Crucial MX500 500 GB

[W1zzard]

In our initial review of the Crucial MX500, we were impressed by how well the new TLC chips work on these drives. There's barely any write-hole and warranty has been increased to a reassuring five years. Now, we test the 500 GB version, which sits right at the sweet spot of capacities currently in demand by consumers today.

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[TheLostSwede]

Yes, correct, TLC isn't trusted, but 3D TLC is in quite a different ballpark and seems to offer not only much better performance, but also much better reliability.
Not sure if it really is much of a con, especially as it seems like 90% of SSDs are heading towards 3D TLC.

 

[jabbadap]

Yes, correct, TLC isn't trusted, but 3D TLC is in quite a different ballpark and seems to offer not only much better performance, but also much better reliability.
Not sure if it really is much of a con, especially as it seems like 90% of SSDs are heading towards 3D TLC.

Yeah agree. This one has longer warranty and higher TBW than 2D MLC MX100 had. Just wonder what will be the outcry with QLC nand. Hopefully not in a way that non-informed people recommend those instead of TLC drives. Oh Samsung what did you do with 840/840 evo...

 

[Deleted member 50521]

Had a MX500 2TB for a lab server. Truly impressive drive.

 

[cucker tarlson]

The GB/$ ratio is pretty insane compared to nvme drives. 1TB MX500 is about the same price as 500GB nvme and in real world use you barely see any difference. Still, I'm a bit worried about the durability, I want it to last a lot more than 5 years. I expect more than 5 years even from a cheap ass HDD. Will this SSD handle +10 years and possibly twice or three times as much data as it's rated for ? We know MLC will.

 

[jabbadap]

The GB/$ ratio is pretty insane compared to nvme drives. 1TB MX500 is about the same price as 500GB nvme and in real world use you barely see any difference. Still, I'm a bit worried about the durability, I want it to last a lot more than 5 years. I expect more than 5 years even from a cheap ass HDD. Will this SSD handle +10 years and possibly twice or three times as much data as it's rated for ? We know MLC will.

Well do look at Russian endurance test(Use google translate if you don't speak Russian). I.e. MX300 with 3d TLC resulted 2659 TB, while Crucial marketing it as 80TBW drive.

 

[newtekie1]

The GB/$ ratio is pretty insane compared to nvme drives. 1TB MX500 is about the same price as 500GB nvme and in real world use you barely see any difference. Still, I'm a bit worried about the durability, I want it to last a lot more than 5 years. I expect more than 5 years even from a cheap ass HDD. Will this SSD handle +10 years and possibly twice or three times as much data as it's rated for ? We know MLC will.

Endurance shouldn't be a problem, even the crappy 2D TLC drives last over 500TB of written data.

 

[bug]

The GB/$ ratio is pretty insane compared to nvme drives. 1TB MX500 is about the same price as 500GB nvme and in real world use you barely see any difference. Still, I'm a bit worried about the durability, I want it to last a lot more than 5 years. I expect more than 5 years even from a cheap ass HDD. Will this SSD handle +10 years and possibly twice or three times as much data as it's rated for ? We know MLC will.

Yeah, NVMe is overpriced to the point I haven't given it a thought when I bought (yet another) SSD last year. I mean, the price may be justified, but the gains just aren't there.
Also, I wish reviews will make painfully obvious the fact that 4k random reads at QD1 make about 90% of the performance of a drive. You can literally order the performance of a drive going just by that metric. Yet TPU chooses to publish IOPS instead (something directly related to the read speed, yet completelty unfamiliar to most users) while other sites (Anandtech included) choose to publish an arcane "combined QD1..4" measurement.

 

[TheLostSwede]

The GB/$ ratio is pretty insane compared to nvme drives. 1TB MX500 is about the same price as 500GB nvme and in real world use you barely see any difference. Still, I'm a bit worried about the durability, I want it to last a lot more than 5 years. I expect more than 5 years even from a cheap ass HDD. Will this SSD handle +10 years and possibly twice or three times as much data as it's rated for ? We know MLC will.

How much data do you write to your SSDs every day? Why would anyone do a full drive write on a daily or even weekly or monthly basis?
Obviously the endurance rating is a minimum, guaranteed rating, not an average. Even so, for most people, there's very little to worry about imho, especially at higher capacity.
What I would be worried about is everyone who sits on an old 120-128GB drive that's a few years old now, especially cheaper drives with second grade flash.
We've seen a tremendous improvement in quality of SSDs over the past couple of years. Is anyone here longing back to the SandForce and OCZ days?

Yeah, NVMe is overpriced to the point I haven't given it a thought when I bought (yet another) SSD last year. I mean, the price may be justified, but the gains just aren't there.
Also, I wish reviews will make painfully obvious the fact that 4k random reads at QD1 make about 90% of the performance of a drive. You can literally order the performance of a drive going just by that metric. Yet TPU chooses to publish IOPS instead (something directly related to the read speed, yet completelty unfamiliar to most users) while other sites (Anandtech included) choose to publish an arcane "combined QD1..4" measurement.

Because QD1 makes for really boring graphs?

NVMe can make a difference, it's noticeable when you work with large files, especially for photo and video editing.

 

[cucker tarlson]

Well do look at Russian endurance test(Use google translate if you don't speak Russian). I.e. MX300 with 3d TLC resulted 2659 TB, while Crucial marketing it as 80TBW drive.

That 3D TLC on 960 evo is pretty insane.

 

[bug]

NVMe can make a difference, it's noticeable when you work with large files, especially for photo and video editing.

No doubt, but if you're not doing it professionally, that's situational.

