UserBenchmark: Crucial M500 vs Intel 525 Series mSATA

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IntelSSDMCEAC240B301

BUY • $150

CrucialCT120M500SSD1

BUY • $75

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Real World Speed

Performance profile from 15,549 user samples

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119 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 95% 109GB free (System drive)
Worst Bench: 54% 99GB free

Poor: 54% Great: 95%

SPEED RANK: 617^th / 1072

15,430 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 77% 45GB free
Worst Bench: 47% 13GB free

Poor: 47% Great: 77%

SPEED RANK: 730^th / 1072


Effective Speed Effective SSD Speed		72.8 %	Faster effective speed. +10%		66 %


Read Avg. Sequential Read Speed	416 MB/s	+5%	397 MB/s
Write Avg. Sequential Write Speed	243 MB/s	Hugely faster write speed. +85%	131 MB/s
4K Read Avg. 4K Random Read Speed	27.5 MB/s	Faster random read. +21%	22.7 MB/s
4K Write Avg. 4K Random Write Speed	70.5 MB/s		80.5 MB/s	Faster random write. +14%
Mixed Avg. Sequential Mixed IO Speed	282 MB/s	Much faster mixed IO speed. +44%	196 MB/s
4K Mixed Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed	26.3 MB/s		30.5 MB/s	Faster random mixed IO. +16%
SusWrite Avg. Sustained Write Speed	190 MB/s	Hugely faster sustained write speed. +84%	103 MB/s


Read Peak Sequential Read Speed	505 MB/s	Faster peak read speed. +17%	432 MB/s
Write Peak Sequential Write Speed	284 MB/s	Hugely faster peak write speed. +103%	140 MB/s
4K Read Peak 4K Random Read Speed	38.5 MB/s	Much faster peak random read. +45%	26.6 MB/s
4K Write Peak 4K Random Write Speed	108 MB/s		111 MB/s	+3%
Mixed Peak Sequential Mixed IO Speed	334 MB/s	Much faster peak mixed IO speed. +61%	207 MB/s
4K Mixed Peak 4K Random Mixed IO Speed	46 MB/s	Faster peak random mixed IO. +25%	36.8 MB/s
SusWrite Peak Sequential Sustained Write 60s Average	248 MB/s	Much faster peak sustained write speed. +80%	138 MB/s

Market Share

Based on 75,801,547 SSDs tested

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Market Share Market Share (trailing 30 days)	0 %		0.01 %	Insanely higher market share. +∞%
Value Value For Money	6.73 %	Better value. +10%	6.11 %
User Rating UBM User Rating	51 %		53 %	+4%
Price Price (score)	$150		$75	Much cheaper. +50%


Age Newest	136 Months		134 Months	+1%
DQ Read Peak 4K-64Thread Read Speed	296 MB/s	Faster peak deep queue read. +14%	259 MB/s
DQ Write Peak 4K-64Thread Write Speed	255 MB/s	Hugely faster peak deep queue write. +82%	140 MB/s
AS-SSD Total AS-SSD Total Score	977 Pts	Stronger server IO. +29%	757 Pts
DQ Mixed Peak 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed	260 MB/s	Much faster peak deep queue mixed IO. +64%	159 MB/s
ADQ Read Avg. 4K-64Thread Read Speed	219 MB/s		247 MB/s	Faster deep queue read. +13%
ADQ Write Avg. 4K-64Thread Write Speed	202 MB/s	Much faster deep queue write. +60%	126 MB/s
ADQ Mixed Avg. 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed	153 MB/s	Faster deep queue mixed IO. +13%	135 MB/s


Capacity Capacity			240GB			120GB

In terms of hardware there is nothing new here, the combination of SandForce SF2281VB1-SDC controller coupled with 25NM Intel flash memory is the tried and tested solution of yesterday. This drive of course has the same characteristics we have already seen with this combination of hardware: relatively weak incompressible data throughputs, fantastic compressible data write speeds, average real world (424.5 MB/s) and average server workload performance (AS-SSD Total 836). The thing that is unique about this drive is its mSATA form factor which is approx one eighth of the size of a regular 2.5 inch drive. If you are looking for an mSATA SSD, this is one of your only and therefore best options. If you are not then there is far better performance and value for money offered by the newer generation of controllers. ^{[Apr '13 SSDrivePro]}

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The 120GB M500 is successor to the phenomenally successful Crucial M4. The M500 was poised to win loyal M4 customers but as it turns out the new M500 is worse for typical consumer use than the now nearly three years old M4. There are some cosmetic performance improvements over the M4 but they are purely synthetic. For example, deep queue speeds are significantly improved and the newer M500 handles mixed IO far better. Consumers require decent sequential read/write speeds which average 435/185 MB/s on the M4 vs 395/134 MB/s on the M500! Other manufacturers have come leaps and bounds over the last three years which has raised the performance bar is several notches. In today's market the new M500 simply cannot compete on performance, it doesn't even come close to the likes of the Samsung Evo or OCZ Vector 150. The M500, however, is one of the cheapest mainstream SSDs available at this time but it's easy to justify spending just a little more for a lot more performance. ^{[Feb '14 SSDrivePro]}

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Solid State Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) May 2024 SSD Rankings

Welcome to our 2.5" and M.2 SSD comparison. We calculate effective speed for both SATA and NVMe drives based on real world performance then adjust by current prices per GB to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top SSDs. ^[SSDrivePro]

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CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $254	Nvidia RTX 4060 $300	Crucial MX500 250GB $39
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $163	Nvidia RTX 4070 $539	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $31	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $37	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16

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