If you fancy upgrading your system before you go back to school, then this is a good place to start: the super-fast Samsung 990 Evo NVMe SSD is now $69.99 (was $149.99) at Amazon.
This is a massive 53% saving on what we think is the best SSD for laptops, although of course it works just as well in desktops. The limited-time deal applies to the 1TB version, although the 2TB is also available on the same page, but with a 33% discount.
Today's best Samsung 990 Evo NVMe SSD deal
In our Samsung Evo 990 review, we noted how it offers a good balance between performance, efficiency and cost. Although we thought the original price was quite steep, we did think it a worthy choice if you could get it for less – which you now can.
NVMe SSDs have been taking over in recent years, thanks to their blistering read and write speeds, eclipsing those of traditional SATA SSDs. By using the PCIe standard, they can make use of an increased number of data lanes over SATA, which only has one. Since these NVMe cards also come in the M.2 form factor, they are also much smaller than traditional SATA drives.
The 990 Evo is compatible with both PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 standards, one of our favorite aspects of the card as it makes it versatile. Although we didn't find it reached the speeds of the best 4.0 cards out there, it's still quick enough for gaming and other intensive tasks. It has read and write speeds of up to 5,000 and 4,200 MB/s respectively, and uses less power than the 970 Evo Plus. We also found it managed its temperature well, with its generated heat giving us no cause for concern.
If you're interested in more SSDs with a small form factor, then take a look at our rundown of the best M.2 SSD options. And if capacity is your main concern, we've also featured the largest SSD and hard drive options.
