Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD/Solid State Drive Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD/Solid State Drive is available now from Scan Computers for a very reasonable £109.98, and that’s pretty competitive for a 1TB PCIe M.2 drive, and given this is PCIe Gen4/Gen5 x2, it has really great support for newer and older systems alike.

Conclusion

The Samsung 990 EVO Plus proves to be a compelling option for users seeking a balance of performance and affordability. While not the absolute fastest drive on the market, its PCIe 4.0 speeds deliver a significant upgrade over SATA SSDs and even PCIe Gen3 SSDs if you’re upgrading from an older system, resulting in noticeably faster boot times, application loading, and file transfers. This makes it well-suited to all kinds of PC users, from gamers to content creators.

Hardware

The drive’s hardware, including Samsung’s V-NAND technology and in-house controller, contribute to its reliable and efficient operation. The single-sided design is a bonus for those with space constraints or compatibility requirements, but keep in mind the 4TB variant likely has NAND on both sides of the PCB.

Features

Samsung includes a comprehensive suite of features with the 990 EVO Plus, such as encryption, device sleep mode, and support for TRIM. These features enhance both security and performance, but overall just add to the overall value for money, adding peace of mind of the drive performance and reliability.

Performance

The 990 EVO Plus consistently performed well in benchmarks, showcasing its capabilities in handling everyday tasks, content creation, and gaming. Thermal management also proved to be excellent, ensuring consistent performance even under load. The drive never suffered any sort of thermal throttling, and overall, our benchmarks showcased it was able to reach very close to its rated read and write speeds, and the IOPS and access times were excellent.

Value for Money

Considering its competitive price point, especially for the 1TB capacity, the Samsung 990 EVO Plus offers excellent value. It provides a significant performance boost without breaking the bank. Moving up to the 2TB and the 4TB things do get quite expensive, but that’s true of all fast M.2 storage when it comes to high capacities.

Should I Buy One?

If you’re looking for a fast and reliable NVMe SSD that offers a great balance of price and performance, the Samsung 990 EVO Plus is a strong contender. It’s a solid choice for desktop PC, games console and laptop users, and while it may lack the flagship speeds of newer Gen5 drives, it’s clear that there’s a lot of life in Gen4 just yet, as these read and write speeds certainly are not slow.