The 990 is a step up from the 990 EVO, though the write rate plummets when secondary cache runs out. But it’s slower than the older 990 EVO Plus and not a bargain, even given the current NAND crunch.
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The 990 is a step up from the 990 EVO, though the write rate plummets when secondary cache runs out. But it’s slower than the older 990 EVO Plus and not a bargain, even given the current NAND crunch.
Factor in how little separates it from the Pro on price, or from the Gen 5 9100 Pro for that matter, though, and recommending it becomes a tough sell. If you're running a Gen 4 board, or you want something cool and frugal for a laptop or a small form factor build, perhaps this is worth a look. But if you've got a Gen 5 slot sitting empty and the budget will stretch, I'd stretch, every day of the week. It's a good SSD that's been priced into a corner, and that's a shame, because there's plenty to like here.
The Samsung 990 is a Gen4 SSD capable of speeds above 7GB/s and 1.2 million IOPS and is available in one and two terabyte capacities. This SSD includes a 3-year limited warranty and what might be considered expected pricing for the current SSD outlook.
El principal punto que nos impide dar una recomendación más rotunda es el precio. Sobre el papel, el Samsung SSD 990 de 2 TB ofrece un rendimiento muy competitivo, una resistencia de 800 TBW y la confianza habitual de la marca en este mercado. Pero en una categoría donde hay muchos SSD PCIe 4.0 rápidos y donde las ofertas cambian constantemente, su relación calidad-precio dependerá directamente del precio al que le podamos comprar.
It seems the new Samsung SSD 990 is there to fulfill Samsung’s biannual SSD release schedule more than to be a “new” drive. As such, it doesn’t offer anything beyond what was available on previous drives and even falls short in certain respects. Still, it’s a solid option for anyone needing a PCIe Gen 4 NVMe drive.
And now the part that hurts, because the last time I reviewed a Samsung SSD was in the pre-ai boom times. Samsung informs us that the SSD 990 will be available starting today (July 14, 2026), with the 1TB capacity offered at $269.99 USD, and the 2TB model (as reviewed) at $529.99 USD. Those prices are tough for a mainstream drive like this, but Samsung is generally agressive with sales, and I expect discounts to be available in the near future.
For buyers who don’t need Gen5 speeds or Pro-tier random I/O, and who want a dependable, power-efficient Gen4 drive at a workable price, the 990 is a sensible upgrade path from the EVO line. Notably, stepping up to the 990 Pro buys nothing for AI model loading, so the choice between the two comes down to random I/O and sustained writes rather than anything AI-related.
In the world of modern computing, nothing dictates performance quite like the storage drive. If the CPU is the brain and the RAM is the short-term memory, the solid-state drive is the massive library that allows everything else to function efficiently. When selecting an SSD, reviewers usually boil down the conversation to a balance: do you want raw speed for gaming, or do you need incredible efficiency and reliability for professional content creation?