28 JANUARY2021|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE395
Small files
Largefiles
Huge files
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
Seepage62for performancedetails
CAPACITY2TB•COST PERGIGABYTE15.7p•INTERFACE
NVMe•CLAIMED READ3,400MB/s•CLAIMEDWRITE
3,000MB/s•WARRANTYFiveyearsRTB•DETAILS
uk.crucial.com•PART CODECT2000P5SSD8
SPECIFICATIONS
1,230MB/s
1,602MB/s
1,815MB/s
CRUCIAL P5
★★★★★
£314•Fromuk.crucial.com
CRUCIAL’SLATESTNVMeSSDlaunch is a
pincer attack: in addition to the budget-
minded P2 (Shopper392), it’s simultaneously
released the P5, ahigh-end drive forthose
who need, and can afford, the best storage
performance.Or, at least, the best that the
PCI-E 3.0 interface can allow.
This means highly dense,96-layerTLC
memory,withacontroller developed in-house
by parentcompany Micron,allegedly reaching
read and writespeeds of 3,400MB/s and
3,000MB/s respectively.Unlikethe P2, the
P5 alsosupports Opal 2.0, allowing forthe
possibility of full drive encryption.
PENNY DROPS
Naturally,the P5 costs more,but formost
capacities it’s actually cheaperthan you might
expect forapremium M.2 drive.The smallest
250GB model works out at 20.2p per gigabyte,
and it only getscheaper from there,withthe
500GB model and the2TB model –the one we
tested –coming in at only 14.9pand 15.7pper
gigabyterespectively. Best of allisthe 1TB
model, at avery attractive13.8pper gigabyte.
It’s also worthnotingthat the250GB
modelisalso the slowest of thebunch, with a
quoted writespeedofjust 1,400MB/s –a
massive drop fromthe 3,000MB/s sharedby
the other three drives, even if the maximum
read speed is consistent across allfour.
Still, even if youonlycare about the initial
outlay, the P5 proves itself quitethe money-
saver next to similarlyspecced SSDs. The
recent KingstonKC2500 (Shopper390),for
instance,will setyou back £343 forits 2TB
version, nearly £30 morethan the P5.
Meanwhile,the 2TB Samsung970 Evo Plus
(Shopper384)iseven costlier,at£363.
VERDICT
While it’s not the outright quickest SSD on the market, the Crucial P5 is fast and feature-rich forthe money
2TBNVME SSD
And,whenthe P 5 is running atfullpelt, it’s
easytowonder why anyone would choose
anything else.InCrystalDiskMark’s sequential
tests, it produced a3,420MB/s readspeed and
a3,243MB/s writespeed, exceeding Crucial’s
officialfigures on both counts.The 970Evo
Plus was slightlyfasterbut arguably not
enough to deserve itspricepremium, while
the KC2500 fell well behindonwrite speed.
The P5 also beatKingston’sSSD in the much
tougher 4K random test, endingwith ahighly
respectable 460MB/sreadspeedand a
417MB/swritespeed.
READING EDGE
Unfortunately,inour filetransfer tests –which
more closelyre-createeverydayWindows
usage than CrystalDiskMark’ssynthetic
benchmarks –the P5 droppedoffsomewhat.
That’s not to sayit’sslow,oranywherenear it:
with an average read speed of a1,773MB/s
and an average writespeed of 1,857MB/sin
the huge filetest, it’sfaster than most PCI-E
3.0 SSDs. Even so,the KC2500 managed an
even faster 1,987MB/s read speed,while
keepingpaceonwrites.
In thelargefiles test, the P5 did well to
average a1,554MB/s read speed anda
1,649MB/swritespeed; writing in general
seems aparticularstrength. Again, however,
theKC2500outpaced it,with a1,798MB/s
readspeed and a1,809MB/s writespeed, and
also beatthe P5’s results in thefinal, hardest
small files test –1,015MB/sread, 1,445MB/s
write–bysimilar margins.
That’s enoughtoput the KC2500 on top
foroverall performance, but context is kind to
the P5. Not only is it significantly cheaper,but
unlike both the KC2500and 970Evo Plus, it
squeezes its highest capacities –including 2TB
–ontoasingle-sideddesign, allowing it to be
used in more space-limited systems suchas
ultraportablelaptops. Alternatively,ifyou
have amotherboard that incorporates passive
heat spreaders over itsM.2 slots, you don’t
have to worryabout one side being cooled
while theother runs hot.
It’s fairly durable,too.The 250GBmodel’s
150TBW (terabyteswritten) rating is the
lowest, but still unlikely to be alimit thatcan
be met withgeneralhomeuse before the
five-yearwarranty runs out.The 500GBand
1TB models can also toughout 300TBW and
600TBW respectively,and it’s hard to imagine
how anyonecould wear outthe 2TB model
when it’s rated at 1,200TBW –that’s 1.2
petabytes of writes.
TAKE FIVE
Thereare already loadsofquality M.2 drives
to pick and choose from, but theCrucial P5
makes astrong case foritself regardless. The
cheaper P2 soured its ownlaunch somewhat
by leaving it unclear whether you’d get a
TLC-based SSD or one built withslower QLC
memory,but there’s no such confusion here:
the P5 is simply avery good SSD.The KC2500
mightbebetter suited to thosewho demand
more consistent topspeeds, butonbalance
the P5 is bettervalue, especially when it
comestothe higher-capacitymodels.
JamesArcher
WhentheP5isrunningatfullpelt,it’seasytowonder
whyanyone would choose anything else
