The Korean manufacturer has expanded the Samsung 990 PRO SSD series by adding a 4TB model. The line was introduced a year ago, with 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB devices initially announced. The younger models were available immediately after the announcement, but the most capacious SSD is only now going on sale.

Drive series	Samsung 990 PRO
Interface	PCI-E 4.0 x4, NVMe 2.0
Form factor	M.2 (2280)
Controller	Samsung Pascal
Memory	Samsung V-NAND (3D TLC, 3 bits)
Capacity	1 TB	2 TB	4 TB
Buffer	1 GB LPDDR4	2 GB LPDDR4	4 GB LPDDR4
Sequential read/write speed	up to 7450 MB/s / up to 6900 MB/s
4K performance (read/write)	1 200 000 / 1 550 000 IOPS	1 400 000 / 1 550 000 IOPS	1 600 000 / 1 550 000 IOPS
Encryption	AES 256 bits, TCG/Opal V2.0, Encrypted Drive (IEEE1667)
Power consumption
Guaranteed recording (TBW)	600 TB	1200 TB	2400 TB
Warranty period	5 years

As a reminder, Samsung 990 PRO SSDs use the PCI-E 4.0 x4 interface with support for NVMe 2.0 protocol, are based on Samsung’s proprietary Pascal controller, and are equipped with 176-layer V-NAND (V8) flash memory chips. The top-of-the-line model also has a 4GB LPDDR4 buffer. The declared transfers are 7450/6900 MB/s for reading and writing, respectively.

The maximum performance when working with 4K blocks is 1,600,000 IOPS for read operations and up to 1,550,000 IOPS for write operations. The guaranteed write capacity (TBW) for the 4TB model is 2400 TB. The manufacturer’s warranty period is 5 years.

The average power consumption of the Samsung 990 PRO SSD 4TB is 6.5 watts, with a maximum peak value of 8.6 watts. At rest, the drive consumes 55 mW. To improve heat dissipation, the controller has an additional nickel-plated coating, while a metallized sticker on the back is present for optimal heat distribution.

Like the younger members of the series, the 4GB drive is also available with an additional aluminum cooler. This version will be especially useful if the motherboard does not have radiators for M.2 SSDs as standard.

Among the features of the Samsung 990 PRO SSD 4TB, it should be noted that despite the increased capacity, the developers managed to offer this model in a one-sided design. That is, all active elements of the SSD are located on the front side of the PCB.

Samsung 990 PRO SSD 4TB has already appeared in the Samsung global store with a price tag of $345 for the basic modification and $355 for the version with an additional cooler. Unfortunately, buying a single 4TB drive is still more expensive than a pair of 2TB SSDs, so the latter combinations are popular when upgrading or building a new system. However, if the platform does not allow the use of more than one SSD, there is no alternative to the highest capacity models. We hope that the expansion of the range and competition in this class will also affect the final cost of such drives.