The Samsung 990 PRO 2TB SSD delivers sequential read speeds up to 7,450 MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 6,900 MB/s,, thanks to its PCIe 4.0 connection. This places the drive in the upper range of what the PCIe 4.0 interface can support. Random performance supports up to 1,400K IOPS for reading and up to 1,550K IOPS for writing. Samsung’s Pascal controller and V-NAND technology handle both tasks, while power consumption is reduced by 40 percent compared to the 980 PRO. The M.2 2280 form factor makes it suitable for installation in PCs and PlayStation 5 consoles.
Head over to Amazon to get the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB SSD for just $390, down from its usual price of $640. That’s a $250 discount and 39% off.
Internal expandable storage so you can keep all your necessary files and folders
For sequential transfers, the 7,450 MB/s speeds are noticeable, especially with large files like games. A game that weighs around 50GB will install or copy in just a few seconds on an NVMe drive like this one, compared to the many minutes it would take on a SATA drive. However, for the smaller files used in many games and other applications, the difference becomes apparent in random performance. Thousands of small files need to be read from all parts of the drive. In that case, 1,400K IOPS random read performance can significantly reduce level load screens.
While it may seem like energy consumption doesn’t matter for a solid-state drive, two reasons make lower power consumption important: lower operating temperatures and steadier speeds over long sessions. By reducing the energy needed to run, the operating temperature drops, and so does the likelihood of throttling. If the drive does throttle due to excessive temperatures, it will no longer operate at peak speed. This could happen during a long file transfer and waste time waiting for the data to finish moving. To prevent overheating, Samsung included its Dynamic Thermal Guard, which monitors and controls the operating temperature.
Compatibility with PlayStation 5 is another key consideration for some potential buyers. For those who have already purchased their console and want to add storage capacity without buying a separate external USB enclosure, this solid-state drive provides exactly that. The PS5 accepts only PCIe 4.0 M.2 drives as additional storage, and this one meets that requirement while adding 2TB of space. Buyers planning to use the drive in a PlayStation 5 should note that the standard model fits within the expansion slot cover provided with the console.
The free Samsung Magician utility includes features beyond firmware upgrades. Drive health monitoring tracks the status of your solid-state drive, performance benchmarks provide detailed information about how it’s behaving, and secure erase wipes all stored data when you’re ready to pass it along. Hardware encryption lets you lock down the drive with 256-bit AES. The drive encrypts data directly and doesn’t require software-based encryption running on your computer.
In terms of total bytes written, the drive is rated at 1,200 TBW and carries a five-year limited warranty. That equates to approximately 600GB written each day for five consecutive years before you’d reach the limit. At $390 instead of $640, the Samsung 990 PRO is available in three different capacities, with 1TB and 4TB versions alongside this one.
