Budget drive? No way, this thing is *FAST* - my jaw just about dropped - this isn't NVME stuff, but near top-end for Sata SSD performance!
This drive runs circles around my Toshiba Q-pro's from 2014 I will say that much, and those are MLC-NAND drives, this one being 3d TLC.
3D TLC removes a hurdle to extended sequential write performance, by allowing more parallelization of the writes for large files once the buffer fills up. TLC nand in 2d form used to slow way down to 120~160mb/s (almost hard drive speeds!) in the first few generations, but this 3d TLC is really fast stuff. This drive is rated for good levels of endurance, and you shouldn't use it up in under a few years without running a server.
Tried transferring some files off the RAID array (which can read faster than this drive) - Started at about 550mb/s and dropped to 495~508mb/s by the end of a 20.x GB transfer of random ZIP files of 300mb to 2.x GB in size while the drive was fresh and new, for a good accurate test.
GREAT performance on an intel Z97 / 4xxx series computer I built a few years ago.
Has GREAT random 4k performance IOPS too (this is what you'll use when you boot Windows and open many complex programs)
I am truly impressed by this drive. The data reads after a month or more haven't slowed down at all. I never bought a TLC-nand drive before, but this 3d TLC nand is really something. If you're an MLC-only kind of guy, and can't quite afford a Samsung 960 Pro NVME drive (or similar), pick this up to hold you over, you might just not care enough to upgrade it after that. It's quite snappy - totally shocked here.
So I found my new go-to for cheap data storage in a machine with about 7-8 SSD's in it, mostly Toshiba drives, if you need to add some storage or want a large boot drive for a new PC, this thing is great. It has pretty good endurance, too, you would be hard pressed to wear it out unless you ran a server, so no worries.
For the Techies:
The speeds on the 1TB model are EVEN BETTER than the 500gb model (though not by too much noticeably to the user), so I am really shocked.
Get the 1TB model if you can afford it. If you just browse the net and don't play many or any games, the 500gb or 256gb model may do just fine.
It's random 4k perf ties/beats my SSD RAID array on the motherboard and the SSD RAID Array on the LSI Megaraid server card, but to be honest, RAID arrays of SSD's while enhancing sequential speeds, don't boost up 4k performance much any, just so you know.
RAID= Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks - these give you reading&writing your data fault tolerance, or more speed, or both, mostly they're for servers or high-end home computers and work-stations.
I do content creation, so I need data-redundancy here, and for that, and occasional large file editing on 3d terrain creation, this drive fits the bill!
Will be getting more of these guys. Can't recommend enough - same with all the tech-site reviewers.
I have a 7 year old desktop tower that had a traditional hard drive. Ever since updating to Windows 10, the boot up was sooooooo slow. It was time to update to a solid state drive (SSD).
I chose this brand because their website had information showing that it is compatible with my exact brand and model of desktop. They also had excellent instructions on their website for how to clone my old hard drive to the new one.
PROs:
- Easy installation
- Easy to clone old hard drive (needed some extra devices / products to help with this)
- It was like my computer was exactly the same - all my programs and files were just there with the cloning process and now its super fast.
- The cloning software on Crucial's site is called Acronis. Not sure if this more recently available than some of the other reviews on here.
- Lightening fast boot up
- Bios instantly recognized the SSD as the boot drive. I didn't have to do any additional configuration.
- Information on Crucial's website was very helpful
CONs:
- The cloning process involves some additional equipment like a SATA to USB cable that you'll use just one time. I bought this one: Sabrent USB 3.0 to SSD / 2.5-Inch SATA Hard Drive Adapter [Optimized For SSD, Support UASP SATA III] (EC-SSHD)
- It wasn't clear from Crucial's information that I would need to purchase a converter kit from the 2.5 inch drive to a 3.5 inch bay.
ADVICE:
Every desktop and laptop is different, so the extra equipment you will need may be different from mine.
1. Be sure to back up all of your files prior to doing anything.
2. With the power to your computer OFF and UNPLUGGED, open the case and identify where your current hard drive is located. Figure out how it is mounted. Mine had rails that screwed in to the front of the bay and attached to the hard drive.
3. You'll probably need a converter kit if you're installing it on a desktop computer. Just search for 2.5 to 3.5 hard drive converter and you should find some options.
