SANDISK EXTREME PRO 480GB
CRUCIAL MX300 525GB
5 6
The MX300 is available in both 2.5in and M.2
versions, but unlike the other M.2 drives featured
here it still uses the SATA interface, so can’t hit the
speeds of NVMe drives.
This 525GB model, which is notably larger than
other ~500GB TLC drives, can reach 530MB/s
sequential read and write as well as hit 92,000 IOPs
read and 83,000IOPs write in random operations.
Like other TLC drives, the MX300 uses a form of
SLC write-caching but here it’s a completely
dynamic system where any portion of the drive can
temporarily act in an SLC fashion when needed. As
a result, while you do get a drop in performance, it’s
not until half the drive has been filled with data (in
one go) that you’ll see performance drop.
Overall, however, in benchmarks it can’t
compete with other MLC drives and even trails the
Samsung 850 Evo for raw speed, making it a drive
you’d buy for similar reasons to the 850
Evo but with even more of a focus on
capacity over speed.That performance doesn’t come in the form of
maximum sequential read and write speed, which is
as limited as any other SATA SSD – 550MB/s read
and 515MB/s write. Instead, what sets these drives
apart is that they use MLC NAND, so can maintain
that write performance right until the drive is full.
Random performance is also fantastic, with
100,000IOPs read and 90,000IOPs write, making
these an excellent choice for demanding workloads.
What’s more, you get a whopping ten-year
warranty, though only an 80TBW total data rating- great for gaming PCs but less so for applications
where masses of data is regularly written to the
drive. You also miss out on drive encryption, which
is something most other SSDs now offer.
But if data security isn’t a massive concern, then
the Extreme Pro – while markedly cheaper than the
ludicrous M.2 NVMe drives – still offers the sort of
sustained load performance that means
your work won’t grind to a halt because
of your SSD.
Crucial’s MX300 line is the first commercially available SSD
not made by Samsung to use a form of 3D NAND. It should
bring the same speed and capacity advantages, but, unlike
Samsung, Crucial is debuting it in a mid-range TLC model.The SanDisk Extreme Pro and Samsung 850 Pro are the two
top dogs of the SATA SSD market. Both have near identical
performance and are priced very similarly, so whichever you
pick you’ll be happy, but for this test we opted for the SanDisk.85 % 80 %
Solid State Drives
GROUP TEST
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