Crucial M500 480GB SSD Review

[Victorious Secret]

I've had this thing for a while now but with how SSD prices have gone down a bit yet again, I figured some first hand use with the drive would be handy for those looking to upgrade to something like this. 

 

Its running the MU02 firmware, 480GB capacity and its currently being used in my MBP with roughly 80GB free, since I do make use of it for general storage of photos. 

 

For the price it was before, and what it is now, I do recommend it. It works very well, has had no issues, and its been very consistent for the few months that I've been making use of it. 

 

Here are some specs and a benchmark for the speeds. The drive consistently pulls those speeds, I stopped it after 10 runs and it hadn't really deviated any higher or lower than the numbers you see there.

 

 

 

[Ryan Leech]

Thank you for taking the time to review it

[Anthony10]

Samsung evo > all ssds in price/performance.

[KamiKatze]

It's also MLC isn't it? I'll probably get myself a 480 gig model soon, so i can finally kiss my noisy HDD goodbye.

[Faa]

Samsung evo > all ssds in price/performance.

The crucial is better in price/size and performance doesnt matter with ssds for the most people >.< I barely noticed the difference between an agility 3 & 512GB pro. Going to sell this 840 pro and get this m500 960GB.

[Anthony10]

The crucial is better in price/size and performance doesnt matter with ssds for the most people >.< I barely noticed the difference between an agility 3 & 512GB pro. Going to sell this 840 pro and get this m500 960GB.

have you not tried samsung rapid mode....? 1gbs/read/write

[Victorious Secret]

When I bought this SSD, the pricing on the Samsungs was well beyond what I felt like spending for a ~500GB drive. That storage space was crucial (pardon that pun)

At any given time I have 250GB of photos and PSD files that need to stay on the drive, no matter what. It leaves a healthy amount for apps and temporary storage till I can dump off to the NAS. At the time, ~500GB from anyone else? Hah. Not likely. 

 

I like to think of myself as well off enough to do these things, but spending that much on a spacious SSD? For noticeable but irrelevant improvements? No thanks. 

 

In any computer that isn't my editing rig, I'd rather have something that cost less, has average performance (which is still demolishing platter drives) and has a nice $/GB attached to it. 

 

Now the SSD prices have dropped, and the Samsungs aren't that absurdly priced, but this just means the Crucials get cheaper. So do you go for performance you might not even make use of, or do you save moderate amounts (or even a lot) and get something that has more GBs per dollar while still being very competent in the performance area? 

 

 

My permanent editing rig is skipping over Samsungs entirely, I'm going for Intels. I need something rock solid and reliable, and all these performance numbers are moot in a RAID 0 array that I plan on running. But thats the kind of build where money isn't the primary concern. 

A lot of people however, even me, need to factor that in for their daily drivers. I paid 250 dollars for 480GB of SSD. Hard to beat that at the time. I don't discount Samsungs performance, I also didn't think it was worth the steep price. 

 

I've played the early adopter game before. I don't like paying that much. I'd rather pay the least amount possible, and its not like Crucials are some unknown, 3rd party crap brand known for failing left right and centre. SSD prices are a race to the bottom, performance aside. I know what I'm going for next time, unless Samsung or Intel get to the bottom quicker than Crucial.