Crucial Releases BX500 Entry-Level SSD - 480GB at $79.99

Without much of a fuss Crucial released the MX500 entry-level SATA SSD. We've yet to see an announcement but the drive tipped up on the Crucial website and Amazon to prove its existence. Shipping on Amazon will begin on September 4th but you can get a head start by ordering on Crucial.com where where drives will begin shipping on August 31st.

At the time of writing all three capacities show the same performance ratings. The BX500 will achieve up to 540 MB/s sequential read and 500 MB/s sequential write speeds. Crucial doesn't list random performance on this series. Given the low endurance ratings, we can only assume the BX500 is the first consumer SSD from the company to utilize 4-bit per cell memory.

In the three year warranty coverage, the 120GB BX500 gives users support for 40 terabytes written (TBW). That doubles to 80 TBW for the 240GB model and then levels off with just 120 TBW for the 480GB model. The endurance seems low compared to the mainstream MX500 with 3-bit per cell TLC memory but the entry-level BX500 allows for 21GB per day for 5 years with the 120GB drive.

If Crucial's QLC flash is as potent as Intel's, Micron's manufacturing partner, this could be a very speedy but low cost drive for casual PC users. The Intel SSD 660p with QLC delivers exceptional random read performance to open applications quickly and to deliver a positive user experience.

BX500 prices start at just $29.99 for the 120GB. The BX500 240GB sells for $49.99 and the large 480GB for just $79.99.