Shane Leabhart

Absolutely Obliterated My Old SATA SSD - A Must-Have for Gamers

As a PC builder and heavy gamer, my old SATA SSD was becoming a serious bottleneck for my i7-12700K and RTX 5070 Ti system. I chose the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB to be my new primary OS and games drive, and the difference is staggering. This isn't just an upgrade; it's a complete transformation.Real-World Performance: The Numbers Don't LieThe specs are impressive (up to 7,250 MB/s read), but the real-world results are what matter. Here’s what I saw after cloning my Windows 11 Pro installation and my main games over:Windows Boot Time: Cut from ~25 seconds to under 8 seconds.Game Load Times: Loading into my save file in Cyberpunk 2077 went from over 30 seconds to about 9 seconds. Levels in other demanding games load almost instantly.File Transfers: Moving a 100GB game folder from my old drive to this one took just a couple of minutes, a task that used to take over 15 minutes.The PCIe Gen 4 interface is the key here. Day-to-day use is incredibly snappy, and the drive doesn't slow down even when installing a huge game while running other programs, thanks to the Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0 cache.Installation & A Note on HeatsinksThe M.2 2280 form factor made installation a breeze on my ASUS PRIME Z690-P motherboard. One of the main "cons" of this drive is that it doesn't include a heatsink. This was not an issue for me, as my motherboard has its own built-in M.2 heatsinks which keep the drive running cool under load. However, if your motherboard doesn't have one, I'd recommend buying a cheap M.2 heatsink to ensure you don't get any thermal throttling during intense, long gaming sessions.Final Verdict: Worth Every Penny for a High-End BuildWhile the Samsung 990 EVO Plus is a premium drive with a premium price, it's one of the most impactful upgrades I've ever made to my PC. The sheer speed and responsiveness it brings to the entire system are undeniable. If you have a PCIe Gen 4 compatible system and you're still using an older SATA SSD or a slower NVMe drive, this is a no-brainer. It unlocks the full potential of your other components.I've attached a photo of the drive installed on my motherboard under the heatsink. Highly recommended!Ver más

122 personas la encontraron útil

Thaer

12 de junio de 2026

A Speed Beast from Samsung! Blazing fast performance and instant responsiveness

I upgraded my system storage to the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB, and the result is a massive leap in overall system responsiveness and speed!The read/write speeds hitting up to 7250 MB/s make transferring huge files and loading heavy games happen in the blink of an eye. What truly sets this SSD apart is its incredible versatility; supporting both PCIe Gen 4x4 and the newer Gen 5x2 interfaces makes it a perfect, future-proof investment for both desktops and laptops.Thanks to the advanced HMB and Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0 technologies, the drive maintains sustained, rock-solid performance during heavy workloads without any thermal throttling or speed drops. Power efficiency is excellent, keeping temperatures perfectly under control. For anyone seeking ultimate speed combined with Samsung’s legendary reliability, this is the gold standard!Ver más

