Samsung 990 SSD: Slower Than 2022 990 Pro, Prices Extra

Samsung’s Samsung 990 SSD arrived on Samsung’s US retailer this week, and the 2026 spec sheet has a high quality all its personal. The Samsung 990 SSD is each dearer and slower than the 2022 990 Pro it slots beneath.

The Samsung 990 SSD prices $270 for 1TB and $530 for 2TB. That is roughly 50% greater than the 2022 Pro at launch. Meanwhile, the 2026 spec sheet undercuts the Pro on each Samsung-published line. As a outcome, the brand new drive lands in a clumsy spot between worth and pace.

How the brand new 990 stacks up in opposition to the 2022 990 Pro

Samsung’s product web page lists the brand new Samsung 990 SSD at 7,250 MB/s sequential reads and 6,450 MB/s sequential writes. Random IOPS are available at 850K reads and 1,200K writes. The 2022 990 Pro, against this, posts 7,450 MB/s reads and 6,900 MB/s writes. It additionally ships 1,400K random reads and 1,550K random writes. The non-Pro lands beneath the Pro on each Samsung-published quantity.

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For customers who already know the 2022 Pro, the IOPS hole is the half that issues. Sequential throughput drives massive file copies. Random IOPS, nevertheless, drive sport load occasions, app launches, and OS responsiveness. The new Samsung 990 SSD trades the metric most individuals really feel for the metric most spec sheets print.

How the costs line up

The sticker story is the storage crunch that has outlined 2026. NAND and DRAM pricing has climbed by means of the yr as AI-driven demand absorbs the identical fabs that make shopper SSDs and DRAM. In addition, Samsung is pushing that value straight onto the shelf. As a consequence, each latest SSD launch has landed at a worth bracket that may have seemed absurd two years in the past.

The 990 Pro has not escaped. Samsung now lists the 1TB Pro at $320 and the 2TB at $640. That 2TB worth is greater than double the 2TB’s $309 launch worth in 2022. Meanwhile, the brand new Samsung 990 SSD finally ends up a clumsy center youngster. The 1TB non-Pro prices $270, however the sooner 1TB Pro is simply $50 extra at $320. The 2TB non-Pro at $530 sits simply $110 beneath the 2TB Pro at $640. There is not any apparent cause to decide on the non-Pro on the costs Samsung at the moment lists.

The identical NAND and DRAM squeeze is displaying up throughout the storage market. The SanDisk 8TB PS5 SSD we coated final month cleared $700 for a single drive. Meanwhile, Framework’s RAM and SSD strains have now had a number of price-hike notices in a single quarter. As a outcome, the sample throughout shopper storage is similar: capability prices extra, and sooner tiers value disproportionately extra.

What the brand new 990 truly is

Strip the advertising and marketing layer and the Samsung 990 SSD reads as a capability play dressed within the Pro’s visible language. The M.2 2280 stick, the Samsung-branded heat-spreader label, and the 1TB and 2TB capability ladder all match the 2022 Pro form. The drop in random IOPS, nevertheless, is probably the most seen regression in opposition to the older Pro.

Samsung is pitching the brand new Samsung 990 SSD at “dependable everyday storage” within the web page description. The framing suits the brand new spec sheet. Sequential throughput holds up in opposition to most PCIe 4.0 drives in the marketplace. The price-per-GB math additionally works out near present Crucial, WD, and Kingston rivals. However, it’s the random-IOPS hole in opposition to the 2022 Pro that makes the launch really feel like a step sideways slightly than ahead.

What it means for patrons

If you held off on a 990 Pro in 2022 hoping for a 2026 refresh, the brand new Samsung 990 SSD shouldn’t be it. The Pro line nonetheless leads Samsung’s personal stack. The 2022 Pro at $320 for 1TB, in the meantime, is a greater purchase as we speak than the non-Pro at $270. As a outcome, the one cause to choose the non-Pro proper now could be branding desire or a sale that doesn’t exist but.

Anyone upgrading from a SATA SSD or an early NVMe drive will see actual good points both method. Anyone chasing the 2022 Pro’s random-IOPS ceiling, nevertheless, might want to anticipate Samsung’s subsequent Pro refresh. Alternatively, present PCIe 5.0 drives from the same old opponents already clear that ceiling as we speak.

Expect the identical pricing story to play out throughout NVMe SSDs and DRAM kits by means of the remainder of 2026. The AI build-out is consuming the identical NAND and DRAM strains that feed shopper storage. Component prices are usually not anticipated to ease within the close to time period. As a outcome, customers who want storage now can pay for it. Shoppers who can wait, in the meantime, have a significantly better case for sitting out this cycle.