The Samsung 990 Pro is the latest addition to the popular line of high-performance NVMe SSDs for client systems. The 990 Pro is expected to offer faster speeds and better power efficiency than the 980 Pro, making them ideal for graphically demanding applications like 3D rendering, 4K video editing, and data analysis. The Samsung 990 PRO also features the company’s latest V-NAND and a new proprietary controller.
The Samsung 990 Pro is the latest addition to the popular line of high-performance NVMe SSDs for client systems. The 990 Pro is expected to offer faster speeds and better power efficiency than the 980 Pro, making them ideal for graphically demanding applications like 3D rendering, 4K video editing, and data analysis. The Samsung 990 PRO also features the company’s latest V-NAND and a new proprietary controller.
Samsung 990 Pro SSD Performance vs 980 Pro
The 990 Pro SSD is expected to deliver pretty impressive sequential read and write speeds for an end-user drive–essentially the best we’ve seen so far. Samsung quotes up to 7,450MB/s and 6,900 MB/s, respectively, which is a noticeable increase in performance compared to the Samsung 980 PRO SSD.
For random read and writes, Samsung indicates that it is able to reach up to 1,400K and 1,550K IOPS, respectively. This is a significant boost in random performance as well, claiming an improvement of roughly 55% over its predecessor.
The Samsung SSD 980 Pro was the best-performing consumer drive we tested at the time (back in Fall 2020) so we expect big things from this release.
Samsung 990 Pro SSD Power Efficiency and Thermal Control
Samsung also built the 990 Pro based on a low-power architecture, including a newly designed controller that is able to significantly improve power efficiency (up to 50%) when compared to the 980 Pro. The new Samsung drive also features a nickel coating on the controller and a heat spreader label on the drive to help drive reliable thermal control during heavy workloads like gaming or creative rendering. Samsung’s Dynamic Thermal Guard technology further ensures that the drive’s temperature stays in the optimal range.
Samsung offers a model that comes with a heatsink version, offering even more thermal control for those who plan on pushing the drive. Users that buy the SSD for game consoles will appreciate the heatsink for deployments with limited airflow. Gamers will appreciate the new RGB lights as well, as the prior model didn’t include any lights. That is if they can see it. The 980 Pro with heatsink is popular with PS5 gamers, alas RGB can’t be seen in there.
Samsung NVMe SSD 990 PRO Series Specifications
| Category | Samsung SSD 990 PRO | 990 PRO with Heatsink | ||
| Interface | PCIe Gen 4.0 x4, NVMe 2.0 | ||
| Form Factor | M.2 (2280) | ||
| Storage Memory | Samsung V-NAND 3-bit TLC | ||
| Controller | Samsung in-house controller | ||
| Capacity | 1TB | 2TB | 4TB |
| DRAM | 1GB LPDDR4 | 2GB LPDDR4 | 4GB LPDDR4 |
| Sequential Read/Write Speed | Up to 7,450 MB/s, Up to 6,900 MB/s | ||
| Random Read/Write Speed (QD32) | Up to 1,400K IOPS, Up to 1,550K IOPS | ||
| Management Software | Samsung Magician Software | ||
| Data Encryption | AES 256-bit Full Disk Encryption, TCG/Opal V2.0, Encrypted Drive (IEEE1667) | ||
| Total Bytes Written | 600TB | 1200TB | 2400TB |
| Warranty | Five-year Limited Warranty | ||
Why Isn’t the Samsung 990 Pro Gen5?
The decision to launch another Gen4 SSD is a curious one. The 980 Pro is already an excellent drive, so eking out a little more performance from the Gen4 interface seems like a potentially wasted effort. We’ll have to reserve some judgement until we see review samples though, it’s quite possible Samsung will surprise us with the 990 Pro on what amounts to be a legacy interface.
While Gen5 drive slots are now native to most motherboards, we’ve yet to see Gen5 SSDs shipping for client systems. Phison was early money on Gen5 with their E26 controller, but it’s been delayed from what we’ve been told. Whether that’s a technical issue, supply chain problem, or intentional as they wait for Gen5 ports to catch up, isn’t clear. Samsung may be caught in a similar limbo spot. Whatever the case, we’ll have to wait for the Samsung 1000 Pro, or whatever the new SSDs are called, to see what they can do with the additional throughput PCIe Gen5 offers.
Samsung 990 Pro SSD Pricing and Availability
The 990 Pro (as well as the Heatsink version) is slated for a release this October for $179 (1TB) and $309 (2TB). It should be noted that the 990 Pro 1TB pricing is noticeably lower than the launch price of the 980 Pro ($230).
Samsung is also planning to add a 4TB capacity model, though they, unfortunately, give a very non-specific 2023 release window.
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