š Review score: 3.5/5
ā
Pros
ā” Fast PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD read/write speeds
š Big performance leap over Samsung 980
š® Excellent Magician software with migration support
š Lower power consumption vs. 990 Pro
āļø Good performance with fast, ample system RAM
ā Cons
š«„ DRAM-less design hurts overall system performance
š§ Speed depends heavily on your RAM speed and capacity
š Major slowdown after 200+ GB file transfers
š¤ Barely cheaper than Samsung
The Shortcut Review
A new NVMe SSD in the year of RAMageddon!? The Samsung 990 SSD came as a real surprise when memory prices are surging, and products have disappeared from shelves and e-tailers. While I laud Samsung for offering consumers a new PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage option, even as other brands like Micron prioritize AI, this new storage drive isnāt a fantastic value.
At $269.99 for 1TB and $529.99 for 2TB, the Samsung 990 reflects the current memory market more than its entry-level positioning. Samsung argues the 990 delivers almost the same speeds as the Samsung 990 Pro, but at a much lower power level. However, its DRAM-less design compromises performance, as it relies on your own DDR4 or DDR5 system memory for cache. And once it runs out of system memory to use, itāll convert its own flash storage as a secondary memory cache, but this proves to dramatically slow data transfer speeds.
Even with memory prices as high as they are, the Samsung 990 isnāt a fantastic bargain. Itās Samsungās most bare component in years, while the 1TB Samsung 990 Evo Plus costs just $20 more and the 1TB Samsung 990 Pro can be had for $50 more.
Full Review
š§ Speed test. The Samsung 990 is rated to deliver sequential read and write speeds of 7,150 MB/s and 6,450 MB/s, respectively. My benchmark results show almost identical figures, while the driveās overall performance places it squarely behind the Samsung 990 Pro. More impressively, the Samsung 990 is a huge leap in performance over the Samsung 980. Not bad for a drive thatās basically been stripped down to its most basic NAND components.
š§ Memory dependent. The Samsung 990ās DRAM-less configuration is supposed to help reduce costs for both pricey memory and the final price for you. However, it comes with a major compromise: using your own system memory as cache. Thatās the same DDR4 or DDR5 RAM your PC is already using to run the OS, apps, games, and load basically anything.
This makes the Samsung 990ās performance entirely dependent on your RAMās speed and capacity. I was able to achieve a good level of performance with my 32GB G.SKILL DDR5-6400 memory kit, but youāll see slower speeds. Also, if you have less RAM overall, like only 16GB or 8GB, the Samsung 990 will sooner convert its own flash memory storage into a secondary cache.
Unfortunately, this creates another bottleneck, as the Samsung 900 is converting its quad-layer-cell NAND memory into single-layer-cell NAND thatās far slower than your system memory. If you want a tiny bit more speed for $50 more, consider the Samsung 990 Evo Plus, which uses slightly faster TLC NAND memory.
šāāļø Made to sprint. The Samsung 990 is a fast drive, but its greatest weakness is its lack of a dedicated cache for prolonged file transfers. After moving about 200GB of files, I saw the driveās transfer speed drop down and waver between 300 MB/s and 30 MB/s. Youāre rarely going to see this level of slowdown unless youāre moving 500GB of data at a time, but it occurs because itās using its own flash storage as cache.
š® Software that works like Magic. Samsung truly has the best SSD management software, aptly named Magician. The most wondrous thing it does is migrate your boot drive from one Samsung storage device to another. No more having to reinstall Windows or save and load a backup. The app also presents all the SSDās statistics up front, and you only have to dive into a single sub-menu to switch the drive from performance mode to economy mode.
š¤ That price. The price of the Samsung 990 stings at $269.99 for 1TB and $529.99 for 2TB. A year ago, paying that much would have afforded you double the capacity on a drive with its own built-in cache. It also doesnāt seem like that much of a bargain when the 1TB Samsung 990 Evo Plus costs $289, and even the $319 Samsung 990 Pro is just $50 more. Worse yet, the $529 Samsung 990 has also launched during a week when both the 2TB Samsung Evo Plus and the Samsung 990 Pro are on sale for $369 and $389, respectively.
Should you buy the Samsung 990 SSD?
ā
Yes, ifā¦
ā” You want flagship PCIe 4.0 SSD speeds for less money
š® Youāre not a gamer or have extremely large files to move
š You want a more power-efficient PC
ā No, ifā¦
šµ $20-$50 more for a faster drive is in your budget (get the Samsung 990 Pro instead)
š Most of your computing involves large files or gaming (get the Samsung 990 Pro instead)
Kevin Lee is The Shortcutās Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam