Crucial expands the popular SSD series MX500 (test) with SATA connection by a model with 4 TB storage space. Once again, an SMI controller and 3D TLC NAND are used. The editors have a test sample that reveals surprises.
A word on its own: The sample of the new Crucial MX500 is too late for a test on today's case of the NDA 4 TB in the usual 2.5-inch housing reached the editorial team. However, this will be made up for at the appropriate time.
At first glance only more memory
In the data sheet provided, the manufacturer continues to promise up to 560 MB/s for reading, 510 MB/s for writing and the use of an SM2258 controller and 3D-TLC-NAND from the parent company Micron. The 5 year warranty, which is not usual for SATA SSDs, and the support of various encryption standards are unchanged.
With the 4 TB model, the IOPS for random reading (90K instead of 95K) and the TBW (1,000 TB) are also lower relative to the storage volume than with the smaller models.
test pattern contains the unexpected
The fact that the differences are actually greater and that not all of the information is correct can be seen when looking under the hood of the test sample provided by Crucial at short notice. This does not use the SM2258, but the SM2259, as was the case with the new edition of the MX500 with 1 TB. The four NAND packages (two on each side) carry four times the amount of memory compared to this one: a total of 16 dies are in one chip module. The identifier again shows 3D-TLC-NAND.
Sample of the MX500 with 4 TB in the editorial office At one point, however, it was drastically reduced: The DRAM cache only holds 512 MB, which is 1/8 of what would be usual for a 4 TB SSD. Whether this has a significant impact on performance remains to be clarified, but is not to be expected in normal applications in view of NVMe SSDs, which can cope well with only 64 MB host memory buffer.
The test follows
The test series are not yet finished and technical queries from the manufacturer are still waiting for an answer, but one will be shortly Test of the MX500 with 4 TB on computer base to be expected.
The price was also not yet finally clarified; typical for the series, however, this will again be comparatively low and could end up in the region of 330 euros.
ComputerBase has received information about this article from Crucial under NDA. The only requirement was the earliest possible publication time.