Compare Samsung 990 PRO 2TB and Lexar NM790 2TB: prices, speeds, $/TB. Which to buy in July 2026? Full spec breakdown.
Both the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB and Lexar NM790 2TB sit in the Gen 4 category at 2 TB, so the matchup turns on controller efficiency, cache topology, and current pricing rather than raw class differences.
Hardware-wise, the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB runs on the in-house Samsung Pascal — engineered specifically for the 990 PRO at 8nm. The Lexar NM790 2TB pairs a MAP1602 controller built specifically for DRAM-less HMB designs.
There's a modest pricing advantage for the Lexar NM790 2TB: $155.00/TB compared with $194.00/TB. For typical gaming and productivity, this becomes the deciding factor when specs are close.
The Samsung 990 PRO 2TB carries a dedicated DRAM chip for FTL (Flash Translation Layer) mapping; the Lexar NM790 2TB relies on HMB (Host Memory Buffer), borrowing 64 MB from system RAM. The practical gap shows up only under sustained random write loads.
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 PRO 2TB and Lexar NM790 2TB as interchangeable here and let price decide. 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 PRO 2TB nor Lexar NM790 2TB fits without modification.
Zoom out from this pair for a moment. Among the 11 Gen 4 2 TB drives we track, the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB ranks #10 by $/TB and the Lexar NM790 2TB ranks #7. Neither is a value leader right now — if $/TB is your priority, check the cheaper alternatives below before committing.
As of July 27, 2026, these tracked drives undercut both the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB and Lexar NM790 2TB on $/TB:
Pick the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB if you value a dedicated DRAM cache chip. Among consumer SSD makers, Samsung's PRO series consistently scores highest on long-term reliability surveys (Backblaze, Puget Systems Q1 2026 data).
Pick the Lexar NM790 2TB if you value the lower retail price ($310 vs $388), and better $/TB economics ($155.00/TB). The Lexar NM790 2TB 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.