The Ceiling of PCIe Gen4 x4! Samsung 990 PRO

Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD is not only Samsung’s flagship consumer-grade product but also renowned for top-tier performance in the entire consumer M.2 SSD market, often regarded as the benchmark competitor for many high-end brands. Recently, due to the use of ASUSTOR’s All Flash NAS, I acquired a batch of Samsung 990 PROs. Before installing them into the NAS, I first tested a single unit on a desktop. Since they are ultimately intended for the NAS, I chose the non-heatsink versions to avoid mechanical fitting issues, and they were slightly cheaper as well.

Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 is currently available in three capacity options, further divided into heatsink and non-heatsink variants. Taiwan’s distributor, Starfish Technologies, provides a five-year limited warranty or TBW-based warranty. The 2TB version offers the best price-to-performance ratio, while the 4TB version shows the most noticeable price difference between heatsink and non-heatsink models. Below are the official suggested retail prices; those interested can monitor various channels, as actual purchase prices are often lower.

Samsung 990 PRO 1TB，600 TBW，NT$4,929
Samsung 990 PRO 1TB with heatsink，600 TBW，NT$5,389
Samsung 990 PRO 2TB，1,200 TBW，NT$7,709
Samsung 990 PRO 2TB with heatsink，1,200 TBW，NT$8,169
Samsung 990 PRO 4TB，2,400 TBW，NT$14,379
Samsung 990 PRO 4TB with heatsink，2,400 TBW，NT$14,829

The packaging of the 990 PRO features a predominantly black design, with the front slogan reading “Blistering speed, endless victory.” The bottom right corner states that the read speed can reach up to 7,450MB/s. When PCIe Gen4 SSDs were first introduced, this speed was truly the ceiling. The top left corner contains a capacity label sticker. This time, I have two 4TB units and two 2TB units, with the primary focus on testing the 4TB version. The back of the box features multilingual labels, though there is no Traditional Chinese.

The packaging weight of the Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD 4TB is approximately 82.8g.

Upon unboxing, Samsung’s classic packaging style is evident, with the SSD secured in the center by white and transparent plastic shells. The user manual is stored behind.

The actual weight of the Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD 4TB is about 8.8g.

The front of the SSD features a label sticker displaying “990 PRO,” “PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD,” capacity “4TB,” model “MZ-V9P4T0,” and “Product of China.” Although this sticker does not explicitly state “Warranty Void,” removing it does affect the warranty. Additionally, the 4TB version’s sticker has anti-tamper cuts at all four corners and an extra cut on both sides, making removal more difficult.

The backside also has a label sticker, which appears to be copper-backed, primarily featuring certification logos from various countries and the English warning, “Warranty void if removed.”

Removing the sticker affects warranty rights, so it is advised not to remove it. However, for the sake of showing the internal components, I made the sacrifice this time. The SSD adopts a single-sided NAND layout with DRAM. All major chips are self-manufactured by Samsung, an extremely rare IDM model in the consumer SSD market. Even the controller chip is self-designed, highlighting Samsung’s stronghold and advantage in the SSD domain.

The controller chip prominently bears the “SAMSUNG” label, model “Pascal S4LV008,” adopting the ARM Cortex architecture and manufactured on Samsung’s 8nm process. It appears to be produced in the 26th week of 2024. The surface is nickel-plated to aid heat dissipation.

The DRAM chip is labeled “K4FBE6D4HM-BGCH,” LPDDR4, with a capacity of 4GB. Below it is a power management chip.

The NAND Flash used in the Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD 4TB is labeled “K9DYGY8J5BC-CK0,” with a per-chip capacity of 2GB, utilizing 236-layer TLC technology.

The test platform specifications are as follows, with the Samsung 990 PRO utilizing the motherboard’s built-in heatsink:

CPU：AMD Ryzen R9 7900X
Cooler：Fractal Lumen S24
MB：ASUS ProArt X670E-Creator WiFi
RAM：Kingston FURY Beast DDR5 5200 16GB x2，KF552C40BBK2–32
Graphic：CPU integrated AMD Radeon Graphics
target SSD：Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD 4TB
OS SSD：Kingston FURY Renegade 2TB
PSU：be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER 11 850W Platinum
Chassis：InWin 905
Chassis Fan：Fractal Aspect 12 PWM x3
Monitor：ASUS ProArt PA279CV
OS：Microsoft Windows 11

First, in CrystalDiskInfo, the SSD is recognized as “Samsung 990 PRO 4TB” with a capacity of 4000.7GB, operating at PCIe Gen4 x4 with firmware version “4B2QJXD7.” The highest observed temperature during testing was 47°C.

In CrystalDiskMark, set to five runs of 4GiB, the sequential read speed surpassed the stated 7,450MB/s, reaching 7,463MB/s. The sequential write speed hit 6,916MB/s, while mixed read/write speed reached an impressive 6,269MB/s. Some flagship SSDs from other brands show a significant drop in mixed workloads, but the 990 PRO only dips slightly. Across various RND4K tests—whether read, write, or mixed—it maintained around 3,000MB/s, aligning with its high-end positioning. Furthermore, the 990 PRO excelled in sequential read/write, 4K random read/write, and IOPS, particularly in mixed read/write scenarios.

In another CrystalDiskMark test with five runs of 4GiB, using real-world settings, sequential read speed dropped significantly to 4,517MB/s, while sequential write speed remained similar at 5,970MB/s—ironically, write speed overtook read speed.

In ATTO Disk Benchmark, the read speed hovered around 6.67GB/s, while write speed was approximately 6.28GB/s.

In AIDA64 Disk Benchmark’s Linear Read test with an 8MB block size, the speed consistently exceeded 5,900MB/s, with only minor dips, averaging 5,889MB/s—an impressive result for a 4TB consumer-grade SSD, completing the test in just 46 minutes. Capacity is listed as 3726.0GB.

In AIDA64 Disk Benchmark’s Linear Write test, also using an 8MB block size, the initial speed was around 5,900MB/s, aligning with earlier real-world CDM data. After writing approximately 10% (~400GB), the speed dropped to around 1,500MB/s due to cache exhaustion. However, as cache space gradually recovered, the speed rebounded to a full 5,900MB/s. Many SSDs plateau at a low speed after cache exhaustion, but the 990 PRO managed to recover and sustain high speeds for a considerable period. As a result, the full-drive sequential write speed still averaged 3,269MB/s, a feat many competing SSDs fail to achieve.

For experienced users, Samsung Magician is highly recommended for advanced SSD configurations. It provides a manual transmission-like experience, making regular SSDs feel like automatic transmissions.

Next, I will install the 990 PRO into an ASUSTOR FS68 Series unit for testing—this is an All Flash NAS supporting up to 12 M.2 SSDs.

Later, I will test all four 990 PROs in the ASUSTOR AS68 Series, which features a PCIe Gen4 x1 M.2 expansion card supporting four slots. Testing is still in progress.

From the results, the Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD stands as Samsung’s flagship consumer-grade SSD, delivering remarkable performance. Having previously tested Samsung PM9A3 and 980 PRO, I can attest to their outstanding performance and strong hardware-software integration. Despite past warranty controversies, I hope Samsung regains consumer trust and eagerly await their PCIe Gen5 x4 all-around product, bringing new advancements in performance, power efficiency, and thermal management—along with a new naming convention, marking the beginning of a new era.

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