Ambroos Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 A few days ago Crucial introduced the MX100. An excellent performer at a ridiculously low price point. Pricing? (from Amazon US, but it's already available globally for equally low prices) $220 for 512GB $110 for 256GB ($80 for the 128GB model but considering the lower performance and small difference you'd be mad to buy this) Anandtech did a review and had this conclusion: All in all, I have nothing negative to say about the MX100. With the performance and feature set, combined with pricing that basically doubles the amount of storage you get for your dollar, it's an absolute no-brainer. Unless you are an enthusiast or professional with a heavy IO workload, the MX100 is currently the drive with the best bang for the buck in the market by far. The NAND comes from IMFT, a joint venture between Intel and Micron (Crucial is Micron's consumer brand). Controller is from Marvell. Both IMFT and Marvell have excellent reputations when it comes to reliability. The Anandtech review shows that there is little left to be desired performance-wise, and the pricing is just ridiculously low. So, I was wondering, what are your thoughts? If you were to go for an SSD right now, what one would you go for? Why would you pick the MX100 or prefer something else? Personally, the high price difference makes any upgrade irrelevant to me and I can't see myself paying nearly double for the same storage capacity to get marginal performance gains. (PS: Not an ad. I'm just genuinly surprised by the sudden low price and feel this could really majorly disrupt the SSD market - finally.) +E.Worm Jimmy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trag3dy Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 The new Sandisk with a 10 year warranty might be a good choice. Which is pretty unheard of for SSds as far as I know. http://www.sandisk.com/products/ssd/sata/extreme-pro/ Though they are almost double the price of that MX100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anibal P Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Definitely a contender, especially if it's rated well by Anand Time to start counting pennies again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambroos Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 The new Sandisk with a 10 year warranty might be a good choice. Which is pretty unheard of for SSds as far as I know. http://www.sandisk.com/products/ssd/sata/extreme-pro/ Though they are almost double the price of that MX100. Yeah, well, I think that's more of a marketing gimmick than anything else... Warranty doesn't cover regular wear and tear either, so if you'd run out of write cycles you'd still be out of luck. I mean, you could get two of those Crucials and put them in RAID-1 (or another backup mechanism) for extra reliability for the same money. Doesn't that sort of beat the 10 year warranty? +E.Worm Jimmy and +devHead 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trag3dy Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Yeah, well, I think that's more of a marketing gimmick than anything else... Warranty doesn't cover regular wear and tear either, so if you'd run out of write cycles you'd still be out of luck. I mean, you could get two of those Crucials and put them in RAID-1 (or another backup mechanism) for extra reliability for the same money. Doesn't that sort of beat the 10 year warranty? That's what I was wondering myself. It seems like their warranty does cover regular use, however: SanDisk warrants to the end user, that this product, excluding content and or software supplied with or on the product, will be free from material defects in manufacture, will conform to SanDisk's published product specifications and be fit for normal use during the Warranty Period specified in the table commencing on the date of purchase provided that the product is legally placed on the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John.D Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I'm in the process of making up a system here with a H97 mobo. I've been checking out the Intel 530, and the Samsung Evo 840 ssd's. I was going to get an Intel 530 but checking it out online, it's got a few probs (probably with its firmware). Where people who were using it, it disappeared after a reboot. And couldn't get detected. But, according to Intel, this issue may have something to do with users who use a displayport connection (it has something to do with the 20 pin connection on the cable). Or something. Which I wont be using And I've read good reviews on the Samsung (it's about $129 NZ here, for the 120 GB Samsung). Which should be enough for now. I don't use these for games. And the hdd at the mo is only using 28 GB with Win 8.1 update 1. So, I may try the Samsung, and buy a Prodigy M case (for the same price) to chuck the mobo in. Since it's MATX I dont think the MX100 is available here yet. So I can see what the price is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambroos Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 Samsung EVO's are pretty good, 129 NZD doesn't sound too bad for the 120GB model. If you have a few days (it's only been announced a week ago) you might just want to wait for the MX100 anyway. Performance is equal or better than the 840 EVO, and you'll probably be able to get the 256GB model for the same price (or the 128GB model for a lower price). But in any case you're not making any bad decisions with the 840 EVO. Dashel 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John.D Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I could get an MX100 256 GB on Ebay. Looks like the cheapest atm, is around around $141 NZ from the UK with free postage. Got plenty of time to decide. Still have to buy a PSU (probably a modular), ram and case ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinsOfCube Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Just ordered the 512GB version for ?180, ?50 cheaper than the Samsung Evo. It's going to be my gaming drive and really looking forward to testing it out :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambroos Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 Just ordered the 512GB version for ?180, ?50 cheaper than the Samsung Evo. It's going to be my gaming drive and really looking forward to testing it out :laugh: Hey, congrats! I used to have some games on my SSD instead of HDD and the difference in load times is pretty big. I really feel like buying one of these even though I have no computers left to put them in. My laptop already has two Toshiba SSD's in RAID0 (some special stuff made for Sony, can't replace) and my desktop has a Crucial m4 that's hardly full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boz Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Samsung EVO is still the best. Samsung lowered the price and you can get EVO 256gb for $130. I bought 2 a few days ago. While I like where Crucial is going, I still think Samsung's EVO are worth $40 premium. xendrome, Raa and Aergan 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primexx Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I'm still partial to Samsung which is the only consumer drive that uses a homegrown controller. Hope Intel eventually puts their new enterprise chip into a consumer package, although they may not be as trustworthy as Samsung anymore. Raa 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
