Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe SSD: PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 x2 explained

The Samsung 990 EVO Plus (model MZ-V9S1T0B/AM) is a 1TB M.2 2280 NVMe solid state drive for desktops and laptops. Its distinguishing feature is that it works with both PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 5.0 x2 connections, which gives it flexibility across different motherboards.

PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 5.0 x2

PCIe bandwidth depends on the generation and the number of lanes. A PCIe 4.0 x4 link and a PCIe 5.0 x2 link offer about the same theoretical bandwidth, because Gen 5 doubles the speed per lane while using half as many. Samsung says the drive is compatible with both, and advises checking that your system supports PCIe 4.0 or 5.0 on the Intel or AMD website. Some motherboards split lanes in ways that give an x2 link, which is where the Gen 5 x2 support helps.

Speed figures

Samsung lists sequential reads and writes of up to 7,250 and 6,300 MB/s, though the listing title says up to 7,150 MB/s. The speeds were measured with Intelligent TurboWrite active on a test system using an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, 32GB of DDR5 and Windows 11 Pro. Real results depend on firmware, hardware and configuration.

TurboWrite 2.0 and HMB

Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0 uses a fast buffer to speed up large writes, and Samsung says it improves large-file performance. The listing also mentions HMB (Host Memory Buffer), a technology that lets the drive use a small share of system memory in place of dedicated onboard memory.

Thermals and power

Samsung says a nickel-coated controller lets the drive use less power while achieving similar performance, and states a 73% increase in MB/s per watt. Lower power typically means less heat, which matters in laptops. Heavy sustained work can still warm any NVMe drive, so airflow or a heatsink may help.

Magician software

The Samsung Magician utility handles firmware updates, extra encryption options and drive health monitoring, according to Samsung. The 990 EVO Plus also comes in other capacities, with a 4TB model mentioned in the listing.

Who it suits

It suits people upgrading a desktop or laptop with a free M.2 2280 NVMe slot, particularly on recent platforms with PCIe 5.0 lanes split into x2 links.

What to check before you buy

• Slot: confirm an M.2 slot that takes 2280 modules and supports NVMe.
• PCIe version: see which generation and lane count the slot provides.
• Cooling: check whether the motherboard includes a heatsink, or whether the laptop has room.
• Backups: clone or back up your existing drive first.
• Software: download Magician from Samsung's official site.

The short version

• 1TB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD, model MZ-V9S1T0B/AM.
• Supports PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 5.0 x2.
• Up to 7,250/6,300 MB/s sequential read/write, per Samsung.
• Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0 and a nickel-coated controller.
• Samsung Magician for updates and monitoring.

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