INTRODUCTION

   As technology progresses prices for current and previous generation devices keep falling and that has allowed solid state drives (SSDs) to become mainstream quite faster than many of us had hoped for when we first started to receive the very first ones to appear in the market roughly 6 years ago. Of course compared to regular mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) the difference in price/capacity ratio is still somewhat large but at least now one can get an high performance 256GB SSD model for less than 0.7$ per GB. Price however is not the only thing that has improved the standing of SSDs in the market since with the appearance of 1TB models and the recent announcement of 2TB ones professionals can now have superior read & write speeds at very large capacities (always compared to the past). Crucial just recently announced their own offering for such audiences the mid-end MX100 SSD model which is currently available in 128,256 and 512GB capacities (with us we have the 512GB model).

   Crucial.com is a leading online retailer specializing in computer memory (RAM) and solid state drives (SSD), and is operated by a subsidiary of Micron Technology, Inc., one of the world's leading manufacturers of computer memory products. Crucial.com offers more than 250,000 compatible products for nearly every computer system: home and business, old and new, PC and Mac® computers. Utilizing a suite of easy-to-use, free online tools, including the Crucial® System Scanner and the Crucial Memory Advisor™ tool, crucial.com makes it easy to find a compatible upgrade to improve computer performance and restore system reliability. For more information, visit www.crucial.com.

   If we were to place the specs sheet of the brand new M550 right next to that of the MX100 we'd have a really hard time telling them apart since their sole difference lies on the MLC NAND flash modules used which are Crucial’s latest 16nm 128Gbit ones. Now compared to the 20nm ones used by the M550 the 16nm ones are quite cheaper to manufacture and are not really that slower in performance as you will all see later on. The MX100 also makes use of the same Marvell 88SS9189 NAND flash controller as the M550 so we also see features like AES 256-bit hardware encryption, power loss protection (via a row of tantalum capacitors), RAIN (Redundant Array of Independent NAND), TCG Opal 2.0 and IEEE-1667 which make the MX100 one of the rather few drives currently in the market fully compatible with Microsoft’s eDrive encryption. According to Crucial the MX100 also comes with an endurance rating of 72TB so nothing new here either. The one thing we really want to see however is how the MX100 compares to the highest-end M550 so without further delay let's find out.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Crucial makes use of a similar box like the one we've seen with the M500/550 models to ship the MX100 in so once again we see a product picture at the front along with the company logo, the model name and capacity.

The package contents are placed at the rear of the box along with the drives serial number, barcode, certification logos and contact information for Crucial.

A 7mm to 9mm spacer and an Acronis True Image HD key are bundled with the MX100.

THE MX100 512GB

Again we see the same aluminum enclosure as the one used with the M500/M550 models (measures 100.45mm in length, 69.85mm in width and 7mm in thickness with a weight of 70g).

The sticker at the rear lists the model name, model number, serial number, barcodes, electrical requirements, model capacity, encryption key (PSID), firmware version and several certification icons.

As usual at the rear we see the typical SATA power and data connectors.

Removing the enclosure is a very easy task although by doing so you're obviously voiding the warranty.

Crucial has placed a total of 16 Micron NAND flash modules (16GB each) on both sides of the PCB.

On the bottom side we see the 8 channel 88SS9189 controller by Marvell and a low-power DRAM module by Micron.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   After roughly 6 years of testing sold state drives i have concluded that it's almost impossible for any single benchmark suite to accurately measure their performance and that's why in certain benchmark suites we see amazing read/write performance numbers with some drives while in others things are quite different. The reason behind this is that some benchmarking suites are configured to read and write random chunks of data while others read and write constant (sequential) ones. So that's why i always use a very wide selection of benchmarking suites including AIDA64, HD Tach RW, HD Tune Pro, Crystal Disk Mark, Sisoftware Sandra Pro, AS SSD, IOmeter and ATTO. To get the most accurate results each test gets repeated a total of 6 times with the average performance numbers recorded into our charts.

   Many people made inquiries about the charts ever since the last comparison so once again please do keep in mind that the Charts have the average performance numbers of each drive recorded and not the peak (highest) ones. Also although every single one of these programs can help potential buyers choose the right drive for their needs you should also remember that from any kind of benchmark up to real world usage the gap is not small (and usually most differences will go unnoticed by most people). All tests were performed in a fresh Windows 7 Ultimate x64 installation with every update installed up to June 26th 2014.

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TUNE PRO / HD TACH RW

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK

TEST RESULTS - AS SSD / IOMETER

CONCLUSION

   Although the MX100 is supposed to be somewhat slower compared to the M550 since it uses the cheaper 16nm NAND flash modules by Micron in the end as you can see from our charts that doesn't seem to be the case. Of course that's due to a small error from our end since in our charts we compare the 256GB variant of the M550 to the 512GB variant of the MX100 and as many of you are certainly aware 512GB variants outperform their 128/256GB brothers most of the times. That being said if you're thinking of purchasing the M550 256GB model it might be better for you to spend just a tad more and go for the MX100 512GB (especially if you could use the extra space) since it does outperform the 256GB variant of the M550 line in most tests.

   With a current price tag set at USD214.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and at 202Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the MX100 512GB SSD by Crucial is roughly 25% cheaper compared to the M550 512GB and roughly 35% more expensive compared to the M550 256GB. Even compared to its immediate competition the 840 EVO by Samsung the MX100 is still roughly 15% cheaper and although i do think Crucial has even more room to lower prices (my guess is they will and soon) we can't really complain about that. Overall the MX100 512GB is a very good solution for people who have need of high capacities and would like to make use of the performance offered by an SSD. It's certainly not the fastest model in the market or in our charts for that matter but still it's very fast, has numerous useful features and costs lower than most if not all 512GB SSD models in the market currently (current models at least) and that's why it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Excellent Overall Performance (Outperforms The M550 256GB)
- Features (RAIN/eDrive and Power Loss Support)
- Acronis True Image HD Software
- 3 Year Warranty
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- None