discussion Crucial MX100 512GB SSD Review

[AkG]

SATA 2 Performance

SATA 2 Performance

<i>In a perfect world everyone investing in a new solid state drive would have access to a SATA 6GB/s controller which could pass on the TRIM command. In reality not everyone has this and for many the decision comes down either giving up TRIM – never a good idea with most controllers – and running it off a secondary controller; or taking a performance hit and running in SATA 2.0 mode.

These tests will consist of some of our real world and synthetic benchmarks run on our standard 1155 test-bed; but the drive will be attached to an SATA 2 port.

For synthetic we have opted for the newcomer to our charts: Anvil Storage Utilities Pro. For real world we have opted for our Adobe test. These two tests should give you a very good idea of the level of performance impact you can expect from running a modern SATA 6 drive in compatibility mode.</i>

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Once again the MX100 512GB easily holds its own against the M550 and SP920 512GB models, and while there <i>is</i> a difference in performance it is small enough that most will never notice it. This really is the value drive to beat - as even mainstream orientated drives had better beware.

 

[AkG]

Conclusion

Conclusion

So here we are at the end of this review knowing full well how other the press and users have been falling over themselves in an effort to heap praised upon Crucial’s MX100. In many ways this adoration is certainly well deserved considering the MX100 512GB’s positioning relative to higher priced alternatives like AData’s SP920 and Crucial’s own flagship, the M550. However, there’s more to this story than what first meets the eye.

Let’s start things off by addressing the MX100 512GB directly. This is a fast, high capacity drive that sets a new standard for affordability among mid-range SSDs without many of the sacrifices normally associated with lower priced solid state storage devices. Despite the danger of stepping on the toes of its more expensive big brother, the MX100 held tenaciously on throughout the review and ended the testing phase just a few percentage points behind the M550. That’s an impressive metric considering it costs nearly $75 less. Many other manufacturers have shied away from offering and with good reason; they don’t want to cannibalize sales of their higher margin products. The fact that Crucial has bucked that trend should be applauded.

Is this new drive from Crucial infallible? Of course not. As the MX100 512GB fills up with data it’s throughout drops like a stone, as do most other Marvell-based SSDs. In addition, Crucial did make some write performance sacrifices to achieve a few more points of differentiation within their product lineup.

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If you can afford the MX100 512GB then you’ll have access to the impressive numbers seen throughout this review. But what about the 256GB and 128GB versions? Not so fast. Unlike the M550 where certain assumptions could be made about lower capacities based on the 512GB version being tested, the same does not hold true for the MX100 series. This is because its 512GB SKU is the oddball of the litter and is the only version (so far) that Crucial has allowed to ship with identical NAND interleaving as their M550. Meanwhile, as channel density decreases in lower capacity drives, the MX100’s positioning (at least in write performance) begins a meteoric fall as seen in the chart above.

As a result of these limitations, one simply cannot assume that the whole MX100 range will provide an optimal price for performance ratio. As a matter of fact we’d go so far as to recommend going straight for the 512GB version since its output has been well established while the M550 would be the best route for consistent performance regardless of capacity.

The MX100 512GB is a worthy successor to Crucial’s outgoing M550 from every single perspective and it happens to be one of this generation’s best values in terms of capacity, overall performance and price. Just don’t expect its siblings to provide the same proximity to higher end drives since they are handicapped far more than the 512GB version.

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