Which is better, Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB or Lexar NM790 4TB? July 2026 side-by-side with prices, specs, and verdict.
Cross-generation comparisons reveal whether you're paying for peak speed or sustained value. Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB vs Lexar NM790 4TB at 4 TB is a perfect lens for that question.
Hardware-wise, the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB runs on the dual-mode Samsung Piccolo silicon that uniquely runs PCIe 5.0 x2 or PCIe 4.0 x4. The Lexar NM790 4TB pairs a MAP1602 controller built specifically for DRAM-less HMB designs.
Lexar NM790 4TB's $127.50/TB pricing edges out Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB's $146.25/TB by about 13%. Not transformative, but a real difference at 2-4 TB capacities where it adds up.
PS5 owners get no measurable benefit from either drive's peak speed because Sony's internal NVMe controller throttles to ~5,500 MB/s; treat Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB and Lexar NM790 4TB as interchangeable here and let price decide. Generational difference matters mainly for sequential-heavy workloads. The Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB's 7,250 MB/s read beats Lexar NM790 4TB's 7,400 on paper, though in practice both feel identical loading games. Note for handheld gamers: M.2 2280 is the desktop/laptop standard. Steam Deck and the ROG Ally line need 2230 drives — neither Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB nor Lexar NM790 4TB fits without modification.
Market context: the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB ranks #1 of 6 Gen 5 4 TB drives we track by $/TB, while the Lexar NM790 4TB ranks #1 of 6 Gen 4 4 TB drives. That puts at least one of them near the top of the value table — a reasonable head-to-head to be choosing from.
At $127.50/TB, the Lexar NM790 4TB is already among the cheapest 4 TB drives we track — nothing in this class undercuts it. See the full $/TB ranking.
Among Samsung's lineup, the 990 EVO Plus is the only consumer drive that physically supports dual-generation PCIe — same hardware, different bus speed depending on platform.
Lean toward the Lexar NM790 4TB when the lower retail price ($510 vs $585), and better $/TB economics ($127.50/TB) top your priority list. The Lexar NM790 4TB captures the value tier well: same NAND class as flagships, paired with a DRAM-less controller that costs less and uses HMB for the address-mapping table.