4. Buy a new SATA cable so you are getting the maximum performance from your new SSD. I bought this one: Monoprice 18-Inch SATA III 6.0 Gbps Cable with Locking Latch and 90-Degree Plug - Blue
5. Cloning is the easiest way to go, which means your operating system, files, software and everything need to be transferred from your old hard drive to your new one. The Acronis software from Crucial's website made this easy. There were a few little quirks with this:
a. The SSD has to be plugged into the PC, otherwise you cannot install the software. This is where the SATA to USB cable comes in real handy.
b. The software gives you the options of automatic or manual settings for cloning. On the SSD, you do not need a partition. There is no performance gain to this, so if your old hard drive is partitioned, you might want to choose the manual settings. I did the manual settings, just to make sure the software was reading the correct drives.
c. When you start the cloning process, you'll get a message that the PC needs to be restarted. You have to let it restart. When it does, the computer will go into a mode that is controlled by the Acronis software and it will start the cloning process. There is a check box to "Shut down when complete". Leave that checked.
d. Depending on how big your old hard drive is, this process will take SEVERAL HOURS. I started mine before I went to bed and everything was done when I woke up. It was probably about 3 hrs. Anyway, my point is that it's not something you'll finish in one evening.
EDIT/UPDATE -- in browsing other reviews for this Crucial MX500, I noticed one that mentioned not getting an "activation code" for Acronis-- this was Crucial's prior system (download from Acronis directly, then use Crucial's code) -- CURRENTLY (April 2018) need to go to crucial(dotcom)/support/ssd and launch their Online SSD install guide -- at the second Stage (if I remember) there's a link to the Acronis Cloning software (you DO need to have your new Crucial SSD already plugged to USB) -- it will Install & Activate directly w/o a code, once it recognizes the Crucial SSD
ALSO -- another reviewer mentioned Acronis auto-rebooting to clone -- this (maybe) depends on your current partition scheme or particular hardware, or maybe on your OS & version. In my case (Windows 10 ver 1709), once I selected "Automatic" mode & set "Source" & "Target" then "Proceed" -- a toast popped up about "Locking Source disk . . " & next the Cloning progress bar opened right over the Windows Desktop (I was, of course, Locked Out from doing anything else -- but mine did Clone directly from Windows 10)
IMPORTANT (probably?) -- Crucial's guides do say to LEAVE YOUR NEWLY-CLONED SSD PLUGGED TO USB, UNTIL THE COMPUTER IS FULLY SHUTDOWN. When my Cloning completed & gave prompt to "Shutdown now," I wondered if Windows "Fast Start" would write another "hiber.fil" to disk -- so I opened Command Prompt (as Admin) & entered "shutdown.exe /s /f /t 0" -- then worried if that was a mistake (not in Crucial's instructions). I can report it did work though -- once I got the MX500 SSD installed & laptop back together, it booted fine first time, and no issues since. So the "shutdown.exe /s /f /t 0" command will work (though probably not necessary)
Just wanted to clarify some points ( & hopefully help) after seeing some who struggled finding/ Activating the Acronis software, or who described a different cloning process (maybe due to hardware/OS involved ?) As described below, I found the process fairly simple -- so long as you launch from Crucial's Online SSD Install guide (crucial(dotcom)/support/ssd -- then scroll down & find it)
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This was my 3rd HDD to SSD upgrade for various family laptops (all Crucial brand, did two "MX300" about a year ago, this newer model "MX500" just now), & have to say -- Crucial, with the current Acronis download they provide SSD customers, have made disk-cloning absolutely simple. The last Acronis I had used still required creating a "USB Tools" stick, booting from that to clone, so Windows drive could be unmounted for the process -- This Current Acronis can successfully "lock" the internal drive, so you can clone right from the Windows Environment, to your new SSD plugged into USB (via SATA3/USB adapter cable or HDD-to-USB enclosure -- if you don't have one, will need to order w/ your SSD).
