Samsung 990 EVO Plus

The Samsung 990 EVO Plus is a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD with 7,150 MB/s reads and 6,300 MB/s writes. It's DRAM-less but still delivers excellent random performance and class-leading power efficiency. At $130 or less, it's one of the best laptop SSD upgrades you can buy.

Sequential reads hit 7,150 MB/s in our testing, with writes at 6,300 MB/s. That's not quite the absolute fastest PCIe 4.0 drive on the market, but it's close enough that you'd need a stopwatch and a very specific workload to notice the difference. Random performance is where this drive gets interesting: 850K random read IOPS and 1,350K random write IOPS. That write number is genuinely impressive for a DRAM-less drive and puts it ahead of many competitors that do have a DRAM cache.

In our database, the 990 EVO Plus lands in the 81st percentile for speed, which translates to well above average. It's not going to embarrass a top-tier drive like the WD Black SN850X in sustained transfers, but for bursty workloads like game loads, app launches, and OS tasks, it feels snappy. The TurboWrite 2.0 cache is larger than the previous generation, so you can push bigger file transfers before write speeds drop off. For a 1TB drive at this price, that's a good trade-off.

Endurance sits at the 87th percentile, so the 600 TBW rating is better than most budget drives. Samsung's track record with firmware stability also helps here. We've seen fewer complaints about this drive bricking or corrupting data compared to some of the cheaper Phison-based alternatives.

The Western Digital BLACK SN7100 is probably the closest direct competitor. It's also DRAM-less, targets the same PCIe 4.0 sweet spot, and often sells for less. In head-to-head testing, the SN7100 edges out the 990 EVO Plus in sequential reads, but Samsung fights back with better random write IOPS and lower power draw. If you're building a desktop with good airflow, the WD drive makes a strong case. If you're dropping this into a laptop, the Samsung's efficiency advantage matters more.

The Crucial T710 is another option worth considering. It's a bit more expensive but brings higher endurance ratings and slightly better sustained performance. The ADATA GAMMIX S70 Blade is the budget pick of the bunch, often $20-30 cheaper, but you're giving up some reliability and the software experience isn't as polished. The Corsair MP600 PRO XT is a different beast entirely, it's a PCIe 4.0 drive with a chunky heatsink and higher peak speeds, but it runs hotter and costs more.

For most people, the choice comes down to Samsung 990 EVO Plus vs WD Black SN7100. Both are excellent. Samsung wins on efficiency and software, WD wins on raw speed per dollar.

Pricing on the 990 EVO Plus is all over the place depending on where you shop. In the US, we're seeing listings from $110 to $290, which is a wild spread for the same 1TB drive. Best Buy tends to have the most consistent pricing and offers a price match guarantee, so that's where we'd start. At the low end of that range, this drive is a steal. At the high end, you're paying Samsung tax and should probably look elsewhere.

For context, the Western Digital BLACK SN7100 and Crucial T710 both compete in this space, often undercutting Samsung on price while offering similar or better sequential speeds. But the 990 EVO Plus counters with better efficiency and that rock-solid Samsung reliability. If you can snag it under $130, it's an easy recommendation. Above $150, the value proposition gets shakier.

The Samsung 990 EVO Plus is a 1TB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD that sits in that interesting middle ground between budget drives and flagship PCIe 4.0 monsters. It's DRAM-less, which usually makes enthusiasts raise an eyebrow, but Samsung's in-house controller and Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0 do a lot of heavy lifting here. You're looking at sequential reads up to 7,150 MB/s and writes around 6,300 MB/s, which puts it firmly in the upper tier of PCIe 4.0 drives without the premium price tag of something like a 990 PRO.

People searching for a fast NVMe SSD for gaming, video editing, or just a snappy boot drive will find a lot to like. The 990 EVO Plus is also one of the few DRAM-less drives that doesn't feel like a compromise in everyday use. Samsung claims a 73% improvement in MB/s per watt compared to the older 990 EVO, and that efficiency shows up in laptops where heat and battery drain matter.

At 1TB, you get 600 TBW of endurance and a 5-year warranty, which is solid for this class. The drive also supports hardware encryption and plays nice with both PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 5.0 x2 slots, so it's got some future-proofing baked in. Is the Samsung 990 EVO Plus good for gaming? For most people, yes, and we'll get into why below.

Skip the 990 EVO Plus if you're doing heavy sustained write workloads like 4K video editing with multi-hundred-gigabyte file transfers. The DRAM-less design means write speeds will eventually dip once the TurboWrite cache fills up. In that case, look at the Crucial T710 or a drive with actual DRAM like the WD Black SN850X. Also skip it if you need a portable drive, our testing shows portable performance is a weak spot at 21.5/100. And if you're on a strict budget, the ADATA GAMMIX S70 Blade gets you most of the way there for less money.

Should you buy the Samsung 990 EVO Plus? If you're looking for a fast, reliable PCIe 4.0 SSD for a laptop or a mid-range desktop build, yes. The combination of strong random performance, excellent power efficiency, and Samsung's proven track record makes this one of the easiest recommendations in the 1TB NVMe space. It's not the absolute fastest drive, but it's fast enough that most people won't care about the difference.

The main reason to skip it is price. If you find it at the high end of that $110-290 range, you're overpaying. At $130 or below, it's a no-brainer. The 990 EVO Plus does exactly what it promises: fast transfers, cool operation, and no drama. That's more than we can say for a lot of drives in this category.