18Jun Crucial MX100 512GB SSD Speed Test
The Crucial MX100 512GB was only released a few weeks ago and I’ve already seen it on sale a few times for as low as $199. That puts the MX100 at about 39 cents a GB compared to the current average price of around 48 cents a GB, making it one of the most affordable SSD drives on the market. This price savings comes from the use of 16nm flash which is smaller than the 20nm flash used in previous models. The reduction in size means more memory can be produced from a single wafer, which intern reducing the cost per GB.
While I don’t really “need” any more SSD drives the Crucial MX100 512GB pricing tempted me enough to the pull the trigger on a single drive. The drive itself is actually a little thinner than normal 2.5″ drives at a thickness of 7mm. Thankfully Crucial was kind enough to include a spacer for laptops that have the more common 9.5mm drive enclosure.
Speed tests on the new Crucial MX100 512GB drive look very impressive for the price. In crystaldiskmark sequential reads are just under 500MB/s and writes are a very respectable 474MB/s. The 16nm flash seems to be just as fast as 20nm offerings that use the same Marvell controller.
Testing the Crucial MX100 512GB drive with Samsung’s Magician software, the MX100 looks even better. Sequential reads are at 525MB/s and sequential writes are at 477MB/s, put the Mx100 in the same category as the Samsung 840 EVO (tested here) with rapid mode turned off. The Samsung 512GB 840 EVO runs $249 and the MX100 is currently selling for $219 (with sale prices as low as $199), if you don’t plan to use Samsung somewhat experimental “rapid mode”, the MX100 saves you around $30 to $50 for about the same performance.
I’ve only been using the drive for a few days. Once I’ve had the MX100 running for a month or two I’ll post some more results. I experienced a little bit of a slowdown in performance after a few months with the previous generations of Crucial drives (m500 series), so I’ll be keeping an eye out for that. I’m sure well seem more 16nm flash SSD drives hitting the market soon which should lead to even more price competition.
SSD drives are finally starting to look like an affordable storage option. Hopefully the trend will continue.
July 1st, 2014 at 7:47 am
Are you using SSD’s internally or externally? I’d love to find a good external case option with thunderbolt (without buying one with a drive and cannibalizing it!)
August 2nd, 2014 at 5:55 pm
How this drive holding up so far? Looking into getting one soon. Thanks!