Actually, Crucial has made the entire "Drive Swap" aspect of the upgrade easy-peasy, between their Acronis partner software & detailed online guides. Big problem I have is the trend toward Fully-Internal batteries in today's slimmer-lighter notebooks -- prying one open without bumping the Power Button into an accidental half-open boot can be a sphincter-clenching experience. Once that battery is unplugged, swapping the fresh -cloned SSD into the caddy or bracketry & connecting SATA3 is simple -- then the issue of snapping the laptop all back together without pinching LCD/Touchscreen/WiFi Antenna cables is again tense (YouTube >> search your Model "disassembly" -- stiff plastic guitar-pick to pry -- PATIENCE & deep breaths).
The Upside -- speed/ less power/ less heat/ less weight/ Silence -- of SSD over HDD are true of all, or at least "known-brands" like Samsung/ SanDisk/ PNY/ Kingston, etc, as well as this "Crucial" (Micron) brand. May not want to trust your Data/ OS/ & entire boot-process to an "off-brand" for the sake of a few dollars (I wouldn't) -- but for the big names, your choice probably rests as much on your comfort-level with the Cloning Tools/ Guides/ Support offered by a particular brand as on price. Shop & compare similar tech (ie, 3D NAND) of similar generations, & be sure you are comparing "consumer grade" with "consumer grade" and "Pro" with "Pro" -- you'll likely find prices of similar size-class are within a few dollars, brand to brand. For myself, I'm 3 for 3 now with Crucial "MX-" series SSD's -- given my skill-level, I'm thrilled with Crucial !!
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Couple of things, post-install . . . .
1. Windows 10 has "Drive Optimaztion" (de-frag) turned ON by default -- most sources say this is pointless on an SSD (no platter to spin or Read/Write head to move -- Solid State drives can access any cell, any time, at pretty much same speed), and *may* even be detrimental to an SSD. The firmware may scatter files & data for cell "wear-leveling," and we Don't want Windows clumping that back up. So tap "Start" begin typing "optimize" & click the top result "Defragment and Optimize Drives" -- when it opens, click to Highlight your "C:\\" drive in top box, click the "Advanced" button below, and UN-check "Run on a Schedule. . ."
2. For "typical" users, you should go back to Crucial's support/ssd website, download & install "Crucial Storage Executive." Once you have it open, click "Momentum Cache" & then "Enable." Pro-users have pointed out in other reviews (see "MX300 series" reviews) there are lighter, more efficient tools for managing an SSD -- if you're a Pro, you know what they are. For the rest of us, Crucial makes things simple with Storage Executive
3. My "MX500" SSD went in a Dell Inspiron 3169 (Core m3 - 6th gen) & this laptop has 4 GB DDR3L soldered on -- no SODIMM slots at all. I've noticed Q&A on some other laptops with a single SODIMM (factory 4 GB) ask about upgrading to 8GB -- if you have a laptop/notebook with only 4 GB and an HDD, I'd recommend the SSD upgrade FIRST. Extra RAM shows on Heavy-Multi-tasking or intensive video editing -- the SSD improves Performance on EVERYTHING, every day. Besides, the much faster Read/Write of an SSD vastly improves paging file access (Windows "Virtual Memory" or Linux "swap space") -- many "typical" users *might* find 4 GB RAM is enough, with SSD paging . . .
I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was able to clone my entire hard drive (250 GB used of 1000 GB) to the MX500 SSD. I used Acronis True Image 2016 following the instructions for using the "Acronis bootable media" cloning process. Here's what I like about the drive: #1 Perfect silence (hard drive clunking and thumping are gone), #2 Windows 10 boots faster, #3 Some applications like Quicken 2017 & Excel seem quicker to load (but didn't measure so may be my imagination), and #4 My daily Acronis backup (in the background) of my entire computer to a network drive only took about 1 hour versus 5 hours before (didn't expect this and can't explain it). I had expected a couple C# applications that load huge files taking 13 seconds and 17 seconds to load with my old old drive to load faster with the MX500 SSD but they did not (again I can't explain this). Would buy this drive again!!!
I installed this on my 2009 13" Macbook Pro and it has made a huge difference. I would recommend this to anyone looking to replace a HDD.
Background:
I have a 2009 Macbook Pro that was too slow to use.
Steps to Install:
I followed the iFixit.com guide to replace my HDD with this SSD for the most part.
1) Connect this SSD to your computer using a USB to SATA adapter such as this one: Sabrent USB 3.0 to SSD / 2.5-Inch SATA Hard Drive Adapter [Optimized For SSD, Support UASP SATA III] (EC-SSHD).
