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Samsung 990 Pro 2TB Review: PCIe 4.0 Speed King for PS5, PC, and Laptops

7,450/6,900 MB/s read/write, 1.4M IOPS, DRAM cache, 5-year warranty, and a heatsink option — the SSD to beat in 2024.

Nov 12, 2024 7 min read

4.8

Samsung 990 Pro 2TB SSD with heatsink installed in a PS5 expansion slot

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Pros

Class-leading PCIe 4.0 speeds: 7,450 / 6,900 MB/s seq R/W, 1.4M IOPS
Samsung Pascal controller + 8th-gen V-NAND + 2 GB LPDDR4 DRAM cache
Heatsink model drops 15°C — essential for PS5 / thin laptops
5-year warranty, 1,200 TBW (2TB) — industry-best endurance
Magician software: health, benchmarks, encryption, over-provisioning
Power efficient: 5.5W active, 3mW idle — great for laptop battery

Cons

PCIe 4.0 only — no 5.0 support (marginal real-world difference today)
Heatsink model adds 3.5mm height — check laptop clearance
Firmware 5B2QGXA7 (2023) had health reporting bug — fixed in 4B2QGXA7
Premium pricing vs. WD SN850X, Crucial T500, Kingston KC3000

Who Should Buy This

PS5 owners needing official, no-throttle 2TB expansion
PC builders wanting the most reliable, proven PCIe 4.0 drive
Laptop upgraders valuing power efficiency and thermal control

Our Verdict

The **Samsung 990 Pro 2TB** remains the **gold-standard PCIe 4.0 SSD**. It's not the absolute cheapest, but the combination of class-leading speed, DRAM cache, industry-best endurance (1,200 TBW), 5-year warranty, Samsung Magician, and PS5-verified heatsink option makes it the safest high-performance purchase. For PS5, it's the default choice. For PC/laptop, it's the reliability pick.

Specifications

Random Read/Write: 1,400K / 1,550K IOPS (2TB)
Encryption: AES 256-bit, TCG Opal 2.0, IEEE 1667
Power: 5.5W active avg, 3mW idle (L1.2)
Seq Read/Write: 7,450 / 6,900 MB/s (2TB)
Software: Samsung Magician (Windows/macOS/Android)
Endurance: 600 TBW (1TB), 1,200 TBW (2TB), 2,400 TBW (4TB)
NAND: 8th-gen V-NAND (TLC)
Dimensions: 80.15 x 22.15 x 2.38 mm (bare) / 3.5 mm (heatsink)
Operating Temp: 0-70°C (controller throttles at 85°C)
Weight: 8 g (bare) / 18 g (heatsink)
Capacities: 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB
Interface: PCIe 4.0 x4, NVMe 2.0
DRAM Cache: 2 GB LPDDR4 (2TB model)
Warranty: 5 years limited
Controller: Samsung Pascal (in-house)

Check Price: $180

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