SAMSUNG 990 EVO SSD 2TB, PCIe 5.0 x2 M.2 2280, Speeds Up-to 5,000MB/s, Upgrade Storage for PC/Laptops, HMB Technology and Intelligent Turbowrite (MZ-V9E2T0B/AM) 2 TB

Samsung consistently makes a great NVME SSD drive that offers incredible reliability, compatibility, and consistant speeds. This drive was used with an NVME USB-C adapter and a Mac Studio and has made for an excellent additional drive offering great speed for gaming and for file storage. The drive also works with and can utilize the Samsung Magician software at no cost if you need to clone a previous drive which works particularly well if you want to clone your OS from one drive to another. Considering its cost is similar to other drives, it's worth it to spend a couple of extra dollars for a Samsung especially considering that some do not come with a free software solution to migrate data.

The 990 Evo 2TB ssd, besides having issues with firmware that degrades this ssd (source: Samsung website), the drive couldn’t be installed because it was actually a 870 evo 4TB

Enjoy mind-blowing speeds of up to 5,000MB/s, cutting-edge HMB Technology and Intelligent Turbowrite; this SSD is a powerhouse that elevates your gaming experience to new heights. The PCIe 5.0 x2 interface ensures lightning-fast data transfer rates, reducing load times and providing seamless gameplay. With a capacity of 1TB, storage concerns become a thing of the past, allowing you to install your favorite games, mods, and DLCs without compromise. The inclusion of HMB Technology enhances data transfer efficiency, optimizing performance even further. This means smoother frame rates, reduced stuttering, and quicker level loads, giving you a competitive edge in every gaming session. Intelligent Turbowrite takes things up a notch by dynamically managing write speeds, ensuring sustained performance over extended gaming sessions. Say goodbye to lag spikes during intense moments and hello to uninterrupted gaming bliss. Installing the Samsung 990 EVO SSD is a breeze thanks to its M.2 2280 form factor, perfect for modern gaming rigs. The compact design not only saves space but also contributes to improved airflow, keeping your system cool even during marathon gaming sessions. If you're serious about gaming, the Samsung 990 EVO SSD 1TB is a must-have upgrade. Its exceptional speed, advanced technologies, and hassle-free installation make it the perfect choice for anyone looking to take their gaming rig to the next level, all at a reasonable price.

First, PCI-E gen 4 and 5 support in one drive mean it can do the same speed in 2 5.0 lanes as it does in 4 4.0 lanes, meaning as we go forward to newer CPUs and chipsets, this type of drive will transition well and use less resources to do it. The 5000 MB/s seems low given 10K+ drives exist, but that's the Sequential read speed, rated using ideal conditions. The GREAT majority of stuff we actually DO with computers uses far more Random Access, and those numbers are much lower pretty much across the board. This drive is in the top 3 fastest, hitting over 5000 MB/s in RANDOM reads. The practical upshot of this is - if you are moving a lot of big files, this drive will be fairly average and get toasted by the fastest drives out there, no question. It wont be SLOW, but it wont be able to move stuff around your PS5 at 7GB/s either. On the other hand, this will feel like the snappiest drive ever for an OS/data/programs drive. The random read and Overall System numbers in PC Mark are in the top 5 of all consumer M.2 drives out today, in the top 3 for pure random reads. This metric has traditionally been played down if its mentioned at all, because it is SO much lower than the Sequential Read numbers, but it is probably a far better indicator of how a system will "feel" when using the drive for actual work/play/GPs, and this one is extremely good at this. I have run the PC Mark suite a few times each on Intel 460, 570, and 790, with the 790 using PCI-E 5.0x2, with extremely consistent results. Easily the best system/general data drive for the price, and its not even a question at this point. (Feb 2024)

I ordered this for my PS5, I wasn't sure it was going to work well because it doesn't have DRAM therefore it won't be able to take advantage of the gen 5 capabilities without the PS5 being able to use HMB like PC's otherwise would. But to my surprise once it was installed in the PS5, it identified and formatted the drive with zero issues. The only issue is that it doesn't have a heatsink, and therefore suffered from some throttling, this is just a small storage drive, and won't be played on too much, so I'm fine without having a heatsink for now, but will order one shortly. I was able to transfer the New COD Modern Warfare III's massive 177GBs to the new drive in about 65 seconds. And it did throttle towards the end of the transfer, but not by a lot. I also played the game for about an hour after the install, and suffered no performance loss, nor was I able to detect any sort of stuttering. This isn't the fastest m.2 out there but it is very efficient, and affordable. I see a lot of pre-built PC's coming stock with this, which is nice because normal stock capacity of pre-built m.2's range from 256-500gb, and the 990 EVO's lowest capacity is 1tb. I would recommend this for the OS on mini pc's and other compatible consoles for storage. I genuinely like this hard drive and think it's going to have staying power in the PC market for awhile.