD Black SN7100.

The 120GB file transfer took 40.3 seconds, which is in the ballpark against its rivals, thanks to an average transfer rate of 2.98GB/s. In addition, the Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker benchmark spat out a load time of 8.48 seconds. This is, again, an adequate result, although competing drives can be up to a second faster in my testing.

This Samsung drive falls down in the PCMark 10 Data Drive and Quick System Drive tests, with results more in line with other value drive efforts, such as the WD Blue SN580. It’s lower than a lot of other value PCIe 4.0 drives I’ve tested, which is a shame.

Should you buy it?