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Samsung 990 Evo
$100 $125 Save $25
Samsung’s 990 Evo SSD is the corporate’s very first shopper PCIe 5.0 drive. It options assist for each PCIe 4.0 x4 and 5.0 x2 and guarantees learn speeds as much as 5,000MB/s and write seeps as much as 4,200MB/s on high of being extra energy environment friendly than the 990 Professional.
Professionals- Blazing quick
- PCIe 5.0
- Goes as much as 2TB
Cons- Costly
- Slower than different PCIe 5.0 drives
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Samsung 980
$95 $115 Save $20
This DRAM-less NVMe SSD from Samsung incorporates a Host Reminiscence Buffer as an alternative, permitting costs to be stored right down to a manageable degree. The corporate guarantees learn speeds as much as 3,500MB/s and write speeds as much as 3,000MB/s. Most significantly, you may get a 250GB drive for simply $50 or much less.
Professionals- Inexpensive
- Intelligent DRAM-less design
- Strong speeds
Cons- Not as quick because the 990 Evo
When constructing a PC, fascinated with discovering the proper CPU, one of the best GPU, or the only option of motherboard are all vital concerns. Nevertheless, you will additionally want storage, and choosing a superb drive that is quick sufficient but additionally sits properly inside your funds may be complicated. Fortunately, each Samsung’s 990 Evo and 980 SSDs are wonderful selections. However do you have to go along with the corporate’s first shopper PCIe 5.0 SSD, the 990 Evo, or stick to the cheaper DRAM-less 980?
Under, you will discover the last word comparability between the 2.
Samsung 990 Evo vs 980: Pricing, availability, specs
Related costs, completely different specs
The 980 is available in 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB sizes, whereas the 990 Evo is available in 1TB and 2TB sizes. Retail costs are comparable on the 1TB mannequin for each. The 980 1TB mannequin will run for $115, and the 990 Evo 1TB mannequin goes for $125. Though, you possibly can fairly routinely discover each of those drives on sale for lower than their retail costs, so it is not exhausting to save lots of a couple of bucks if . Naturally, should you’re trying to save extra money, you possibly can go for a smaller-capacity 980, whereas should you’ve obtained the funds, you possibly can go for a larger-capacity 990 Evo.
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Samsung 990 Evo
- Storage capability
- 1TB, 2TB
- {Hardware} Interface
- PCIe 4.0 (x4), PCIe 5.0 (x2), NVMe 2.0
- Switch charge
- As much as 5,000MB/s (learn), 4,200MB/s (write)
- TBW
- 600 (1TB), 1200 (2TB)
- DRAM
- None
- Guarantee
- 5 years
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Samsung 980
- Storage capability
- 250GB, 500GB, 1TB
- {Hardware} Interface
- PCIe Gen.3.0 x4, NVMe 1.4
- Switch charge
- As much as 3,500MB/s learn and as much as 3,000 MB/s write
- TBW
- 150 (250GB), 300 (500GB), 600 (1TB)
- DRAM
- None
- Guarantee
- 5 years
{Hardware} and efficiency
Sooner and newer vs. older and slower
Regardless of the 990 Evo being a mid-range drive in comparison with Samsung’s top-tier 990 Professional, the 990 Evo is Samsung’s first shopper SSD to formally assist PCIe 5.0. However, the 980 helps PCIe 3.0, so there’s a fairly massive distinction within the specs between the 2 drives. It is also value remembering that the 980 caps out at a 1TB capability, whereas the 990 Evo goes as much as 2TB, so should you want loads of storage or need PCIe 5.0, the selection is simple.
Unsurprisingly, the newer 990 Evo with the extra superior PCIe spec can hit a lot sooner speeds than the older 980. Nevertheless, each are DRAM-less drives, and each assist Samsung’s Host Reminiscence Buffer (HMB) function to entry DRAM in your system for higher efficiency. The 990 Evo is rated for learn speeds as much as 5,000MB/s and write speeds as much as 4,200MB/s, whereas the 980 is rated for learn speeds as much as 3,500MB/s and write speeds as much as 3,000MB/s.
