“With continuing innovations in gaming, 4K and 8K technology as well as AI-driven applications, consumers’ need for high-performance storage is growing exponentially,” said KyuYoung Lee, Vice President of the Memory Brand Product Biz Team at Samsung Electronics. “The 990 PRO provides an optimal balance of speed, power efficiency and reliability, making it an ideal choice for avid gamers and creative professionals seeking uninterrupted work and play.”

Extreme Performance for an Immersive Gameplay Experience

Featuring Samsung’s latest V-NAND and a new proprietary controller, the 990 PRO series offers the highest speed currently available from the PCIe 4.0 interface^[1]. The SSD delivers sequential read and write speeds of up to 7,450 megabytes per second (MB/s) and 6,900 MB/s, respectively, while random read and write speeds come in at up to 1,400K and 1,550K IOPS^[2], respectively. With up to a 55% improvement in random performance over the 980 PRO, the 990 PRO is particularly well-suited for heavy gaming as well as creative and productivity tasks.

High-performance NVMe SSDs are also critical in reaping the full benefits of the latest game console and gaming technologies. Powered by NVMe, the 990 PRO brings faster loading times to PCs and consoles for a more immersive gaming experience. When tested with Forspoken^[3], Luminous Productions’ forthcoming action role-playing game supporting the latest game-loading technology, the map loading time was about one second, compared to four seconds for a SATA SSD and 28 seconds for a hard disk drive (HDD).

Ultimate Power Efficiency and Reliable Thermal Control

Built on a low-power architecture, Samsung’s newly designed controller dramatically improves the SSD’s power efficiency by up to 50% compared to the 980 PRO^[4]. Additionally, the 990 PRO employs a nickel coating on the controller and a heat spreader label on the drive for reliable thermal management. Samsung’s Dynamic Thermal Guard technology further ensures that the drive’s temperature stays in the optimal range.

The 990 PRO with Heatsink version offers an additional layer of thermal control while its RGB lights add more style to the drive.

Samsung’s 990 PRO is also an excellent solution for laptop and desktop upgrades as well as for build-your-own PCs, providing a significant performance boost while using less power for increased battery life and thermal management.

The 990 PRO will be available worldwide starting this October with the manufacturer’s suggested retail prices (MSRP) of £154.99 for the 1TB model and £283.99 for the 2TB. A 4TB capacity version will become available from next year. For more information, including warranty details, please visit  semiconductor.samsung.com/internal-ssd/.

Samsung NVMe SSD 990 PRO Series Specifications

[1] PCIe 4.0’s highest theoretical sequential read speed is 8000 MB/s — 990 PRO reaches 7,450 MB/s as of Q3 2022.

[2] Sequential and random performance measurements are based on IOmeter1.1.0. Performance may vary based on SSD’s firmware version, system hardware & configuration.

* Test system configuration: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core Processor CPU@3.80GHz, DDR4 3600MHz 16GBx2 (PC4-25600 Overclock), Windows 10 Pro 64bit, ASRock-X570 Taichi

[3] FORSPOKEN © Luminous Productions Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. FORSPOKEN, LUMINOUS PRODUCTIONS and the LUMINOUS PRODUCTIONS logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Square Enix Co., Ltd.

* Test system configuration: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core Processor 3.70 GHz, AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB, DDR4-2666 (16GB x2), Windows 11 Pro 21H2

[4] 980 PRO provides power efficiency of 1,129/877 MB per watt for sequential read/write while 990 PRO’s is 1,380/1,319 MB per watt for sequential read/write, based on internal test results of the 1TB capacity model.

[5] 1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes by IDEMA. A certain portion of capacity may be used for system file and maintenance, so the actual capacity may differ from what is indicated on the product label.

[6] Samsung Electronics shall not be liable for any loss, including but not limited to loss of data or other information contained on Samsung Electronics product or loss of profit or revenue which may be incurred by user. For more information on the warranty, please visit samsung.com/SSD or semiconductor.samsung.com/internal-ssd/.

[7] Five years or total bytes written (TBW), whichever comes first. For more information on the warranty, please refer to the enclosed warranty document in the package.

LONDON, UK – 28 Aug, 2018 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., today unveiled its first NVMe^[1]-based portable solid state drive (SSD) – the Samsung Portable SSD X5 – achieving new levels of performance and reliability for external storage solutions. Based on the cutting-edge Thunderbolt 3^[2] technology, the new X5 features exceptional speeds in a compact and durable form factor, making it an ideal portable storage for content creators and IT professionals on the go.

“As a leader in high-performance and reliable storage solutions, we are thrilled to continue to advance the external SSD market with the introduction of our first Thunderbolt 3 portable SSD,” said Dr. Mike Mang, vice president of Brand Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “The X5 is yet another testament to Samsung’s commitment to providing innovative portable storage solutions that enable faster transfer of large data files, saving users’ valuable time.”

