Samsung reveals new SSD 990 early: Less capacity for a lower price?

Information about the new SSD 990 drive has accidentally appeared on Samsung's Canadian website. Interestingly, despite its high speeds, this device is aimed at the most affordable segment.

Photo: Samsung

Samsung is expected to soon launch an entry-level SSD model, simply called the Samsung 990. It's an interesting M.2 NVMe SSD. It will be the most affordable drive for everyday users. It will be aimed at both laptops and desktop systems.

While the more powerful 990 EVO Plus model offers a flexible PCIe Gen 4 x4 or Gen 5 x2 interface, the new Samsung 990 is strictly limited to the established PCIe Gen 4 x4 bus. The first details quickly disappeared from the manufacturer's website, but the information from the official screenshots was clear enough.

As expected for this price range, the newcomer will work without dedicated DRAM memory. Instead, it uses Samsung's own controller, but this comes with certain compromises in terms of lifespan. Samsung has used its own, optimized 5-nanometer controller from the Samsung Piccolo series (specifically the PiccoloQ version). This is an extremely energy-efficient controller that natively supports the NVMe 2.0 protocol and allows for high sequential read speeds despite saving on components.

Because the drive doesn't have its own DRAM, it leverages the NVMe protocol to "borrow" a small portion of your computer's RAM, keeping the M.2 format highly responsive without increasing manufacturing costs.

The data does show lower write endurance compared to TLC models, suggesting that Samsung has used cheaper QLC NAND flash technology. The 1TB version is said to offer endurance of up to 400 TBW, while the larger 2TB model will reach 800 TBW.

Despite the savings in "materials", the new drive will not disappoint in terms of speed, as it squeezes almost the maximum out of the PCIe Gen 4 interface. In sequential data reading, the larger version will reach speeds of up to 7,250 MB/s, while the one-terabyte model will lag behind only slightly with a speed of up to 7,150 MB/s. As for sequential writing, both capacities will be completely equal, as they will develop speeds of up to 6,450 MB/s, which will be more than enough for lightning-fast system operation and program loading.