Samsung 990 Pro PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD Review

A Closer Look

It’s not surprising that this new M.2 looks like millions that came before it. It’s the most common M.2 format, 2280, that meaning that it’s 22m wide and 80mm long. This means it’s going to be compatible with most motherboards, but importantly, it’s also going to fit in the PlayStation 5.

Interestingly, the 2TB model is actually quite light and slim. It has two 1TB chips on there, a controller, and the DRAM, all of which are designed and manufactured in-house by Samsung; one of the biggest aspects that give Samsung a performance advantage over many of their rivals.

It’s certainly rare I see a 2TB drive that’s literally all on one side of the PCB, but I suspect the 4TB model will feature the additional two memory chips on the reverse side. Simplicity is no bad thing though, nothing on this side means nothing here to cool or protect, so you can focus all the attention on the other side.

The all-black PCB looks great too, and while many builds, you’ll likely have this under a heatsink or buried in your system, at least in scenarios where the PCB and sticker are going to be visible, it’s not unattractive.