INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The entire SSD (solid state drive) market may revolve around M.2 NVMe drives lately (largely thanks to their small form factor and impressive read & write performance numbers) but due to the vast number of consumers with "older" and "incompatible" systems (lacking M.2 ports/slots) SATA III models aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Now as many of you are certainly aware the SATA III interface has been maxed out by SSDs for many years now (at least in terms of maximum data transfer not sustained) but for people looking not to spend much on one or for people who don't have M.2 compatible systems these are pretty much still a one way (PCIex models are also an option but not nearly as popular). Crucial has released quite a few SATA III models over the past 3 years including the quite successful MX300 and BX200 lines and today we're taking a look at the 480GB variant of their brand new BX300 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.

   The new BX300 line of SATA III SSDs by Crucial is currently available in 120/240/480GB capacities and is based on the 4-channel SM2258 NAND flash controller by Silicon Motion (originally developed for use with TLC NAND) which they paired with Micron's 256Gb 32L 3D MLC NAND flash and LPDDR3 modules (512MB for the 480GB variant and 256MB for the other two). Silicon Motion has equipped the SM2258 quad-channel controller with various technologies including NANDXtend (error-correcting with data protection), Static Data Refresh (ensures data integrity), Direct-to-TLC and SLC Caching (algorithms for optimal sustained performance - 16GB of SLC write cache are present in the 480GB variant), global wear leveling (algorithm which evens program/erase count and extends SSD lifespan), DevSleep (device sleep), S.M.A.R.T, TRIM, NCQ, TCG Opal and hardware AES 256bit encryption. Finally Crucial covers the BX300 480GB drive with a limited three year warranty and reports a write endurance of 160TBW (80TBW for the 240GB and 55TBW for the 120GB variants) with an MTBF of 1.5 million hours. We expect very good results from the BX300 480GB so let's move forward with today’s review.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much like most SSDs by Crucial the BX300 arrived inside a small white box that has a partial product picture at the front along with the capacity and form factor of the drive.

 

 

The bundle contents and contact information for Crucial are both printed at the rear.

 

 

Typically the drive is secured inside a formed piece of plastic.

 

 

Inside the box you will find the BX300 SSD, 7mm to 9.5mm spacer, Acronis True Image HD license key and the installation instructions.

 

 

THE BX300 480GB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing new in terms of design since we saw the exact same sticker and enclosure on the BX200 a while back.

 

 

A small sticker at the base of the drive contains various details including the installed firmware version, product part and serial numbers, interface and country of assembly.

 

 

The typical SATA III data and power connectors are placed at the rear.

 

 

Opening up the enclosure requires removing 4 tiny Philips screws from its two sides.

 

 

On the top side of the PCB we find just 4 Micron NAND flash modules.

 

 

Moving onto the other side of the PCB we see 4 more Micron NAND flash modules, the LPDDR3 512MB RAM and the Silicon Motion SM2258 quad-channel controller.

 

 

TEST BED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TESTING METHODOLOGY

 

   After over 9 years of testing solid state drives we've 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. Also as of February 25th 2015 our results will also include the Storage Networking Industry Association’s (SNIA) IOMeter tests. These tests include a 12 Hour write test used to “simulate” performance degradation over time and a mixed workload test which basically shows what you can expect when using an SSD continuously for roughly two hours. Unfortunately due to the time required for these tests we repeat them a total of 3 times and not 6 as the above.

   Many people have made inquiries about our charts in the past 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 10 Pro x64 installation with every update installed up to November 12th 2017.

 

 

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK X64

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – AS SSD / IOMETER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – IOMETER SNIA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

………

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   When Crucial announced that the new BX300 series of SSDs was going to use their new MLC 3D NAND flash we knew right from the start that it would surpass their TLC 3D NAND based MX300 line in pretty much every possible way. Today and after finally getting our hands on the BX300 that’s quite obvious by just looking at our charts. In terms of durability both the BX300 480GB and the MX300 525GB (this is the closest capacity model of the MX300 series) share the same MTBF of 1.5 million hours and the same 160TBW. Unfortunately the BX300 is currently not available in capacities over 480GB (for example the MX300 is also available in 525GB/ 750GB/ 1TB/ 2TB) nor is it also available in the M.2 form factor so we do hope Crucial will change both in the months to come.

   Surprisingly enough although the new BX300 series uses 3D MLC NAND it’s priced quite aggressively and almost identically to the MX300 series. To be more exact the BX300 480GB SSD currently retails for USD144.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 135Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) while the MX300 525GB retails for USD149.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 148Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Of course the MX300 525GB offers roughly 45GB of storage space more compared to the BX300 480GB but the second offers better performance so it’s up to consumers to choose what they need more. That being said the BX300 480GB clearly performs its MX300 counterpart and that’s more than enough for us to give it our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality / Durability (160TB TBW / 1.5 Million Hours MTBF)
- Very Good Performance
- Features (NANDXtend / Static Data Refresh / SLC Caching / DevSleep/ eDrive Support)
- Crucial Storage Executive Software
- 3 Year Warranty
- Price

CONS

- Available Capacities (120/240/480GB)
- Not Available In The M.2 Form Factor