Samsung 990 EVO 2TB
Score: 87/100
Kingston NV3 1TB
Score: 81/100Rankings
The Samsung 990 EVO 2TB offers a balanced mix of high random performance, strong power efficiency and modern PCIe flexibility, making it ideal for laptops and compact PCs. Its DRAM-less design keeps costs and power low, though heavy write workloads may see a slowdown once the cache is depleted.
The Kingston NV3 1TB M.2 SSD delivers PCIe 4.0 speeds at a budget-friendly price, using a DRAM-less architecture that keeps power low and size minimal. While it offers impressive sequential performance, its consistency and long-term reliability may lag behind higher-end models.
| Attribute | | |
|---|---|---|
2,000 GBbest | 1,000 GB | |
5,000 MB/s | 6,000 MB/sbest | |
4,200 MB/sbest | 4,000 MB/s | |
700,000 IOPSbest | — | |
800,000 IOPSbest | — | |
1,200 TBWbest | 320 TBW | |
5 yearsbest | 3 years | |
| ↓ lower better | 5.5 Wbest | — |
Click an attribute name to sort · Green = best, red = worst (relative to this comparison)
| Attribute | | |
|---|---|---|
Performance(3) | ||
Sequential Read Speed (MB/s) | 5000 MB/s | 6000 MB/s |
Sequential Write Speed (MB/s) | 4200 MB/s | 4000 MB/s |
Interface | PCIe 4.0 x4 / PCIe 5.0 x2 | PCIe 4.0 x4 |
Storage(5) | ||
Capacity (GB) | 2000 GB | 1000 GB |
NAND Type | 133-layer V-NAND TLC | 3D NAND |
Endurance (TBW) (TBW) | 1200 TBW | 320 TBW |
Warranty Period (years) | 5 years | 3 years |
MTBF (hours) | 1500000 hours | 2000000 hours |
Design & Build(2) | ||
Weight (g) | 9 g | 6.57 g |
Thickness (mm) | 2.38 mm | 2.3 mm |
Products in the top-left offer the best value (high score, low price).
Professional reviewers praise the 990 EVO for its flexible dual-mode PCIe support, strong power efficiency and solid random performance, while noting that raw sequential speeds lag behind flagship models and sustained writes are not class-leading.
Everyday users rate the drive highly, highlighting easy installation, fast boot times and noticeable gains over older SATA or PCIe 3.0 SSDs, with occasional complaints about the lack of a heatsink and DRAM-less architecture.
Professional reviewers view the Kingston NV3 as a budget-friendly PCIe 4.0 SSD that delivers a noticeable speed uplift over older drives, praising its price-to-performance ratio and suitability for mainstream users, but caution that the DRAM-less design can lead to inconsistent performance and reliability may not match higher-end competitors.
Everyday users generally appreciate the NV3's quick installation, fast boot times, and gaming responsiveness, especially when bought at a discount, but recurring complaints focus on inconsistent real-world speeds, occasional drive failures, and data loss.
“Excellent random 4K performance for a DRAM-less SSD, outperforming older models like the 980 PRO in some benchmarks.”
“Users consistently rate the drive highly (4.8-5.0 stars across platforms), praising its ease of installation and fast boot times.”
“The single-sided design fits perfectly in my mini-PC and stays cool.”
