Samsung introduces Samsung SSD 990 EVO series: first SSDs with hybrid PCI-E 4.0 x4 / PCI-E 5.0 x2 connectivity
Samsung has introduced a new mass-market line of high-speed NVMe drives for everyday tasks – Samsung SSD 990 EVO. The series includes 1TB and 2TB models that offer maximum read/write speeds of 5000/4200MB/s and peak performance of up to 700K/800K IOPS. These numbers are significantly higher than those of the popular previous generation Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus (PCI-E 3.0 x4), which can provide 3500/3300 MB/s transfers and 620K/650K IOPS.
The Samsung SSD 990 EVO uses a new 5-nm controller of Samsung’s own design, as well as 133-layer V6P TLC NAND flash memory chips. The Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology is used to cache the data table without an additional DRAM buffer chip. The drives have a single-sided layout and a metallized sticker for heat distribution.
An interesting feature of the Samsung SSD 990 EVO is its hybrid connection model. The SSD can use both four PCI-E 4.0 (x4) and two PCI-E 5.0 (x2) lines to connect to the system. At the same time, the performance and data transfer rate will remain unchanged.
The developers also claim significant improvements in energy efficiency – up to 70% compared to the Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus – which should improve the overall battery life of mobile systems. The new drives also support the Modern Standby mechanism for quick switching between operating and power-saving states.
The Samsung SSD 990 EVO supports AES-256, TCG/Opal V2.0 and Encrypted Drive (IEEE1667) hardware encryption. The Samsung Magician utility is available to manage and monitor the parameters. The drives are available now. The 1TB model has a recommended price of $125, while the 2TB version is priced at $210.