2) Download SuperDuper! for Mac to backup your current HDD to the SSD. I tried to use my Mac's Disk Utility but it would not work. SuperDuper worked great and I was able to clone my HDD to the SSD.
3) Test that the backup works by changing the startup disk your computer uses by going to System Preferences > Startup Disk and selecting the SSD which is connected to your MacBook. Restart your Mac and verify it starts correctly when booting from the SSD. If this works successfully move on to the next step.
4) Shut down your computer.
5) Open up you MacBook and replace the HDD with the SSD. Follow the iFixit guide for detailed steps.
6) Start your computer.
7) Enable trim for your SSD by going in the Terminal and entering the command "sudo trimforce enable."
If all of these steps work successfully you should notice a significant speed improvement on your Mac. I was going to upgrade my RAM from 4GB to 8GB but I might not because the speed improvement is so significant from upgrading to a SSD.
Feature Product
- Sequential reads/writes up to 560/510 MB/s and random reads/writes up to 95k/90k on all file types
- Accelerated by Micron 3D NAND technology
- Integrated Power Loss Immunity preserves all your saved work if the power unexpectedly gets cut
- Crucial 5-year limited warranty
- Product ships in Amazon Certified Frustration Free Packaging (may differ from retail packaging depicted in product collateral)
Description
Start your system in seconds, store up to 2TB of data, and upgrade with an SSD you can count on. Join more and more people who are keeping their family videos, travel photos, music, and important documents on an SSD, and get the near-instant performance and lasting reliability that comes with solid state storage. Upgrade with the Crucial MX500 SSD, a drive built on quality, speed, and security that’s all backed by helpful service and support. Even if you’ve never installed an SSD, don’t fear – our step-by-step guide walks you through the process to make installation easy. It’s worth it. When handling your mSATA SSD, be sure to hold it along the side edges using your thumb and index finger. Avoid touching the components and connectors, as damage can occur
This is a great SSD but if you're upgrading an HP Pavilion (2018 vintage) with an Intel Core processor (i.e. Core i7), you'll have to deal with the HP/Intel UEFI in order to bypass their security routine. If you don't, you'll get a "missing driver" message or some other nonsense, which is UEFI looking for a specific sector on your hard drive that holds validation codes that allow your hard drive to boot. You'll need to get to the BIOS settings (tap ESC repeatedly during boot, then tap F10) to get to the BOIS settings, then "enable" 'Legacy Support' (i.e. turn off UEFI security) to allow the non-factory-installed SSD to integrate into your laptop. You need to do this while your old hard drive is still installed, then re-boot to make the settings stick. THEN do your cloning, THEN swap out drives, and you should be good.
Price per capacity is excellent, about as good as the more costly Samang EVO series stuff. $70 for a 250Gb SSD that performs with the top drives is just fantastic. The included Acronis True Image software (serial number) that Crucial gives with their drives, for free, is awesome so that you can clone your existing drive completely to the new SSD. It only works with Crucial drives, but it saves you the pain of total overhaul re-installs when you get the new drive. It works perfectly and fast. I've used it twice on two separate Crucial SSD's and it's flawless. Plus you can keep using Acronis software with your Crucial SSD to do backups/clones. Having a cloned/backup drive around to avoid slow, painful, time-consuming total re-installs is fantastic. Big plus to Crucial for going the extra mile to provide Acronis for free.
The prices for these SSD hard drives have come down significantly over the last couple of years. As a result, it is now affordable and worth every dollar to replace the old 5400RPM Hard drives in our 2011/12 Macbook Pros with a solid state drive. The whole process (outside of cloning the drive) takes less than 15 minutes to complete if you follow the instructions. There are only nine phillips head screws on the bottom panel of the laptop that need to be removed, a couple more that hold the drive in place and then the four torx (T6) posts that are on the drive.
In regards to performance, the new Crucial drive has completely eliminated the spinning beachball my kids were experiencing when using the computer. Likewise, instead of having to wait over 2 minutes for the laptop to boot up, it takes less than a minute now. Opening applications is extremely quick, as well.
