Samsung Electronics has introduced the Samsung 990 SSD, a PCIe 4.0 NVMe solid-state drive designed for gaming, content creation, PC upgrades, and everyday computing.
Available in 1TB and 2TB capacities, the M.2 drive delivers sequential read speeds of up to 7,250MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 6,450MB/s. Samsung also claims power-efficiency improvements of up to 38% compared with the 990 PRO.
The Samsung 990 SSD will launch globally beginning July 15, 2026, and is expected to arrive in the Philippines with suggested retail prices of PHP19,075 for the 1TB model and PHP37,678 for the 2TB version.
“Samsung’s new 990 SSD is an excellent solution for a wide range of users looking to expand their storage for heavy workloads, immersive gaming, high-resolution content creation, and DIY PC builds,” said Tommy Hyoungsuk Kwon, vice president of the Memory Brand Product Business Team at Samsung Electronics.
PCIe 4.0 performance for games and creative work
The Samsung 990 SSD uses a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface with NVMe 2.0 support, Samsung V-NAND, and an in-house Samsung controller.
The 2TB model delivers sequential read speeds of up to 7,250MB/s, while the 1TB version reaches up to 7,150MB/s. Both capacities provide sequential write speeds of up to 6,450MB/s.
For random performance, the 2TB drive is rated at up to 850,000 read input/output operations per second and 1.2 million write IOPS. The 1TB version reaches up to 700,000 read IOPS and 1.1 million write IOPS.
These figures indicate the drive’s ability to handle demanding storage workloads, including application launches, game loading, large-file transfers, video editing, and other data-intensive tasks.
Actual performance will depend on the PC’s processor, motherboard, firmware, cooling, operating system, workload, and other system conditions.
Storage options of up to 2TB
The Samsung 990 SSD comes in 1TB and 2TB capacities, giving users options for upgrading laptops and desktop computers with compatible M.2 2280 slots.
Samsung says the 2TB model can store approximately 30 large games based on an average file size of 64.3GB. The estimate uses 12 titles from Steam’s “Best of 2025: New Releases” list as its reference.
Actual storage capacity available to users will be lower than the labeled capacity because some space is reserved for formatting, system files, and drive maintenance.
Game sizes also vary significantly, particularly after downloading updates, downloadable content, texture packs, and other files.
Improved power efficiency
Samsung claims the 990 SSD offers up to 38% better power efficiency than the 990 PRO.
The comparison is based on Samsung’s internal testing of the 2TB models, measuring sequential read and write throughput per watt.
Improved efficiency may be particularly useful in laptops, compact computers, and other systems where heat output and power consumption can influence sustained performance and battery life.
The release does not provide the drive’s typical power consumption, idle consumption, operating temperature range, or thermal-throttling specifications.
Samsung Magician supports drive management
The Samsung 990 SSD works with Samsung Magician, the company’s storage-management software. The application provides drive-health monitoring, data migration, firmware management, performance optimization, and data-protection tools for supported Samsung SSDs. Users can use the software to check drive condition, install updates, transfer files from an existing storage device, and manage performance settings.
Encryption, endurance, and warranty
Both capacities support AES 256-bit full-disk encryption, TCG Opal 2.0, and IEEE 1667 Encrypted Drive functionality. The 1TB model is rated for 400TB written, while the 2TB version is rated for 800TB written.
Samsung provides a three-year limited warranty, with coverage applying for the stated warranty period or until the drive reaches its specified total-bytes-written limit, whichever comes first.
Philippine pricing and availability
The Samsung 990 SSD is scheduled for global release beginning July 15, 2026. Samsung says the drive is coming soon to the Philippines at the following suggested retail prices:
- Samsung 990 SSD 1TB: PHP19,075
- Samsung 990 SSD 2TB: PHP37,678
Upon its local release, the drive will be available through official Samsung Storage stores on Shopee and Lazada. Samsung also lists PC Express, Infoworx, Octagon, The Net, JW Summit, PC Hub, Thinking Tools, Dynamic PC, DataBlitz, and Memo Express among its Philippine retail partners.
More information about Samsung SSD products and warranty coverage is available through the Samsung SSD website.
In Summary
The Samsung 990 SSD is a PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive available in 1TB and 2TB capacities. The 2TB version delivers sequential read speeds of up to 7,250MB/s, while the 1TB model reaches up to 7,150MB/s. Both provide sequential write speeds of up to 6,450MB/s. Samsung also claims up to 38% better power efficiency than the 990 PRO. The drives use the M.2 2280 form factor, support Samsung Magician software and hardware-based encryption, and include a three-year limited warranty.