Crucial M500 480GB SSD Review – A New Benchmark For Incredible Affordability And Performance

FINAL WORDS AND CONCLUSION

We come to the end of the review, and Crucial certainly left a big impression. They delivered on every promise and advertised value since the M500 was announced months ago. It is still a tad unbelievable that a 960GB SSD of this calibre is only $600. It was only about two years ago where a declaration like that would have seemed preposterous.

Those times are long gone, and with it soaring SSD prices. It certainly is the flipside now, as SSDs are becoming cheaper and larger with every passing month. The 480GB M500 certainly is a testament to that. While not as big as the 960GB, it has virtually identical specs and performance throughput as its larger counterpart.

Speaking of performance, the 480GB M500 posted absolutely brilliant results. After the surprising results of the Plextor M5 Pro SSDs, the Marvell 88SS9187 controller can add another notch to its perfect record thanks to Crucial’s M500.

Excellent pricing, astounding performance…what is missing? Oh right, the extra features. The M500 as a whole contains maintenance features rarely, if ever, found on consumer-level drives. Data protection from power failure, extreme temperatures, and theft are staples of enterprise-grade drives, certainly server-side, but clearly the M500’s break this stereotype.

There are a few things however that we would have liked to see from the 480GB M500, and the entire line in general. The three-year limited warranty is a tad on the short side, especially considering five-year warranties have become the desired standard. Management software would have been great as well, such as the Intel Rapid Storage Console and OCZ Toolbox. Extra goodies like a 3.5″ bracket and/or a SATA cable would have sweetened the lackluster packaging.

Overall, the 480GB M500 to date is the best SSD we have ever tested. A lot of this comes simply from its value; 960GB at $600 and 480GB at $400, with 500MB/s read and 400MB/s write and 80K IOPS as random read/write values – the sheer price:performance value is ludicrous (in a good way).

Of course that does not mean it is the best SSD out there. The real star of the show is the 960GB flavour; but if you are willing to sacrifice half the space for $200 less, the 480GB Crucial M500 is right up your alley. Consider also that you will suffer virtually no performance loss/difference as both of the higher-tier M500’s are identically specced and confirmed to share similar benchmark results. To have these advertised values tested and confirmed is a testament to how well Crucial planned the M500 from development to advertising, and to its eventual release.

From where we are stand, Crucial’s M500 line of SSDs are hands-down the go-to drives for any type of consumer – enthusiast or penny-pincher. With models for mSATA and the new M.2 form-factor, the flexibility and adaptability is clearly there. As the SATA 6Gbps interface nears its saturation point, Crucial has redefined the evolved the SSD market by releasing the M500 series that will retain its longevity far into the foreseeable future. The 480GB Crucial M500 and the entire M500 family, for all these reasons (and more), easily get our ‘Editor’s Choice’ award:

Check Out Crucial M500 pricing at Amazon! (link)

Now hop on over to The SSD Review to take a look at their Crucial M500 960GB SSD Review…