Whether editing 4K videos, creating real-time 3D rendering images or compiling high-resolution photos, consumers want fast and convenient ways to store and transfer their data. Leveraging synergies between NVMe and Thunderbolt 3 technologies, Samsung’s X5 delivers maximized performance levels for professionals working with heavy multimedia files. Thanks to Thunderbolt 3’s 40Gbps bandwidth – up to four times faster than USB 3.1^[3] – the X5 offers a read speed of up to 2,800 MB/s, which is up to 5.2 times faster than the widely used SATA interface portable SSDs and up to 25.5 times faster than external HDDs^[4]. The drive also boasts the fastest maximum write speed of 2,300 MB/s^[5], enabling users to transfer a 20GB-sized 4K UHD video in just 12 seconds^[6]. Designed for Macs and PCs with Thunderbolt 3 ports, the X5 allows users to enjoy the speed benefits in a lightweight and portable design, with capacity options up to 2TB.

The X5 features a full-metal body with a glossy finish and non-slip bottom mat. A shock-resistant internal frame and rugged metal housing can withstand accidental drops of up to two meters (6.6 feet)^[7]. In addition, the Dynamic Thermal Guard technology and a heat sink – a mechanical internal solution – safeguard the X5 from overheating, ensuring reliability while maintaining optimal operating temperatures. The X5 also offers powerful data protection with ‘Samsung Portable SSD Software’, based on the AES 256-bit hardware data encryption, including optional password protection and easy configuration of security settings.

The X5 comes with a three-year limited warranty and will be available globally from Sept. 3, 2018, with a manufacturers’ suggested retail price (MSRP) starting at $399.99 for the 500GB model, $699.99 for the 1TB model and $1,399.99 for the 2TB model. For more information, please visit samsung.com/portable-ssd or samsungssd.com.

Key Specifications

Category	Samsung Portable SSD X5
Capacity	2TB/1TB/500GB[8]
Interface	Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps)
Dimensions (LxWxH)	119 x 62 x 19.7 mm (4.7 x 2.4 x 0.8 inches)
Weight	150 grams (5.3 oz.)[9]
Compatibility	H/W) Macs and Windows PCs with Thunderbolt 3 ports (Not backward compatible / Not compatible with PCs only with USB interface)   O/S) Mac OS Sierra (10.12) or higher Windows 10 64 bit RS 2 or higher
Performance	Up to 2,800 MB/s sequential read speeds Up to 2,300 MB/s sequential write speeds (500GB: up to 2,100 MB/s)
Encryption	AES 256-bit hardware encryption
Security	Samsung Portable SSD Software[10] Password protection (optional)
Certifications	CE, BSMI, KC, VCCI, C-tick, FCC, IC, UL, TUV, CB
RoHS Compliance	RoHS2
Warranty	Three-Year Limited Warranty[11]

[1] The NVM Express® design mark is a registered trademark of NVM Express, Inc.

[2] Thunderbolt 3 brings Thunderbolt to USB-C at speeds up to 40 Gbps, creating one compact port that does it all – delivering the fastest, most versatile connection to any dock, display, or data device. Thunderbolt and the Thunderbolt logo are trademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

[3] USB 3.1 Gen 2 delivers up to 10 Gbps USB data rate

[4] Based on the internal test results compared to a portable SSD 1TB (T5) and Samsung external HDD 1TB (HX-MK20P12). *Test system configuration: Intel® Core i5-7600 (@3.5 GHz), DDR4 4GB 1066MHz, OS-Window 10*64, Chipset-Asus Strix Z270E Gaming.

[5] Performance may vary depending on host configuration. To reach maximum read/write speeds of 2,800/2,300 MB/s, the host device and connection cables must support Thunderbolt 3.500GB version offers write speed up to 2,100 MB/s.

*Test system configuration: Intel® Core i7 8570H (@4.1GHz), DDR4 16GB 2667 MHz, OS-Windows 10*64, Chipset–Dell Alienware System (Dell i7 Alienware 17 R5). Performance measurements based on CrystalDiskMark v.5.1.2.

[6] Performance of the PC’s internal storage should be equal to or greater than X5. *Test system configuration: Intel® Core i7 7700 (@3.6 GHz), DDR4 4GB 2133 MHz, OS-Windows 10*64, Chipset–Aorus(Gigabyte) Z270-X Gaming 9.

[7] The internal free fall shock test was conducted under controlled conditions.

[8] 1 GB=1,000,000,000 bytes, 1 TB=1,000,000,000,000 bytes. Lower capacity may be demonstrated by your computer due to its use of a different measurement standard.

[9] Exact weight of product may vary by capacity.

[10] X5 works on PCs (Mac / Windows PC) that support Thunderbolt 3. Only PC versions (mac OS version/Windows OS version) of Samsung Portable SSD Software support X5, while the existing Android version (App) does not. In case of X5, Samsung Portable SSD Software update is available for both macOS and Windows OS versions. But X5 FW update is available for Windows OS version only.

[11] Samsung Electronics shall not be liable for any loss, including but not limited to loss of data or other information contained on Samsung Electronics product or loss of profit or revenue which may be incurred by user. For more information on the warranty, please visit samsung.com/portable-ssd.