Crucial releases MX500 SSDs with 64-layer 3D TLC Nand memory

Crucial has announced the MX500 series of SATA SSDs. The successors of the MX300 use 64-layer 3D TLC Nand memory from Micron and the SM2258 controller. There will be versions up to 2TB in the 2.5″ form factor.

Crucial will release models of 250GB, 500GB, 1TB and 2TB in 2.5″ in the MX500 series. The first three variants will also be available as m2 SSDs. Like many other manufacturers, Crucial now uses 64 layers 3d-tlc-nand for its ssds.The memory comes from parent company Micron.In terms of speed, the MX500 versions do not differ much from their predecessors, judging by the specifications.It concerns sata-ssds and it is therefore the sata-600- protocol that forms the bottleneck.

Crucial no longer uses a Marvell controller for the SSDs in the MX series. The SM2258 from Silicon Motion has been chosen for the MX500. That controller was already in the BX300 series. AnandTech has published a comprehensive review of the Crucial MX500 SSD and concludes that it performs excellently for its price. Under heavy workloads, the MX500 outperforms the MX300.

At the time of writing, Crucial only has the 1TB version of the MX500 in 2.5″ form factor on its website, for a price of 271.81 euros. The current MX300 with a storage capacity of 1050GB will be in the Pricewatch from about about 279 euros.