Samsung's new 990 EVO PCIe SSD offers both PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 5.0 x2 connectivity

[DragonSlayer101]

What just happened? Samsung has announced the release of its latest mainstream consumer SSD, the 990 EVO. It is the company's first new mid-range consumer SSD launch in nearly five years and comes a couple of weeks after it was listed prematurely by Samsung Ukraine, revealing some of its key specs.

The 990 EVO offers up to 5,000MB/s sequential read speeds and 4,200MB/s sequential write speeds, which Samsung claims are up to 43 percent faster than its predecessor, the 970 EVO Plus. The random read speed, meanwhile, is listed at 700,000 IOPS, while the random write speed can go up to 800,000 IOPS.

While the aforementioned speeds are fairly respectable, they are not the fastest in the market. Samsung itself has faster SSDs in its portfolio, like the 990 Pro, which offers sequential read speeds of up to 7,450MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 6,900MB/s.

Despite its modest performance potential, the 990 EVO does have one major trick up its sleeve. It supports both PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 5.0 x2 connectivity, which should make it relatively future-proof. However, the availability of only two PCIe 5.0 lanes means that there won't be much of an incentive to use the PCIe 5.0 x4 slot, as it will use up valuable lanes.

Samsung is marketing the 990 EVO as a viable option for those upgrading from older SSDs, promising "significantly faster loading speeds for games and swift access to large files." The company also claims that the new SSD will be considerably more power efficient that its predecessor, using up to 70 percent less power compared to the 970 EVO Plus. The improved power efficiency should allow users to work or play on their laptops longer without having to reach for the charger.

The 990 EVO comes in 1TB and 2TB capacities, priced at $124.99 and $209.99, respectively. The 1TB model comes with a limited warranty of five years or 600TB of TBW (total bytes written), whichever comes first, while the 2TB model offers a five-year warranty or 1200TB of TBW. They are currently available for purchase globally.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/101625-samsung-new-990-evo-pcie-ssd-offers-both.html

 

[bviktor]

I don't quite understand the whole fuss with the PCI-E versions and buses.

First, PCI-E is always compatible, you can use PCI-E x.0 devices in x+1.0 slots, and vice versa. It's not a perk of any specific device, it's how well the standard is designed.

Second, using x2 lanes doesn't seem to offer much benefit, since motherboards don't have x2 slots, particularly not in M.2 form. So unless we're talking about some future possible HBAs or something, I fail to see the point.

 

[Superconductor]

Power efficiency aside... there's little to get excited about here.

 

[redgarl]

I bought a 980 Pro 2TB for 100$ back in July.

I don't see how can this cost the double while performing worst. If you take the performance downgrade and the efficiency in mind, the result is about the same as their previous gen.

 

[redgarl]

I don't quite understand the whole fuss with the PCI-E versions and buses.

First, PCI-E is always compatible, you can use PCI-E x.0 devices in x+1.0 slots, and vice versa. It's not a perk of any specific device, it's how well the standard is designed.

Second, using x2 lanes doesn't seem to offer much benefit, since motherboards don't have x2 slots, particularly not in M.2 form. So unless we're talking about some future possible HBAs or something, I fail to see the point.

Probably for laptop motherboards for specific configurations.

However, yeah, 4.0 X4 will do the same as 5.0 X2. I am not sure either why you would need the 5.0 X2 compatibility.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I'm really disappointed by the reading comprehension skills of the Techspot community today. When WCCFtech has better technical understanding then you, that's reason for reflection.

My question is how are they doing this? Are they using a 4.0 controller that can take the 5.0x2 signal and split it into a 4.0x4 internally?

Probably for laptop motherboards for specific configurations.

However, yeah, 4.0 X4 will do the same as 5.0 X2. I am not sure either why you would need the 5.0 X2 compatibility.

Because if you stick a 4.0 drive into a 5.0x2 slot, it would only run at 4.0x2. This can run at 5.0x2 OR 4.0x4. This is not the usual behavior.

I don't quite understand the whole fuss with the PCI-E versions and buses.

First, PCI-E is always compatible, you can use PCI-E x.0 devices in x+1.0 slots, and vice versa. It's not a perk of any specific device, it's how well the standard is designed.

Second, using x2 lanes doesn't seem to offer much benefit, since motherboards don't have x2 slots, particularly not in M.2 form. So unless we're talking about some future possible HBAs or something, I fail to see the point.

If you stick a 4.0x4 drive into a 5.0x2 slot, it will run at 4.0x2. This drive can apparently run at 5.0x2 speeds or 4.0x4, which is not normal.

That is why there is a "fuss".

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Power efficiency aside... there's little to get excited about here.

Given the 990 Pro is actually cheaper with little effort to find, this is a joke. I don't even understand why people consider Samsung anymore for ssd's. They are largely irrelevant, overpriced, often under-performing and do not stand out at all like they used to 5-10 years ago.

 

[HardReset]

My question is how are they doing this? Are they using a 4.0 controller that can take the 5.0x2 signal and split it into a 4.0x4 internally?

Since they must support 4 PCIe lanes for x4 4.0 and PCIe must be backwards compatible, there must be 4 PCIe lanes in use and at least two of those must be 5.0 compatible. They also must have some kind of software based (firmware I exppect) solution that determines working PCIe revision, 4.0 or 5.0 and then determines how many lanes are used. Splitting signals, while possible, sound way too complicated.

I expect that either there are 4 PCIe 5.0 capable lanes and on 5.0 mode two of those are disabled. Or only two lanes of four are 5.0 capable. It's just what is cheaper. Is it cheaper to put all 5.0 capable and just restrict 2 lanes with software. Or indeed build half of lanes with 5.0 and other half 4.0. No idea about that one.