Crucial M500 SSD Review (960GB) – Speed, Value, Size and Data Security Redefined

ATTO DISK BENCHMARK VER. 2.46

ATTO Disk Benchmark is perhaps one of the oldest benchmarks going and is definitely the main staple for manufacturer performance specifications. ATTO uses RAW or compressible data and, for our benchmarks, we use a set length of 256mb and test both the read and write performance of various transfer sizes ranging from 0.5 to 8192kb. Manufacturers prefer this method of testing as it deals with raw (compressible) data rather than random (includes incompressible data) which, although more realistic, results in lower performance results.

Crucial M500 1TB ATTO Score

We reached transfer speed highs of 535MB/s read and 453MB/s write from the M500 SSD, whereas performance at this capacity is listed at 500MB/s read and 400MB/s write. This is an excellent start, however, we would like to see the same with 100% incompressible data testing. ATTO is the ‘big easy’ of SSD performance.

CRYSTAL DISK BENCHMARK VER. 3.0 X64

Crystal Disk Benchmark is used to measure read and write performance through sampling of raw (0/1 Fill/compressible) or random data which is, for the most part, incompressible. In the Crucial M500 SSD, performance results are very similar whether we test with compressible or incompressible data and, for this reason, results are displayed utilizing incompressible data.

Crucial M500 1TB ATTO Crystal Disk Mark

Transfer speeds dropped a bit, as they always do when comparing ATTO and CDM, but they are still relatively close to specifications with the read exceeding while the write performance drops just a bit below. Overall, the Crucial M500 SSD displays consistently high results at all levels of disk access.

AS SSD BENCHMARK VER 1.6

Up until recently, AS SSD was the only benchmark created specifically for SSD testing and it uses incompressible data. AS SSD, for the most part, gives us the ‘worst case scenario’ in SSD transfer speeds because of its use of incompressible data and many enthusiasts like to AS SSD for their needs. Transfer speeds are displayed on the left with IOPS results on the right.

Crucial M500 1TB AS SSD BenchCrucial M500 1TB AS SSD IOPSThe Score of 1035 points highlights the M500 as does the incredible IOPS performance of both 84093 IOPS read and 78548 IOPS write, both scores not typically seen until Anvil testing. In fact, we think the result here is only beaten by two other SSDs, both of which claim IOPS of 100,000 or better. These are the Samsung 840 Pro and OCZ Vector, both of which we reviewed previously. All three had very close AS SSD Copy Benchmark results.

Crucial M500 1TB AS SSD Copy Bench

10 comments

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    They are in Stock and 570.00 on Amazon. No forum link for this drive

    Crucial M500 960GB SATA
    2.5-Inch 7mm (with 9.5mm adapter) Internal Solid State Drive
    CT960M500SSD1

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      20nm nand and 25 nm nand is very hard to find which I find puzzling because Crucial makes their own nand. Hence this 960gb Crucial is not available at its 599.00 price anymore. Its out of stock at most vendors and as soon as its in stock its sold out in 5 minutes.

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    This is one heck of a drive! I want one.

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    Nice performance for the price! Not so high end but can’t complain.

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      The performanc on this drive is rather unique. On one hand we can see where the Samsung and OCZ better it in areas such as IOPS and incompressible data performance but, on the other hand, it seemed to stand up to both in such things as the AS SSD and Anvil Total Scores and blew both away in Vantage Total Point Scoring.

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        Right as always Les. Well i consider the low 4k read the most important factor for ssd perf because it’s the only value that you can’t improve by RAID. Actually you might decrease it a bit. Drives with strong perf should be >35mb/s in 4k like m5pro or 840pro. I may be wrong though and feel free to correct me.

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    The drive has support for both TCG Opal 2.0 and IEEE 1667 specifications. Having the
    Opal 2.0 support means that you can utilize third-party encryption to
    make the system more secure. It also provides full
    compatibility with BitLocker encryption built into Windows 8. This is the
    first SSD with explicit support for this feature. It also support’s Device Sleep (DEVSLP), a new standard which consumes less power between state changes, enabling fast exit latency and a more efficient energy profile. I have been reading the SSD review for many months now and really enjoy the articles and respect the attention to detail and repetition utilized during the testing procedures. Excellent work gentlemen.

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    Is it possible to show Host Read/Write-values with CDI?

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