3 personas la encontraron útil

A real alternative to DRAM-based SSDs

After encountering numerous negative reviews, including from Amazon Vine reviewers who seemed unfamiliar with how to assess an SSD or handle it properly, I decided to purchase two Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB drives. I intended to use them in both of my Intel NUC 12 Extreme systems, specifically in the rear slot, which tends to get quite hot due to limited ventilation and its proximity to other high-heat components on the PCB. I wanted to ensure optimal temperatures for these drives under real-world conditions.First, to address a common misconception: NO, the Samsung 990 Evo Plus does NOT include a screw. NVME SSDs do not come with screws, and the screws must be provided by your laptop or PC.Additionally, it’s important to note that for both the 1TB and 2TB variants of this drive, there must be only one NAND chip. This isn’t an issue of quality control; the number of NAND chips correlates directly with the capacity of the drive.Now, on to the performance. Samsung has finally developed a DRAM-less SSD that avoids previous pitfalls. Unlike its predecessors, the Samsung 980 and 990 Evo, the new 990 Evo Plus is a strong competitor in the PCIe 4.0 SSD market, going head-to-head with drives utilizing controllers from Phison, Maxio, or Innogrit. This success is largely due to the integration of modern eighth-generation flash memory. The 990 Evo Plus delivers notable improvements over the 990 Evo, outperforming it under most conditions and, in some cases, approaching the performance of the Samsung 990 Pro. That being said, it’s not flawless. The performance of the 990 Evo Plus can be hindered by the lower-spec Piccolo controller, particularly during file copying. In these instances, it behaves similarly to QLC-based drives, which detracts slightly from its overall appeal. Still, the Samsung 990 Evo Plus stands as a capable DRAM-less SSD, excelling in demanding professional applications.There are, however, some concerns regarding the temperature management of the 990 Evo Plus. The controller runs quite hot, which could lead to potential issues. Based on practical testing, I observed possible flaws in the temperature protection system. Therefore, it is recommended to use this SSD with a heatsink, and avoid installing it in thin laptops where heat dissipation may be inadequate.The SLC cache in the Samsung 990 Evo Plus operates dynamically. With a 2TB drive, you can write 216 GB in SLC mode. The drive reserves some cache for future use, so the increased speed is sometimes still noticeable even after writing the initial 216 GB. Importantly, the 216 GB of SLC cache remains available even on a drive partially filled with files. However, when the drive is 75% full, the available cache drops to 108 GB.During load tests, the highest temperature recorded with an thermal imager was 85°C, while the flash memory temperature stayed below 70°C. However, there were inconsistencies in temperature monitoring. The 990 Evo Plus features two sensors, one for the NAND chip and one for the controller, which allow for detailed tracking of the drive’s internal temperatures. Unfortunately, Samsung's Magician software fails to display the higher of the two temperatures, which is linked to the controller. Using third-party tools like HwInfo64, I observed that while the memory temperature reached 70°C, the controller temperature reached 92°C. When the controller hits 85°C, throttling is activated, resulting in a notable performance drop. However, this protective mechanism only triggers once: after the temperature cools and the system resets, throttling doesn’t re-engage, even if temperatures rise again. This suggests a potential issue with the firmware’s handling of throttling. I was using latest firmware 2B2QKXG7.In CrystalDiskMark tests, the 2TB version of the 990 Evo Plus delivered linear read speeds of 7.1 GB/s and linear write speeds of 5.8 GB/s, with random IOPS of 1,000,000 and 1,250,000, respectively. Actual performance was around 8% lower than the rated specifications. Nonetheless, the Samsung 990 Evo Plus still significantly outperforms its predecessor, with linear speeds that are close to the theoretical limits of the PCIe 4.0 x4 or PCIe 5.0 x2 interface.In other words, when a drive with an eight-channel flash memory array and local DRAM memory seems excessive or too expensive, the Samsung 990 Evo Plus can serve as a suitable alternative. However, the price of the new model currently appears to be somewhat inflated.

odin

30 de agosto de 2025

Awesome drives, fast, high end data security features, stable, runs cool, 5-year warranty.

Samsung has it going with their drives, nearly every Samsung SSD or NVMe I've owned lasted well past it's designed life and usually keeps going until it's obsolete, this NVMe drive is fast, runs cool (usually between 30-50c, or 40-45c with heat sink), so far it seems durable & stable for the long haul (hopefully) and is backed by a 5-year warranty, I believe the write capacity is 1,200 TBW for the 2gb, which is plenty if you just write a game to it occasionally or store files that just sit there forever, but it should also have no problem handling active files and daily writes without too much impact.I was deciding this one, or the WB_Black series, but the Samsung has a bunch of features not found in many other brands, for example security features (automatic encryption (SED), TClass 0 (AES 256), TCG/Opal v2.0, MS eDrive (IEEE1667)) encryption, typically these features were in the pro models, but it was nice to see them trickle down to the plus line, all these features are important to me for data security, plus these drives are fast, support firmware updates, and can take advantage of 'over provisioning' to increase life of the drive even further.Going forward, I have recently decided to get NVMe drives now over conventional mechanical hard drives which in recent years seem to be made cheaply and have less and less warranty, where with NVMe storage size is getting comparable with 2-4 TB range, just large enough where a failure won't be too impactful (compared to a large 12-20 gig hard drive), not to mention the data speeds with NVMe is off the charts making backups a breeze, the small compact size and portable nature is also really nice as-well toss it in an enclosure and use it anywhere.Overall I highly recommend, drives are easy to install and compatible with a wide range of systems PCIe 2.0-5.0 (speed varies with PCIe generation), if your motherboard doesn't offer a built-in slot, PCI-E adapters or USB 3 enclosures are available if needed, of course if anything happens with this drive I will update my review but so far no issues.Ver más

