INTRODUCTION

   SSD (Solid State Drive) prices have taken a huge dive compared to even just a couple of years ago but evidently that hasn't been enough to attract even casual users (at least not most of them) so it doesn't really come as a surprise to us that lately many manufacturers do their best to introduce even more affordable models in the market by cutting around some corners. Of course many people see this as something strange since not too long ago every single manufacturer was trying to get the performance crown but the way i see it is that priorities have changed over time so currently cost is basically their primary goal (at least for that segment of the market). Crucial recently launched the BX100 line of SSDs aimed primarily towards casual users and gamers and for the past week we've been testing the 250GB variant.

   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.

   The BX100 is available in 120/250/500/1TB capacities so much like every other SSD line out there you can expect different performance levels so although all models feature 535MB/s in read the 120GB model features 185MB/s in write, the 250GB features 370MB/s in write and the 500/1TB models go up to 450MB/s. Under the bonnet Crucial has placed a brand new NAND flash controller by Silicon Motion (SM2246EN model) with 128Gbit 16nm synchronous Micron MLC NAND flash modules and a custom firmware which according to them offers extremely low power consumption. All models in the BX100 line feature an MTBF (Crucial calls it MTTF) rating of 1.5 million hours, endurance up to 72TB written (40GB per day for 5 years), garbage collection, TRIM, data path protection, thermal monitoring, SMART (self-monitoring and reporting technology) and ECC (error correction code). Unfortunately as mentioned earlier we got the 250GB so at least for now we can't really offer the best possible performance levels this line offers in our charts (this applies with most models however in the market).