There are extensive instructions out on the web that provide a step-by-step guide to completing the upgrade. For starters, you are going to need a USB 3.0 to 2.5” SATA III Hard Drive Adapter Cable to clone your existing drive (free cloning software is available). AMZ has a great cable for about $11 (StarTech.com USB 3.0 to 2.5” SATA III Hard Drive Adapter Cable w/ UASP – SATA to USB 3.0 Converter for SSD/HDD - Hard Drive Adapter Cable). The cloning takes a long time to complete, but once done, you can just drop the newly cloned Crucial SSD into your Macbook and it will boot up just like the old HD. Overall, I'm very impressed with the Crucial drive. Here are some of the pre and post SSD install time differences.
BOOT-UP
(OLD HD): 2 MINUTES, 15 SECONDS -> NEW SSD: 47 SECONDS
OPEN WORD
(OLD HD): 1 MINUTE, 3 SECONDS -> NEW SSD: 5 SECONDS
OPEN CHROME
(OLD HD): 31 SECONDS -> NEW SSD: 3 SECONDS
SHUTDOWN
(OLD HD): 27 SECONDS -> NEW SSD: 6 SECONDS
I have an older model Dell XPS 630i running dual 5.5" 1 TB Western Digital WD1002FBYS (Enterprise Storage) drives with 32M cache setup in a RAID 0 configuration in order to maximize read/write operations. I'm also running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. I decided to replace that config with a single 3.5" Crucial MX500 1TB drive (no RAID) and I'm glad I did. As others have stated, my performance went through the roof. You might think that a disk really only gets affected when you try to save a file or launch a program. That is really not the case. The disk plays a central role to the overall performance of your system and is directly involved in moving data from physical storage to virtual (memory). Depending upon how much memory (RAM) you have, your system might need to do a lot of paging from RAM to disk. If so, this can clobber your performance especially if your disk is not up to it. If your disk is a clunky, slow mess then your performance will be the same. To give you an idea of how this simple drive replacement affected my system (I won't quote read/write metrics as others have stated those in their reviews) - before the replacement the Microsoft Windows Experience Index (WEI - scale of 1.0 to 7.9) for my machine was 5.9 largely due to the disk. After the replacement my WEI is now 7.0. It would be better if my machine wasn't 10+ years old. (Note: Over the years I've upgraded my graphics & sound card, added a USB 3.0 card, and replaced my RAM a couple of times. I replaced my Western Digital drives about a year ago). So that is all well and good, but how does it actually affect my experience. Well, login used to take about 1-2 minutes from a fresh boot (login, wait until the desktop paints, wait until all my auto-start programs launch and are ready, etc.). Now login takes about 10 seconds. Launching apps like MS Office takes about 1-2 seconds.
A couple of things to note about Crucial and the migration process from current to new disk:
0. You need to initialize and format the SSD disk so that your system, and the migration tools, will recognize it. The instructions do not mention this.
1. You need to either purchase a SATA-to-USB cable to connect your drive to a USB port in order to "prep" it, or you need a free bay and SATA port inside your computer to install the drive along side your existing drives.Remember, you need to actually clone your current disk to SSD
2. The Crucial software tools (Software Executive) and migration tool (Acronis Migration) tool just didn't/dont' work. Neither tool could recognize the new Crucial disk and neither would run without recognition. Crucial instructions are to use Acronis to perform the partition migration (clone) to the new drive
3. I used a freeware tool called MiniTool Partition Wizard which worked phenomenally well. It has an option for cloning to SSD. It immediately identified my new disk migrated the partition, wiped my old disk and rebooted my machine. After a couple of hours I came back and simply logged in and was good to go. I ran CheckDisk to verify the files, etc. on the new disk and everything was perfect.
I'm super happy with this upgrade and my 10+ year old Dell tower is now running like a brand new machine. If you're thinking its time to buy a new machine, you might want to consider an SSD upgrade first.
I ordered this drive to upgrade a dying mid 2010 27" iMac. I was a little hesitant to do the replacement work myself but using online videos it was an absolute breeze! This SSD has made my iMac feel SO much faster and powerful that I am going to hold off on the upgrade that I had promised myself. If you plan to install this into an iMac that had a traditional spinning HDD, you need to purchase an adapter bracket (that is available here on Amazon as well - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005PZDVF6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) so that you can place this drive into your computer. Once it is in, the computer just hums! Once you go SSD, using a traditional HDD is just plain painful!
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