Compare Crucial T710 1TB and Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB: prices, speeds, $/TB. Which to buy in September 2026? Full spec breakdown.
Both the Crucial T710 1TB and Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB sit in the Gen 5 category at 1 TB, so the matchup turns on controller efficiency, cache topology, and current pricing rather than raw class differences.
Hardware-wise, the Crucial T710 1TB runs on an SMI SM2508 controller that drew industry attention in 2024 for finally taming Gen 5 thermals. The Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB pairs Samsung's Piccolo — a DRAM-less controller with flexible PCIe generation support.
There's a modest pricing advantage for the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB: $239.00/TB compared with $264.00/TB. For typical gaming and productivity, this becomes the deciding factor when specs are close.
In the read department, the Crucial T710 1TB leads by roughly 7 GB/s. The difference is more academic than practical for typical use, but it does matter for video editors moving multi-GB project files.
Write performance separates them too. The Crucial T710 1TB sustains 12,000 MB/s writes versus 6,300 MB/s for the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB — a real advantage for video editors and anyone doing heavy file operations.
The Crucial T710 1TB carries a dedicated DRAM chip for FTL (Flash Translation Layer) mapping; the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB relies on HMB (Host Memory Buffer), borrowing 64 MB from system RAM. The practical gap shows up only under sustained random write loads.
If this purchase is for a PS5 storage expansion, the comparison flattens — Sony's PCIe Gen 4 controller normalizes both Crucial T710 1TB and Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB to roughly equal in-game load times. The cheaper drive is the smart pick. For content creators routinely rendering 4K or 8K video, the Crucial T710 1TB's 12,000 MB/s sustained write is the deciding factor — multi-GB project files land noticeably faster than on the alternative. Note for handheld gamers: M.2 2280 is the desktop/laptop standard. Steam Deck and the ROG Ally line need 2230 drives — neither Crucial T710 1TB nor Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB fits without modification.
Zoom out from this pair for a moment. Among the 6 Gen 5 1 TB drives we track, the Crucial T710 1TB ranks #6 by $/TB and the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB ranks #2. That puts at least one of them near the top of the value table — a reasonable head-to-head to be choosing from.
As of September 7, 2026, these tracked drives undercut both the Crucial T710 1TB and Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB on $/TB:
Pick the Crucial T710 1TB if you value meaningfully faster reads (14,900 MB/s), higher sustained writes (12,000 MB/s), and a dedicated DRAM cache chip. Crucial typically delivers the best $/TB among DRAM-equipped NVMes because Micron sells direct rather than going through brand licensing.
Pick the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB if you value the lower retail price ($239 vs $264), and better $/TB economics ($239.00/TB). Samsung designed the 990 EVO Plus around the Piccolo controller's dual-PCIe support — a hedge against both Gen 4 holdouts and Gen 5 early adopters.