Crucial has announced a new line of budget SSDs. The BX500 series consists of 2.5″ SATA SSDs of 120GB, 240GB and 480GB. The SSDs use Micron’s own 3d-nand, but it is not yet clear whether it is the new qlc-nand.
Crucial has disclosed few specifications of its BX500 SSDs. The manufacturer calls read and write speeds of 540MB/s and 500MB/s, the maximum achievable with the SATA interface. Crucial does not disclose performance for random reads and writes.
The SSDs have an slc cache and are made with 3d-nand from parent company Micron. It could be the new qlc-nand, which nand type makes cheaper SSDs possible. In May, Intel and Micron already announced SSDs with qlc-nand for the business market. They use memory chips of 1Tbit per die, or 125GB. If the BX500 SSDs are made on the basis of this memory, only one chip is needed for the 120GB variant.
Crucial does make known what the lifespan of the BX500 SSDs is. The manufacturer specifies total bytes written values of 40TB for the 120GB version, 80TB for the 240GB model and 120TB for the 480GB version. Those values may be an indication for the use of qlc-nand, because the MX500 series with tlc-nand has a longer lifespan of 100TB total bytes written for the 250GB version and 180TB for the 500GB version.
Crucial has the BX500 SSDs in its own webshop with prices of approximately 32, 54 and 86 euros for the 120GB, 240GB and 480GB version, respectively. The previously released MX500 models, which are positioned higher up and use tlc nand, are currently available at similar prices. It is likely that the prices of the BX500 models are still falling.