INTRODUCTION

   The arrival of consumer oriented SATA solid state drives (SSD's) roughly 10 years ago marked the beginning of the end for mechanical drives, or at least that was what all of us believed back then. Over the years solid state drives did introduce blazing fast read and write performance numbers (especially when the first M.2 models made their debut a few years back) but mechanical drives didnt stay still either and so today although the former is the number one choice when it comes to performance the latter are still around (mainly due to their massively better price/capacity ratio) with no signs of going anywhere any time soon. Crucial was among the very first manufacturers to introduce an SSD drive and after many award winning models (and some not so good) today we're taking a look at their brand new MX500 500GB model which was released in December last year.

   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 MX500 line of SSDs is based on Micron's new 256Gbit 64-layer 3D TLC NAND flash and is currently available in 250GB/500GB/1TB/2TB capacities for the SATA III interface and 250GB/500GB/1TB for the M.2 2280 interface. In a surprising move (for us at least) Crucial decided to equip their brand new MX500 with the same SM2258 quad-channel NAND controller by Silicon Motion as their with "entry-level" BX300 model (this is actually a first for an MX series SSD since all previous models came fitted with Marvell controllers). Once again the SM2258 quad-channel NAND flash controller features 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 - Crucial uses a dynamic buffer), global wear leveling (algorithm which evens program/erase count and extends SSD lifespan), DevSleep (device sleep - power save), S.M.A.R.T, TRIM, NCQ, TCG Opal and hardware AES 256bit encryption. The MX500 line of SSDs also supports partial power loss protection (Crucial calls it power loss immunity and unlike previous MX models it's based on a combination of firmware improvements and capacitors), is covered with a 5 year limited warranty and features an MTBF (MTTF) of up to 1.8 million hours. Finally Crucial reports a write endurance of 100TBW for the 250GB model, 180TBW for the 500GB model, 360TBW for the 1TB model and 700TBW for the 2TB model.