 

[W1zzard]

Yet TPU chooses to publish IOPS instead (something directly related to the read speed, yet completelty unfamiliar to most users)

Isn't it industry standard to quote random IO as IOPS and sequential as MB/s ? I find myself constantly converting when reading sites that report everything in just MB/s or just IOPS.

 

[bug]

Isn't it industry standard to quote random IO as IOPS and sequential as MB/s ? I find myself constantly converting when reading sites that report everything in just MB/s or just IOPS.

Idk about the industry, AS-SSD doesn't do it like that

 

[cucker tarlson]

@W1zzard will you be doing helium HDD reviews anytime in the future ?

can't seem to find many reviews on how they perform in real world use, except for one where it kicks ass, with performance much closer to ssd than any traditional hdds dare to achieve

copy (7gb) +install (witcher 3)

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...seagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,8

sims 3 install

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...seagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,9

unpacking rar

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...seagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,6

game load time

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...eagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,10

 

[W1zzard]

@W1zzard will you be doing helium HDD reviews anytime in the future ?

I have no plans to do any HDD reviews, and also don't have any contacts

 

[bug]

@W1zzard will you be doing helium HDD reviews anytime in the future ?

can't seem to find many reviews on how they perform in real world use, except for one where it kicks ass, with performance much closer to ssd than any traditional hdds dare to achieve

copy (7gb) +install (witcher 3)

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...seagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,8

sims 3 install

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...seagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,9

unpacking rar

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...seagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,6

game load time

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...eagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,10

Probably the RAR unpacking is more CPU bottlenecked? Also I saw the only Polish word I know in there: Wiedźmin

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

using it as a "fast drive" for games, OS, apps & whatnot, it's a decent SSD for that price.

 

[Assimilator]

Please can you put a link to the 1TB in the review so users can compare.

 

[coonbro]

mx500 is on my short list in the 250gb range its a toss up with a SanDisk 250GB Ultra 3D NAND , but leaning to the sandisk ?? just seems for the sme amount of user reviews the sandisk has less complaint reviews [just a small margin ] then seemd like with out going back to look the MX 300 had a lot [?]

 

[bug]

mx500 is on my short list in the 250gb range its a toss up with a SanDisk 250GB Ultra 3D NAND , but leaning to the sandisk ?? just seems for the sme amount of user reviews the sandisk has less complaint reviews [just a small margin ] then seemd like with out going back to look the MX 300 had a lot [?]

Neah, the MX300 was also solid (I got one). It just slowed down more than other drives when filled up. MX500 seems to have fixed that.

 

[coonbro]

we'll see . for me its when MLC ''disappeared '' when I lost interest and just stuck with my old platters that still serve me well .

what kinda power /data loss protection do these drives offer ? can this be tested in as part of these reviews ?

''This includes both TCG Opal encryption support and Crucial's partial power loss protection, features which are uncommon on mainstream or budget consumer SSDs.''

Crucial's partial power loss protection ? like it works when it feels like it ?

or
''Where the MX300 series has hardware power loss protection in hardware by ceramic capacitors, the MX500 doesn't. Crucial states they have made alterations in its program sequencing for its NAND flash, this results (they claim) into the same functionality.''

seems some conflicting review reports on that ?

with the 3ed world power grid I got here [in L , A - that's lower Alabama ] its nice to know these things for a SSD .;

 

[bug]

we'll see . for me its when MLC ''disappeared '' when I lost interest and just stuck with my old platters that still serve me well .

what kinda power /data loss protection do these drives offer ? can this be tested in as part of these reviews ?

''This includes both TCG Opal encryption support and Crucial's partial power loss protection, features which are uncommon on mainstream or budget consumer SSDs.''

Crucial's partial power loss protection ? like it works when it feels like it ?

or
''Where the MX300 series has hardware power loss protection in hardware by ceramic capacitors, the MX500 doesn't. Crucial states they have made alterations in its program sequencing for its NAND flash, this results (they claim) into the same functionality.''

with the 3ed world power grid I got here [in L , A - that's lower Alabama ] its nice to know these things for a SSD .;

Now you're just splitting hairs. The power protection you're seeking is an enterprise grade feature (it's not like a consumer SSD will go belly-up at each and every power loss), yet you're demanding it from consumer hardware? Go buy an enterprise SSD if that's what you need.

 

[coonbro]

well it was a feature on the S10 it was on a few consumer ssd's if you look heres what there pfd states on the mx 500

Integrated Power Loss Immunity: Avoid unintended data loss when the power unexpectedly goes out. This built-in feature of our new NAND protects your data swiftly and efficiently, so if your system suddenly shuts down, you keep all your saved work.'

but its not haerdware so to say as before ?

all I like to se is that tested and proved - throw the breaker with the ssd doing something and see if say 9 of 10 times it worked as advertised come up with a power loss test on this .

then who offers the best solution in there SSD? this is not enterprise only . that's all

 

[MrGenius]

@W1zzard will you be doing helium HDD reviews anytime in the future ?

can't seem to find many reviews on how they perform in real world use, except for one where it kicks ass, with performance much closer to ssd than any traditional hdds dare to achieve

copy (7gb) +install (witcher 3)

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...seagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,8

sims 3 install

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...seagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,9

unpacking rar

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...seagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,6

game load time

https://www.purepc.pl/pamieci_masow...eagate_barracuda_pro_10_tb_hel_yeah?page=0,10

Helium HDDs are NOT somehow inherently faster(in terms of R/W speed performance) than non-helium HDDs. If that's what you're insinuating. And it very much sounds as though you are. If an HDD is faster than another HDD, or closer to the speed of an SSD, it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with it being filled with helium or not.

 

[MustSeeMelons]

Bought a laptop recently which only came with an NVME SSD installed, looks like this will fill its SATA spot. I love cheap and good enough SSD's