Crucial MX100 512GB Solid State Drive Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

Given the performance of the MX100 and its high-capacity of 512GB, when I first read the recommended price points for each SKU, I honestly had to check that there was no error in typing. At 31 pence per GB (or ¢ if you’re in the US), this is by far, the cheapest SSD per GB that we have had in to date, with the next closest drive costing double the price per GB for half the total volume. If this alone does not give Crucial a big thumbs up then what else can I say?

Overview

For a long time, the difference between the budget and high performance ends of the SSD market have been rather spread out and when you then look at the drive capacities that are available compared to the price, to get 512GB of fast storage at this price point is simply remarkable. Crucial have set themselves a challenge of building an updated drive to replace the now ageing MX500 that they released only a year ago, and even though they are using a smaller 16nm NAND, the fact that it is built in-house with everything apart from the controller means that the overall production costs are kept to a minimum.

When we look at the performance, across the board it may not be a chart topping drive in the SATA SSD market, but this was never the intention. This said though, it does very well and between a fresh out-of-the box state and a conditioned state after 5TB of data has been written to and read from the drive, there is very little margin to be seen, the only benchmark where we saw variance was CrystalDiskMark, however the percentage difference is still within our margin of error. This said though, the sequential speeds are a little behind those quoted by Crucial and only within the ATTO baseline performance check was we able to come to these figures.

The story for the MX100 is short and to the point though, simply put it is a cheap drive that carries the all the right credentials that could make it fall into the enthusiast market, where the pricing is far stronger – especially for a 512GB drive. So if you are looking for a drive that delivers a bucket load of performance, but at a pint-sized price, the MX100 is simply in a league of its own; and don’t forget that there are 128GB and 256GB options out there if you want to stick below the £100 price tag.

Pros:

• Remarkable price point per GB
• Strong levels of performance for the budget market
• Well known vendor
• 3 year warranty

Cons:

• Performance can fluctuate as the drive volume fills

“Up to this point a budget drive typically meant lover storage capacities and/ or average levels of performance but Crucial have re-written the rule book with the MX100 with performance figures that seem astonishing considering the cost per GB of storage is so cheap. This may be a drive aimed at the upgrade market, but I can’t see why this drive can’t be pushed out as a suitable product for a new high performance build.”

Thanks to Crucial UK for providing this review sample.