SAMSUNG 990 EVO SSD 2TB, PCIe Gen 4x4, Gen 5x2 M.2 2280 NVMe

SAMSUNG 990 EVO SSD 2TB, PCIe Gen 4x4, Gen 5x2 M.2 2280 NVMe Review & Specifications

The SAMSUNG 990 EVO SSD 2TB, PCIe Gen 4x4, Gen 5x2 M.2 2280 NVMe by Samsung is a NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) featuring 2000 GB of storage. It is built with TLC 133-layer NAND flash memory and utilizes a Piccolo (S4LY022) controller to manage data access, wear leveling, and overall performance. This SSD features the PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, supporting a theoretical maximum throughput of 16 GB/s. Combined with the advanced NVMe 2.0 standard, it offers high efficiency, low latency, and advanced scalability. It is offered in the M.2 2280 form factor. PCIe 4.0 is backward compatible with older PCIe slots, but speeds will adjust accordingly.

NVMe SSD Performance

Sequential read and write speeds reach 5000 MB/s and 4200 MB/s respectively, while random read/write performance delivers up to 700k and 800k IOPS. The drive offers an endurance rating of 1200 TBW and is backed by a 5-year manufacturer warranty.

This SSD does not include a dedicated external DRAM cache chip. Instead, it relies on a small internal SRAM cache integrated into the controller, typically around 32 MB to 128 MB. Manufacturers may sometimes refer to this SRAM as "DRAM cache," but it is not the same as a discrete DRAM module. Furthermore, because it uses the NVMe interface, the SSD may also support Host Memory Buffer (HMB) — a feature that allocates a small portion of your system’s RAM (usually 64–128 MB) to act as a substitute for DRAM. While this design is cost-effective and suitable for everyday tasks, performance under heavy or sustained random I/O can be lower compared to full-DRAM SSDs. A Dynamic SLC cache is still included to help with write bursts and improve responsiveness.

This SSD module offers entry-level performance in our synthetic benchmark, scoring 64.9% relative to the fastest NVMe SSDs in our database. However, this classification doesn't always reflect real-world capability. Many drives in this range — especially those with DRAM cache, and even some newer, efficient DRAM-less models — can still deliver responsive performance in general computing, gaming, light creative work, and casual development environments. Unless your workload involves large file transfers or sustained heavy I/O, this level of performance is more than adequate.

Cost-Effectiveness

From a cost-efficiency standpoint, this SSD delivers excellent value at just $64.5 per terabyte. The overall combined performance-to-price ratio, which evaluates both maximum performance and total storage capacity per dollar, is calculated at 70.4%. Based on this metric, the drive is a solid mid-range option that balances speed, capacity, and cost-effectiveness.