Compare Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB and Lexar NM790 4TB: prices, speeds, $/TB. Which to buy in May 2026? Full spec breakdown.
Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB vs Lexar NM790 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 Lexar NM790 4TB pairs MaxioTech's MAP1602 silicon, the default choice for budget Gen 4 drives in 2024-2026.
Price separates these two meaningfully. The Lexar NM790 4TB costs $67.25/TB versus $104.75/TB for the Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB — a 36% premium that needs justification in real benchmarks, not just spec-sheet bragging.
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 Lexar NM790 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 Lexar NM790 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.
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 Lexar NM790 4TB if you value the lower retail price ($269 vs $419), and better $/TB economics ($67.25/TB). Budget-tier drives like the Lexar NM790 4TB have closed the gap with premium NVMes — the MAP1602 controller is genuinely competitive for everyday workloads at half the price.