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Samsung 990 SSD Spotted: PCIe 4.0 Drive Skips DRAM for Budget Speed

Lena Fischer 2 min read

Samsung 990 SSD spotted in listings with 7,250 MB/s read speeds. The DRAMless drive targets budget builders with high performance and QLC NAND speculation.

Samsung 990 SSD Spotted: PCIe 4.0 Drive Skips DRAM for Budget Speed
PC HARDWARE

Samsung has introduced a new solid-state drive named the 990, which appears to target budget-conscious builders who want high sequential speeds without the premium price of flagship models. This drive matters because it offers performance numbers that rival top-tier drives while skipping expensive components like dedicated memory chips. Buyers looking for a cost-effective upgrade for their main PC storage should pay attention to these specifications.

Samsung 990 SSD packaging or product shot
Samsung 990 SSD packaging or product shot

DRAMless design offers flagship speeds without premium components

The Samsung 990 is a PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe drive that slots into standard M.2 2280 motherboards. Unlike the company's high-end PRO series, this unit does not include a dedicated DRAM cache. Instead, it relies on Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology to manage data mapping. This design choice helps Samsung keep the manufacturing costs down for the 990.

Spec comparison

Spec 1TB Model 2TB Model
Interface PCIe 4.0 x4 PCIe 4.0 x4
Sequential Read 7,150 MB/s 7,250 MB/s
Sequential Write 6,450 MB/s 6,450 MB/s
Endurance (TBW) 400 TBW 800 TBW
Warranty 3 years 3 years

Samsung lists the 1TB model with read speeds of up to 7,150 MB/s and write speeds of 6,450 MB/s. The 2TB variant pushes the read speed slightly higher to 7,250 MB/s while maintaining the same 6,450 MB/s write speed. Random IOPS performance on the 2TB model reportedly reaches 850K for reads and 1,200K for writes. These figures place the drive firmly in the upper tier of PCIe 4.0 performance.

Endurance ratings for the Samsung 990 are 400 TBW for the 1TB version and 800 TBW for the 2TB version. Both capacities come with a standard three-year limited warranty. Industry observers speculate that the drive uses QLC NAND flash due to these endurance numbers being lower than Samsung's TLC-based 990 EVO Plus. Samsung has not confirmed the specific NAND type used in the 990.

Official pricing and release dates for the Samsung 990 remain unknown at this time. The drive was spotted in brief listings on the Samsung Canada website before those pages were removed. No official press release or global availability information has been provided by the manufacturer. This report will be updated once Samsung provides official confirmation of the final specifications and launch details.

Source: TweakTown

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