38 personas la encontraron útil

oldbaritone

23 de junio de 2026

Major improvement on my Raspberry Pi-5

I upgraded my Pi-5 to NVMe memory and WOW! The speed increase is amazing, boot-up is very fast, and storage capacity is huge. This 1TB memory is terrific, compatible, and versatile. It fits on top of the Pi with a hat and fits neatly inside the enclosure. It's hard to believe how much faster this memory makes the Pi operate. Just do it, you'll be happy.Ver más

3 de enero de 2026

Fast, Stable High-Capacity SSD for Modern Systems

I purchased the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB SSD to expand storage and improve overall system responsiveness in a desktop PC that supports PCIe Gen 4, with forward compatibility for Gen 5 slots.Intended use:Primary storage for the operating system, applications, games, and large media files.Installation and compatibility:Installation was straightforward, and the drive was immediately recognized by the system. It works seamlessly in a PCIe Gen 4x4 slot and is backward- and forward-compatible with supported systems, which adds flexibility for future upgrades.Performance:In daily use, the drive feels very fast, with quick boot times, fast file transfers, and responsive application launches. Large file operations and game loading times are noticeably improved compared to older SSDs. Performance has remained consistent during extended use without throttling issues in a well-ventilated case.Capacity and use case:The 4TB capacity is ideal for users who need substantial storage without juggling multiple drives. It comfortably handles large game libraries, creative projects, and backups in a single drive.Software and reliability:Samsung’s management software provides useful tools for drive monitoring and firmware updates. Stability has been solid, with no errors or connection issues observed.Limitations:To fully benefit from maximum speeds, a compatible motherboard and proper cooling are important. For basic use, the performance may exceed what’s strictly necessary.Overall experience:After regular use, the SSD has been reliable and consistently fast, making everyday tasks feel smooth and efficient.Conclusion:The Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB is a strong option for users who want high capacity, dependable performance, and compatibility with modern PCIe platforms in a single drive.Ver más

6 personas la encontraron útil

Hazadoor

8 de agosto de 2026

Great Drives

Been using the 2TB and 4TB variant for a while. It's an amazing drive, but I think they are expensive compared to the competition.That aside, I recently got the 4TB version of this drive for a great deal. I needed to clone my 2tb drive to the 4TB one. With the Samsung Magician app, it was very easy. It did the whole process itself. Then I changed the boot order in bios to use the new drive. Simple as that. I mainly use the drive for video games and to store movies. It works perfectly fine for pretty much all use cases. This model does not have DRAM if that matters to you.Ver más

Alejandro

4 de julio de 2026

Greatest NVME drive but current pricing is too much to justify buying it

Bought this at $175 thinking it was expensive and today this is selling for $400 lol. Still is the best NVME drive I have bought in terms of speed and hopefully a very long term reliability until the Ai Bubble pops. The current price is absolutely nuts. If you can hold out, I recommend to wait until the prices for these collapse back.Ver más

2 personas la encontraron útil

rafael CASTRO

30 de enero de 2026

Produto muito bom

Produto atende às expectativas

The Phoenix

19 de mayo de 2026

Perfect SSD, very fast and reliable.

Extremely fast and reliable. Perfect product. I Have been using it for more than 6 months.It needs proper cooling though, so if you plan to use it as an external SSD, a case without a fan is not enough.I bought an Acasis case with an active fan and it now runs perfectly fine.Ver más

gisele mesquita lima

18 de septiembre de 2025

Produto original, chip controlador Samsung

Produto original. Fiquei na dúvida por causa dos lacres chineses, mas o circuito controlador é da Samsung. Após instalação testei com o aplicativo Samsung Magician, comprovando a autenticidade, e finalmente em teste de carga alcançou velocidades próximas da máxima. Recomendo o vendedor!Ver más

Raegon

10 de enero de 2026

Works great!

My son installed it in his laptop in about 5 minutes and working great 😎

ash

2 de diciembre de 2025

bargain

so i don't get full virtue in a b450m mortar max, but tha capacity and speed are great for my requirements, and it's future proof if i ever move up a platform