Samsung's next-gen 990 Pro PCIe 5.0 SSD spotted

(Image credit: Samsung)

Samsung is readying a new SSD according to data sourced from a South Korean conformity assessment database. If the model numbers follow the pattern of Samsung's previous SSDs, these models are likely to be as-yet-unannounced Samsung 990 Pro PCIe 5.0 drives. And I'm very excited to see these in action.

The database entry was spotted by @harukaze5719 (via Tom's Hardware). The models in question are the MZ-V9P1T0 and MZ-V9P2T0. The 9 in those model numbers is the giveaway, as the 980 Pro carries the model number MZ-V8P1T0 with some slight variations depending on the specific SKU. The 1T and 2T suggest there will be one and two TB versions, but not 4TB, though that may follow later.

The Samsung 980 Pro launched nearly two years ago, in September 2020. That was over a year after the first consumer PCIe 4.0 drives launched alongside AMD's X570 platform. It looks like Samsung doesn't want to be late to the party this time. The fact these listings have appeared in this database indicates the drives are soon to be released. A launch coinciding with that of AMD's PCIe 5.0 supporting AM5 platform is certainly possible.

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The 990 Pro isn't Samsung's first PCIe 5.0 SSD. The data center-oriented PM1743 is already available, though with its EDSFF form factor and up to 15.36TB capacity, it's not a drive that I can afford, even if I did have a server board to plug it into. If nothing else it proves that Samsung's PCIe 5.0 architecture is ready for prime time.

As this is just a hint that the drives exist, of course we have no idea on their specifications or pricing. We can expect them to include a new controller and Samsung’s latest and greatest 3D NAND.

Samsung 990 PRO SSD (1TB/2TB)It will be M.2 NVMe, PCIe 5.0. 2280? 2580? idk.memo : 980 PRO is MZ-V8P1T00https://t.co/PQBYA8rENZ pic.twitter.com/T1v03JkPSAAugust 2, 2022

Performance is also unknown, but given the PM1743 is capable of 14GB/s read speeds and 2,500K IOPS, it's no leap to say that the 990 Pro will destroy the best PCIe 4.0 M.2 drives by a wide margin.

Samsung will surely want to sell the drives to early adopters buying PCIe 5.0 supporting Zen 4 and 13th Gen systems, though there remains a question mark over how widespread PCIe 5.0 M.2 support will be on Intel's 700 series motherboards.

Chris' gaming experiences go back to the mid-nineties when he conned his parents into buying an 'educational PC' that was conveniently overpowered to play Doom and Tie Fighter. He developed a love of extreme overclocking that destroyed his savings despite the cheaper hardware on offer via his job at a PC store. To afford more LN2 he began moonlighting as a reviewer for VR-Zone before jumping the fence to work for MSI Australia. Since then, he's gone back to journalism, enthusiastically reviewing the latest and greatest components for PC & Tech Authority, PC Powerplay and currently Australian Personal Computer magazine and PC Gamer. Chris still puts far too many hours into Borderlands 3, always striving to become a more efficient killer.