Introduction
Micron Technology, Inc. is an American company headquartered in Boise, Idaho, founded on October 5th 1978.
The Micron products are marketed and sold under then Crucial and Ballistix brands, these products include: SDRAM type memory, DDR/2/3/4 RAM and NAND & Flash type storage chips.
In 2009, Micron was the first company to announce an SSD equipped with a SATA interface capable of 6 Gbit/s speeds. At the present time, Micron is involved in the manufacture and sale of memory chips for countless brands and product types.
Official product link:
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/storage-ssd-mx500
Packaging and accessories
The SSD is packaged in a standard cardboard box with a blue and white color combination that matches the MX500 graphics present on the SSD casing. The front side of the box features an overview style photo of the SSD. On the upper part there is the name of the product and its form factor alongside the Micron and Crucial emblems.
The back side of the packaging is used to showcase the main features of the SSD as well as the included software in 5 different languages. This size also has two labels that contain the model number and storage capacity as well as a disclaimer for the actual storage offered by the product.
The SSD is well protected within the packaging, it is held in place by a plastic shell that offers a firm grip on the case of the SSD with the help of two clips.
Specifications
Series: MX500
Model: CT500MX500SSD1
Capacity: 500GB
Form Factor: 2.5″ SATA
Controller: Silicon Motion SM2258
Flash Chips: Micron, 16 nm TLC – MT29F512G08EEHAFJ4-3R:A
Sequential Read: 560MB/s
Sequential Write: 510MB/s
Max. 4k random file read: 95,000 IOPS
Max. 4k random file write: 90,000 IOPS
Operating Voltage: DC 5V
Dimensions: 100mm x 69.85mm x 7mm
Supports: TRIM, NCQ and S.M.A.R.T. functions
Warranty: 5 years
Visual inspection
The MX500 series SSDs are identical in design, the storage units having a silver metal case and a blue sticker applied on the front side. The blue sticker being the only graphical element present on the entire MX500 series of products. The SSD is only 7mm thick and this makes it compatible with the Intel Ultrabook specification.
Disassembling the SSD, we have a single PCB design with all memory chips mounted on one side of the board. The SSR controller has a thermal pad that makes the contact betwene the chip surface and the metal case, this provides passive cooling.
The TLC flash chips inside the 500GB variant of the MX500 are made by Micron and are model number 8HA2D NW912. These are build on a 64-layer 3D NAND platform.
To lower the write bursts, the SSD uses a DRAM chip paired with the SSD controller, this chip is made by Micron and sports the D9SHD model number.
At the back of the SSD, we can see that the MX500 uses the SATA 6 interface.
Testing
The following system was used to test the memory kit:
– Processor: Intel i5 6600K
– Motherboard: ASRock Z270 Professional Gaming i7
– Graphic Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founder’s Edition
– SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB
– HDD: WD 1TB Blue
– PSU: Seasonic Snow Silent 750W Platinum
– CPU Cooler: Silverstone Tundra TD-04 E
– Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe
– OS: Windows 10 64-Bit (After April Update)
To test the SSD the following software was used: ATTO Disk Benchmark, HD Tune Pro, CrystalDiskMark 6.0.2, . In order to obtain a precise result each test was performed three times.
CrystalDiskMark 6.0.2 Read
CrystalDiskMark 6.0.2 Write
ATTO Disk Benchmark Read
ATTO Disk Benchmark Write
HD Tune Pro Read
HD Tune Pro Write
Final thoughts
The Crucial MX500 500 GB is one of the most affordable high capacity SSDs available on the market at this moment, with a price of around 75 USD or 65 EUR. It offers a great price per GB ratio and the reliability that started with the MX300 series. In addition, while the SSD average price has lowered, the MX500 still offers good performance in both writing and reading tasks.
The MX 500GB is available with a manufacturer warranty of 5 years, a statement that shows the true performance and reliability of the memory chips built on the 64-layer 3D NAND platform. The MX500 series offers encryption features that are performed on a hardware level instead of the older design that only used software level encryption. In order to achieve this, an 256-bit AES encryption engine is used to maintain the overall performance of the SSD.
In conclusion, the Crucial MX500 500 GB is one of the best choices for affordable high-capacity SSDs available at this moment. The price and warranty period should be enough for most users to choose this MX500 model, but Crucial also implemented their self-encryption technology. This among other reasons presented make the MX500 earn the Editor’s Choice Award.
