Not that long ago we took a long hard look at Crucial T500 1TB M.2 SSD and walked away very impressed with Crucial was able to do. Without going into too much detail, with its recent price cuts the T500 series represents the pinnacle of mainstream value. However, as we talked about in that review the ‘sweet spot’ is not the 1TB variant but the 2TB capacity version. After extensive feedback, and discussions with Crucial, we were able to obtain a 2TB review sample to show precisely what properly populating all the channels of the PHSION E25 controller brings to the table… and if it is worth the added expense of the 1TB model.
As such this review is going to be slightly different than most. We, and everyone not living under a rock, know the T500 series is good, solid kit. So it not a case of if the T500 2TB is faster, it is if it is fast enough to overcome the added expense of NN dollars it represents. Make no mistake, at $155 (for the non-heatsink version being reviewed today) is not going to break many build’s budget.
It however is $70 (USD) more than the 1TB.
One can make a very good argument that the extra seventy dollars is well worth the price of admission. In return for this added expense you do get double the NAND endurance at 1200TB vs 600TB.
Noticeably higher IOPS at 1.18/1.2 million (r/w) vs 1.15/0.6 million I/O per seconds. Even the fact that the floating pSLC write buffer will always be at least twice as big as the 1TB’ers option. All of that are excellent arguments in favor of the 2TB. It however… is still a single side 22×80 M.2 form-factored drive using the same B58R Micron R.G. TLC NAND (albeit at twice the die density per IC) as the 1TB. It also still is a drive that makes use the very potent Phison E25… and thus still is ‘only’ a 4 channel design. One can even argue that at 7.8cents per GB vs 8.5 cents it is a better overall value.
This is all true.
But it at the end of the day it still is a $155 vs $85 USD purchase decision. For certain builds that added cost can result in sacrifices having to be made elsewhere. For example, that price difference is bigger than the difference between what a 32GB kit of Crucial’s very own Pro series DDR5-6000 costs (about 100 USD) vs. the two stick 64GB DDR5-6000 kit costs (about $165). As such, this choice between a 1TB and 2TB M.2 drive it is not a decision to be taken lightly. So let’s deep dive the T500 and see if the 2TB’s added performance, value, and durability warrant the added price!
