Compare Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB and Crucial P310 4TB: prices, speeds, $/TB. Which to buy in May 2026? Full spec breakdown.
Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB vs Crucial P310 4TB pits two different generations against each other at 4 TB. The question isn't which is faster on paper — that's settled — it's whether the bandwidth gap shows up in your specific workload.
Hardware-wise, the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB runs on Samsung's Piccolo controller — DRAM-less with PCIe 4.0/5.0 dual-mode support. The Crucial P310 4TB pairs Phison's E27T — a four-channel Gen 4 controller for HMB designs.
Price separates these two meaningfully. The Crucial P310 4TB costs $74.75/TB versus $104.75/TB for the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB — a 29% premium that needs justification in real benchmarks, not just spec-sheet bragging.
On warranty endurance the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB carries 2,400 TBW against Crucial P310 4TB's 1,760 TBW. Both will outlast typical use, but the gap matters if you're doing professional content work.
Heading to a PlayStation 5? Both drives drop into the console's M.2 bay and report identical real-world benchmarks since the PS5 caps storage at PCIe 4.0 speeds. The Crucial P310 4TB wins this matchup on $/TB. The leap from Gen 4 to Gen 5 doubles peak throughput on paper but produces single-digit-percent improvements in game load times, OS boot, and most productivity benchmarks. The Crucial P310 4TB is the better default unless you have a specific workload that needs the extra lanes. Both drives use the 2280 form factor, which is too long for Steam Deck or ROG Ally — you'd need a 2230 variant if either manufacturer offers one, or a dedicated handheld-format drive instead.
Pick the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB if you value a higher TBW endurance rating (2,400 TBW). The 990 EVO Plus uniquely supports both PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 5.0 x2 modes — useful flexibility if you might upgrade motherboard generations.
Pick the Crucial P310 4TB if you value the lower retail price ($299 vs $419), and better $/TB economics ($74.75/TB).