Be sure that to understand that the lower-capacity 250GB 980 will likely be reasonably considerably slower than its larger-capacity brothers. The 250GB mannequin is rated for a learn velocity as much as 2,900MB/s and a write velocity as much as 1,300MB/s, which is a significant distinction from the opposite fashions. It is also value noting that whereas the 990 Evo helps PCIe 5.0, it additionally helps PCIe 4.0 x4, too, which means you will not want a PCIe 5.0 system to benefit from it.
Whereas there is not any doubt that the 990 Evo is quicker than the 980, it is nonetheless on the slower finish for a PCIe 5.0 drive. This comes right down to its PCIe 5.0 tech counting on simply two lanes versus the total 4 you’d usually see. In the event you check out one of the best PCIe 5.0 drives on the market, learn and write speeds can go above 10,000MB/s. So, should you’re in search of the sooner drive between the 2, that is the 990 Evo, however if you’d like the quickest you may get, that is neither of those.
Thermals and options
A lot of overlap with nothing main to fret about
Supply: Samsung
Each drives function proprietary Samsung controllers and Samsung’s V-NAND reminiscence. By way of safety, each assist as much as 256-bit AES encryption. You are additionally getting five-year warranties on each drives. For Terabytes Written (TBW), there’s one other comparable story: 600TBW for the 1TB fashions of each SSDs. Meaning you will get to jot down 600TBs earlier than your guarantee restrict.
Relating to energy, the 990 Evo’s 1TB mannequin averages out at 4.9W and the 2TB at 5.5W. For the 980, the 250GB mannequin averages 3.7W, the 500GB mannequin averages 4.3W, and the 1TB mannequin averages 4.6W. As you possibly can see, wattages are comparable on the 1TB fashions, whereas the larger-capacity 990 Evo sucks up a bit extra energy and the lower-capacity 980 fashions require a bit much less.
Neither drive incorporates a bundled heatsink, however generally, overheating probably will not be an excessive amount of of an issue with both drive. Different options embody assist for Samsung’s Magician software program on each drives that lets you handle your storage. Generally, the thermals and options of the 990 Evo and the 980 are pretty comparable, whereas there are some variations when evaluating completely different capacities, as you’d anticipate.
Samsung 990 Evo vs 980: Which do you have to purchase?
Get the sooner drive if you’d like 1TB or extra
In the event you’ve obtained an older system and do not plan on pushing loopy speeds or want a ton of storage, there’s nothing unsuitable with choosing up a 980. Nevertheless, contemplating the pricing on these drives is comparable and that the 990 Evo is solely a sooner, extra fashionable drive, it is the clear winner.
It is also value holding in thoughts that even when your system would not assist PCIe 5.0, the 990 Evo additionally helps PCIe 4.0 x4, so do not feel like it’s a must to make use of the drive’s PCIe 5.0 assist to make choosing one up worthwhile. It might probably merely be a superb drive for future proofing.
Nevertheless, it is actually value contemplating different choices for drives should you’re in search of the newest and best PCIe 5.0 tech, or if you’d like greater than 2TB of storage. Be sure that to try our information to one of the best SSDs in 2024, the place you will discover every kind of various drives.

Samsung 990 Evo
Winner
$100 $125 Save $25
Samsung’s 990 Evo SSD is the corporate’s very first shopper PCIe 5.0 drive. It options assist for each PCIe 4.0 x4 and 5.0 x2 and guarantees learn speeds as much as 5,000MB/s and write seeps as much as 4,200MB/s, on high of being extra energy environment friendly than the 990 Professional.
Samsung’s 990 Evo drive is a brand new, fashionable SSD that’s the firm’s first shopper drive to assist PCIe 5.0 Whereas it is probably not the quickest PCIe 5.0 drive round, it actually can outpace older drives, it is available in as much as a 2TB capability, and it will not break the financial institution, both.
Nevertheless, should you’ve obtained an older PC that does not assist the newest PCIe specs and would like a smaller-capacity drive, there’s nothing unsuitable with choosing up a 980, particularly if yow will discover one for cheaper than what you’d pay for a 990 Evo.

Samsung 980
Runner-up
$95 $115 Save $20
This DRAM-less NVMe SSD from Samsung incorporates a Host Reminiscence Buffer as an alternative, permitting costs to be stored right down to a manageable degree. The corporate guarantees learn speeds as much as 3,500MB/s and write speeds as much as 3,000MB/s. Most significantly, you may get a 250GB drive for simply $50 or much less.