Samsung 990 Pro SSD with heatsink – PCIe 4.0 x4 massive speed in 1, 2 and 4TB (storage review)

The Samsung 990 Pro SSD is a performance and gaming-oriented, single-sided, DRAM cache M2.2280 SSD that gains maximum performance in PCIe 4.0 x4 devices. It is perfect for PS5 upgrades.

Technically, it uses Samsung 7th generation 512Gbit, 176-layer V-NAND 3-bit TLC, a Samsung Pascal controller and a fast LPDDR4 cache to extract maximum speed for its class. In heavy load tests, it reached 47°, which is much lower than many SSDs. It did so with decent energy efficiency.

Australian Review: Samsung 990 Pro SSD with heatsink (2TB as tested)

Website	Product Page – heatsink Product Page – non-heatsink
RRP 29/12/24	Heatsink model 1TB $249 (25 cents per GB) 2TB $389 (19.5 cents) 4TB $649 (16.3 cents) No-heatsink model 1TB $239 2TB $379 4TB $699 Shop around as these for about 10-15% less
From	Samsung Australia and authorised PC component resellers.
Warranty	5 Years Limited Warranty (based on Terabytes written) 1TB 600 TWB 2TB 1200 TBW 4TB 2400 TBW
Made in	South Korea
	Samsung is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. Samsung Electronics (the world’s largest information technology company, consumer electronics maker and chipmaker.
More	CyberShack storage news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – Pass+

Let’s face it: most standard SSDs are boring, but Samsung has done an excellent job with a low-profile, almost menacing, pulsing red LED heatsink. I bet Darth Vader uses these!

The heatsink model is 8.88mm thick and available without a heatsink at 2.3mm (not tested). There is no difference in performance between the heatsink and non-heatsink models. The heatsink improves thermal efficiency when the host device can accommodate its extra height.

The heatsink’s underside is covered in TIM (thermal interface material). There is more TIM on top of the components housed under an LED-glowing aluminium heatsink,

The main benefit is up to 4TB on a single-sided M2.2280 with Sony PS5 use approval.

PCIe ratings – what do they mean?

 When you look at an SSD, you need to know its PCIe rating as it cannot perform any higher than the PCIe interface allows.

PCIe Gen	Date	Gbps per lane	x2 lane	x4 lane
1	2003	.25	0.5	1
2	2007	.5	1	2
3	2010	1	2	4
4	2020	2	4	8
5	2019	4	8	16
6.0	2022	8	16	32

One Gigabyte per second (Gb/s) = 1000 Megabyte per second (MB/s). For now, no SSD uses more than 4 lanes.

Theoretically, the Samsung 990 Pro SSD is a PCIe 4.0 x4 that can reach up to 8000MBps. In practice, anything over 7000MBps is a bonus.

DRAM Cache and software smarts make this very good with large files

The 1/2/4TB have a 1/2/4GB LPDDR4 onboard cache to speed up reads and writes. Think of it as a bucket (buffer)that helps even out the flow.

It also uses what Samsung calls Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0. For example, in the 990 PRO 4TB model, the default pre-allocated TurboWrite region is set at 10GB, with the option to dynamically allocate an additional 432GB as an SLC buffer, thereby expanding the total SLC buffer to 442GB.

Simply put, it borrows some of the TLC NAND and converts it into a slower hybrid pSLC virtual cache – it is 1/2/4TB DRAM cache and 108/ 216/432GB virtual cache. It works well.

The Samsung Magician app also offers Standard (default) or Full Power. The latter uses the host system’s memory (Host Memory Buffer) via DMA (Direct Memory Access) of PCI Express to access some of the much faster PC DRAM as a cache.

SPEED tests – exceed

Test Rig: Intel NUC125NKi72 Kit 16GB, 2 x PCIe 4.0 x4 M2 slots, Intel Core i7-12700H

Samsung claims 7450/6900MBps sequential read/write, and our tests out-of-the-box come pretty close to that.

Crystal Disk Mark – peak speed (not sustained)

These are the ‘magic’ figures quoted by manufacturers. They are the peak data transfer rates and are more about bragging rights. Samsung’s claims are pretty accurate in performance mode.

CPDT – sustained sequential read/write speeds

CPDT shows sustained read/writes as well as maximum and minimum speeds achieved.

ATTO – measures cache performance

This shows excellent cache performance with larger files.

AS SSD – gives a numerical rating

Performance Summary – Exceed

Pretty well, all PCIe 4.0 x4 SSDs perform similarly with any increases in throughput due to cache or controller. This is consistent in the top three where performance differs by only a few Gbps.

Power efficiency – Pass+

An SSD does not use much power anyway, so while it’s nice to claim it increases ‘MB/s per Watt by 50%’, this means minutes of extra battery life – not hours. Power (4TB claimed) Read/Write 6.5/8.6W, and idle 55mW.

Samsung Magician software’s optimisation tools – Pass+

Samsung Magician Software 8.2 provides information on system and drive health, benchmarking, controlling drive features, AES 256-but encryption TCG Opal 2.0, and updating drive firmware. It also has data migration (makes a copy) when adding or upgrading a drive. Windows, macOS and Android.

Warranty – Pass+

Samsung claims the theoretical mean time between failure (MTBF) is 1.5m hours. It offers a 5-year or 1/2/4TB 600/1200/2400TBW, whichever comes first.

CyhebrShack’s view – Samsung 990 Pro SSD in 4TB is a welcome addition to the lineup

I am tempted to call this the best SSD ever made, but I have not tested them all. On paper, this offers the best performance in PCs, laptops, and PS5.

There are so many brands and models that SSD buyers are getting confused. Reputable brands include Samsung, WD/Black, Corsair, Kingston, Seagate, and Crucial, which tend to cost more when first-grade memory and controllers are used. If you are shopping for the best, avoid cheap bargains.

This gets our recommendation for a premium brand for use in PS5, gaming PCs and laptops (where there is sufficient height for the heatsink.

Samsung 990 Pro rating

• Features: 90—It is well made, has a heatsink option for PS5 and other laptops, and has Samsung Magician Software.
• Value: 75—We hate to reduce the value score, but if this is your criteria—bang for buck—this is not for you.
• Performance: 90 – Consistently in the top 2 or 4  and performs above its cache class.
• Ease of Use: 90—Samsung Magician makes cloning to a new drive easy. Samsung Australia provides local support.
• Design: 85 – Single-sided with a great heatsink design

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