What you need to know
- Compared to its predecessors, the 990 Pro delivers faster performance and better power efficiency, thanks to Samsung's proprietary V-NAND and controller technology
- Samsung claims a 55% improvement in random performance over the 980 Pro while delivering 50% better power efficiency
- The SSD delivers sequential read and write speeds of up to 7,450 megabytes per second (MB/s) and 6,900 MB/s, respectively.
- The new SSD is optimized for graphically intensive faming, 3D rendering, 4K video editing, and data analysis
- The 990 Pro will be available in 1, 2, and 4TB capacities with 1, 2, or 4GB of LPDDR4 DRAM.
- A version with Heatsink will be ideally suited for console gamers
Samsung's latest flagship 990 Pro series solid-state drive delivers even faster performance and superior power efficiency that will help take your gaming to the next level. But it's not all fun and play, as the 990 Pro is also capable of boosting your productivity. Samsung claims that the 990 Pro is ideally suited for 3D rendering, data analysis, and 4K video editing tasks.
Compared to the prior generation, the 990 Pro's claim to fame is that it outperforms the 980 Pro by 55% in random performance. Samsung's testing showed that the new SSD is capable of sequential read and write speeds of up to 7,450 megabytes per second and 6,900 MB/s, respectively. The 990 Pro also clocked up to 1,400K and 1,550K IOPS for random read and write performance, respectively. In addition to the boost in performance, the 990 Pro also benefits from a 50% improvement in power efficiency compared to its predecessor.
"When tested with Forspoken, Luminous Productions’ forthcoming action role-playing game supporting the latest game-loading technology, the map loading time was about one second, compared to four seconds for a SATA SSD and 28 seconds for a hard disk drive (HDD)," Samsung extolled of the drive's benefit.
The PCIe 4.0-driven 990 Pro starts at $179, and the drive will be available in 1, 2, or 4TB capacities. The drive comes in the M.2 (2280) form factor, and it utilizes Samsung's proprietary V-NAND 3-bit TLC memory architecture and custom controller help drive the performance boost this year. To keep things performing optimally, Samsung also has a Dynamic Thermal Guard technology that helps the drive remain within an optimal temperature range.
PC gamers looking for a performance boost and needing RGB lighting can turn to the 990 Pro with Heatsink variant, which adds more thermal control. Enthusiast gamers won't experience any performance degradation when the drive is taxed, Samsung said. Console gamers who opt for the Heatsink variant won't be able to benefit from the added RGB lighting, however, as the PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series X do not come with a see-through case.
