Samsung 990 EVO 2TB
Score: 87/100
Sabrent Rocket 5 2TB
Score: 58/100Rankings
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 Sabrent Rocket 5 2TB is a cutting-edge PCIe Gen5 SSD promising eye-popping sequential reads, but real-world performance falls short of the 14 GB/s claim, and the high cost plus some practical drawbacks make it best suited for enthusiasts with compatible motherboards.
| Attribute | | |
|---|---|---|
2,000 GBbest | 2,000 GBbest | |
5,000 MB/s | 14,000 MB/sbest | |
4,200 MB/sbest | — | |
700,000 IOPSbest | — | |
800,000 IOPSbest | — | |
1,200 TBWbest | — | |
5 yearsbest | 2 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 | 14000 MB/s |
Interface | PCIe 4.0 x4 / PCIe 5.0 x2 | PCIe Gen5 x4 |
DRAM Cache (Yes/No) | false | true |
Security(1) | ||
Hardware Encryption | true | false |
Storage(3) | ||
NAND Type | 133-layer V-NAND TLC | TLC |
Warranty Period (years) | 5 years | 2 years |
MTBF (hours) | 1500000 hours | 1800000 hours |
Design & Build(2) | ||
Weight (g) | 9 g | 7.37 g |
Thickness (mm) | 2.38 mm | 3.56 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.
“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.”
Professional reviewers note that while the Rocket 5 showcases impressive Gen 5 bandwidth on paper, real-world testing typically peaks around 10.25 GB/s, making it only marginally faster than top Gen 4 drives. They also point out the high price-to-performance ratio and raise some reliability questions, though brand support remains a positive factor.
Everyday users praise the Rocket 5 for its blazing speed and noticeable reduction in load times, especially in gaming and content-creation tasks, but many express disappointment that the drive rarely hits the advertised 14 GB/s and voice concerns about long-term durability.
