Samsung 990 EVO Review: A PCIe 5.0 SSD with Perplexing Performance
Being the first to market an affordable PCIe 5.0 SSD, Samsung’s 990 EVO appears to be the solution we’ve all been anticipating. However, our tests revealed that it is slower and less consistent when leveraging two PCIe 5.0 lanes, performing more like a PCIe 4.0 SSD.
Quick Review
Pros
- Good performance
- PCIe 5.0 x2 or PCIe 4.0 x4 capabilities
- Furnished with a five-year warranty and a satisfactory TBW rating
Cons
- Performance with PCIe 5.0 was inconsistent and slower than with PCIe 4.0
- Relatively costly against PCIe 4.0 units
The Samsung 990 EVO is capable of running on the PCIe 5.0 standard, but its performance makes it comparative to a rather expensive and not particularly speedy PCIe 4.0 SSD.
What Are the Samsung 990 EVO’s Features?
Samsung’s 990 EVO is a 2280 form factor NVMe SSD that utilizes a 133-layer TLC NAND and an in-house Samsung controller. Interestingly, it can function as either a four-lane PCIe 4.0 or a two-lane PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSD, delivering the same theoretical bandwidth. A Host Memory Buffer (HMB) is used for primary caching, averting the need for any onboard DRAM.
The 990 EVO’s 4K performance is quite competitive, especially during our tests using CrystalDiskMark 8. However, the SSD fell short when it came to the overall performance of 48GB transfers, outperformed only by the Crucial T700, a device that is slower when it comes to reading smaller files and folders.
Samsung 990 EVO Pricing
Available in 1TB and 2TB variants, the 990 EVO is priced at $125 and $210 respectively. Despite supporting PCIe 5.0, the 990 EVO’s speed is no faster than the average PCIe 4.0.
Samsung 990 EVO Speed
The 2TB 990 EVO model provided by Samsung was not overly impressive in its performance. While it was the slowest PCIe 5.0 SSD we’ve tested, it was in line with the average speed of a PCIe 4.0 device. The PCIe 5.0 CrystalDiskMark 8 results portrayed considerable inconsistency across runs.
Samsung 990 EVO Verdict
Comparing the Samsung 990 EVO to an average-performing, slightly expensive PCIe 4.0 SSD clarifies our expectations. Unfortunately, it fails to live up to the excitement of a bargain PCIe 5.0 SSD. Overall, your decision to purchase this device should be based on its average and consistent performance under the PCIe 4.0 standard.
Testing The Samsung 990 EVO
Our tests were conducted using Windows 11 on an i5-12400 CPU combo with two Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 modules, and Intel integrated graphics. The testbed configuration produced varying results, which may not apply to all systems. Testing performance can differ due to varying factors such as capacity and system configurations.