protocol7 Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I bought my 128GB Crucial M4 in August 2012 and it's been great. I've heard good things about the Samsungs but I'll probably go with another Crucial like the one in the OP when I decide to get more space. Using this one for Windows, apps and games. 7663 hours clocked so far with 2% life used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambroos Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 Samsung EVO is still the best. Samsung lowered the price and you can get EVO 256gb for $130. I bought 2 a few days ago. While I like where Crucial is going, I still think Samsung's EVO are worth $40 premium. It does score lower in almost all of AnandTech's tests and costs more? Any particular reason why you prefer Samsung? I'm still partial to Samsung which is the only consumer drive that uses a homegrown controller. Hope Intel eventually puts their new enterprise chip into a consumer package, although they may not be as trustworthy as Samsung anymore. I think Intel is going to be focusing on NVMe drives now (I hope so at least). They're never going to compete on price though. Are the differences in performance between current consumer SSDs even noticeable? Most are already so fast everything seems instant. Enterprise applications that are very sensitive to latency and usually can reach higher queue depths can still gain a lot, but I think there's little to improve anymore on the consumer side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceelf Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I had a 64GB Crucial M4 and it was awesome for a 64. Write speeds were less than the bigger drives but read speeds were exactly the same. I'm definately getting an MX100 when I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primexx Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I think Intel is going to be focusing on NVMe drives now (I hope so at least). They're never going to compete on price though. Are the differences in performance between current consumer SSDs even noticeable? Most are already so fast everything seems instant. Enterprise applications that are very sensitive to latency and usually can reach higher queue depths can still gain a lot, but I think there's little to improve anymore on the consumer side. There was rumour a while ago that they'd make a consumer version of the DC drives. Haven't heard anything since. Performance isn't an issue for the most part but there are differences in quality between the manufactures. Samsung has a demonstrated track record with their own controller, beaten only by the now-outdated original Intel controller. And the Crucial with Marvell controller has also proven itself. Crucial probably beats the Evo, but I'd still go for the 840 Pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambroos Posted June 8, 2014 Author Share Posted June 8, 2014 There was rumour a while ago that they'd make a consumer version of the DC drives. Haven't heard anything since. Performance isn't an issue for the most part but there are differences in quality between the manufactures. Samsung has a demonstrated track record with their own controller, beaten only by the now-outdated original Intel controller. And the Crucial with Marvell controller has also proven itself. Crucial probably beats the Evo, but I'd still go for the 840 Pro. The Pro :/ ? It costs 40% to 80% more depending on the store and the performance difference is small to inexistent depending on the benchmark. The MX100 even beats it in some. Isn't it ridiculous to pay such a high premium for so few gains? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis W. Veteran Posted June 8, 2014 Veteran Share Posted June 8, 2014 I had some flaky experiences with my M4. To Crucial's credit, the replacement is working okay so far but it's no longer my laptop's sole drive. I'm not sure whether the controller has changed since then though. I'd still give them a shot over some brand like ADATA (chuckle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajua Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 With SSD's the price/storage ratio is too important to ignore. I have one SanDisk Extreme II one Kingston HyperX 3K on my desktop and laptop. With the huge increase in game installation size these days, we need better prices on bigger drives. The MX100 512GB selling for $220 is a huge temptation right now. I might wait a month or two before buying it but it's on my radar for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylar0 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 This is going to be a really noob question I have a custom built desktop I picked the components for it and had a shop build it in recent years, how do I know if my power supply and MB/Case can support an SSD? I understand the benefits of having one and see they have become a lot cheaper now but I am not good on the hardware side of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RottGutt Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 We sell the Crucial M500 series where I work, and they have turned out to be complete PoS drives. Every single one of them has been brought back within 2-5 months of installation for failing, and I mean completely failing. We have had to replace dozens of them for free under our idiotic "3 year guarantee" that our boss insists on keeping, even though Crucial will only guarantee them for 1 year. For some strange reason, he refuses to purchase any other brand of SSD. The read speed is good on the MX100 (~540MB/s max), but the write speed sucks (~300MB/s max). Don't waste your money on these new sub-standard SSD drives. For my 2 cents, I wouldn't waste my time purchasing anything other than one of the Samsung 840 EVO drives. Sure they may be a little more expensive (~$20 more expensive), but I haven't seen even one of them fail yet in any machine I have personally put them in. You can get the 250GB version right now for only $139.00: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147248&cm_re=samsung_840_evo_250gb_ssd-_-20-147-248-_-Product Also, and very important to note, the write speed of the Samsung 840 EVO series (~520 MB/s sustained, not max) puts the Crucial MX100 to shame. Anand must be getting paid a lot to say they are better than the Samsung 840 EVO drives. I hope this info helps! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
protocol7 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I don't know how you're only getting a 1yr warranty out of Crucial. Anywhere you see the M500 online it lists a 3yr warranty, even on Crucial's site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsupersonic Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 These drives are cheap-ish when on sale. I might pick up a 512 GB MX100 when it's on sale - can never have enough SSD's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaP Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 The 512GB is actually 333$ in Canada which is nothing to write home about this is the regular price of a Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 480GB. You can get the 480GB Chronos Deluxe right now in Canada for 259$ which is far less than the MX100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveGreen93 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Any reason why, on Amazon UK, the 512GB costs more than two 256GB? 256GB = ?74.81 512GB = ?152.32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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