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

The Samsung 990 EVO Plus is a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD that is sure to appeal to just about any modern PC user, offering robust speeds and features at a price that isn’t out of the reach of your typical PC builder or gamer. Designed for demanding PC enthusiasts, gamers, and creative professionals, this PCIe 4 drive may not be a flagship monster, but when it comes to speed and reliability, it’s hardly lacking either. Whether you’re seeking faster boot times, quicker application loading, or improved multitasking, the 990 EVO Plus should offer more than enough for you to get better performance out of your current PC or if you’re starting from scratch, a new PC.

At the heart of the 990 EVO Plus lies Samsung’s cutting-edge V-NAND technology, which is well known throughout the storage industry and has delivered exceptional endurance and data integrity in many other products. Offering sequential read and write speeds of up to 7,150 MB/s and 6,300 MB/s respectively. So while it’s not the blistering speed of flagship PCIe Gen5, it’s obviously more than enough for most of us, coming in around thirteen times faster than a traditional 2.5″ SATA SSD. It’s basically a high-end Gen4 drive with some Gen5 support, think of it as an entry point to Gen5.

Key Features

• High-performance PCIe 4.0 interface: Maximizes data transfer speeds for a smooth and responsive computing experience.
• Up to 7,150 MB/s read and 6,300 MB/s write speeds: Experience lightning-fast boot times, application loading, and file transfers.
• Advanced V-NAND technology: Ensures exceptional endurance and reliability for long-term performance.
• Nickel-coated controller: Efficiently dissipates heat for optimal thermal management.
• Samsung Magician software: Provides advanced tools for optimizing performance, monitoring drive health, and securing your data.
• AES 256-bit Encryption: Keeps your data secure with advanced encryption technology.
• Device Sleep Mode: Reduces power consumption when not in use, extending laptop battery life.
• Garbage Collection: Maintains drive performance by efficiently managing unused memory space.
• S.M.A.R.T Support: Enables self-monitoring, analysis, and reporting technology for proactive drive health monitoring.
• Samsung Magician Software Support: Provides access to a suite of optimisation and management tools for your SSD.
• TRIM Support: Improves performance and longevity by allowing the operating system to efficiently manage deleted files.

Overall though this drive isn’t too complicated, and with the 1TB capacity it’s going to help give you big performance without breaking your budget. At the time of writing this drive was just £109.98. If you did want a higher capacity, there’s a 2TB and 4TB variant of the drive too, priced at £189.98 and £359.99 respectively, but of course, that’s likely pushing the budget a bit far for those of you looking for an affordable performance boost. Still, the larger capacities will certainly appeal to PC gamers, as storage demands are pretty extreme these days (looking at you, Call of Duty!).

Specifications

• Capacity: 1TB
• Form Factor: M.2 (2280)
• Interface: PCIe 4.0 x 4 / 5.0 x 2 NVMe 2.0
• Dimensions: 80.15 x 22.15 x 2.38mm
• Weight: Max 9.0g
• Storage Memory: Samsung V-NAND TLC
• Controller: Samsung in-house controller
• Sequential Read: 7,150 MB/s
• Sequential Write: 6,300 MB/s
• Random Read (QD32): 850K IOPS
• Random Write (QD32): 1.35M IOPS
• TBW: 600
• Warranty: 5 Years