Crucial T500 Gen4 SSD 2TB Review - When 4-channels beats 8-channels

TweakTown's Rating: 99%

The Bottom Line

Crucial's T500 Gen4 SSD 2TB is our new favorite PCIe Gen4 SSD!

Pros

• + Gaming
• + User experience
• + 4-channel controlled

Cons

• - PS5 performance, maybe

Should you buy it?

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Introduction & Drive Details

While others are fading away during these trying times for SSD revenue, Crucial is forging ahead, working tirelessly to bring forth the world's best-performing SSDs. Just a short time ago, we had the pleasure of reviewing the world's fastest and best-performing consumer SSD, Crucial's own T700 Gen5 SSD.

The recipe for Crucial's success comes down to two main factors, access to its parent company's (Micron) flash, and its partnership with Phison Electronics. Currently, Micron's 232-Layer B58R flash offers the industry's highest performance and is, of itself, the core reason for the current SSD performance bar being raised. Micron B58R arrayed SSDs behind Phison controllers are currently the best-performing SSDs of their kind.

Our first taste of B58R paired with a Phison controller came to us via Micron's 2550 OEM SSD. This Phison E21T controlled Gen4 DRAMless SSD is, to this day, the best-performing DRAMless SSD we've ever encountered, being the only flash-based DRAMless SSD to be currently certified as 14K TweakTown Elite.

Until today, this very day, we have not had a retail PCIe Gen4 SSD arrayed with Micron's 232-Layer B58R flash appear on the scene. OEM, yes, and in retail, only PCIe Gen5. We have it now in today's test subject, Crucial's T500 Gen4 SSD.

This SSD is the first of its kind, at least that we know of, PCIe Gen4 4-channel SSD with onboard DRAM. The T500 is yet again another Crucial/Phison collaborative effort. The drive is unique for the previously stated reasons and, additionally, because it is the first and only SSD to be Phison E25 controlled. Currently, Phison's E25 controller is exclusive to its partnership with Crucial/Micron.

Phison's PS5025-E25 controller is a bit of a mystery. It's not listed on Phison's website, so we had to search out the best we could from industry insiders to figure out just what this controller actually is. Apparently, it is based on the E26 controller technology but is 4-channel, designed for onboard DRAM and PCIe Gen4 only. That's all we could find, no spec sheet or anything like that.

Being PCIe Gen4 4-channel controlled has its inherent advantages as well as inherent disadvantages, as we've seen to date through what has so far been exclusively DRAMless offerings. Basically, 4-channel controlled SSDs are vastly more power efficient than their 8-channel counterparts. They run cool in comparison. And they tend to be more affordable.

However, 4-channel controlled SSDs typically cannot offer the same high-level type real-world performance as 8-channel controlled SSDs can dish out - especially when heavy consumer workloads or gaming are what's for dinner. Some of this performance disparity is due to the lack of additional pipelines to push data, some to the speed of the flash, and some to what has been, to this point, a lack of onboard DRAM.

Well, today, that changes. Crucial's T500 is, in our opinion, the best overall PCIe Gen4 SSD ever made to this point in time. It's an absolute beast on the performance front, beating 99.9% of all 8-channel controlled PCIe Gen4 SSDs in terms of real-world performance or, as we call it, performance that matters. The lone exception is the Samsung 990 Pro, and only if the 990 Pro is running in full power mode.

Additionally, it's inherently power efficient and relatively cool running being 4-channel controlled; a win as we see it. And because it's arrayed with 2,400MT B58R flash and has onboard DRAM in a 1:1 ratio to its capacity (1GB to 1TB), it can do gaming and consumer workloads at a much higher level than we've ever seen from any 4-channel PCIe Gen4 SSD.

Now that we have a basic understanding of what the T500 is and what makes it unique, let's get into the numbers.

Drive Details

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The T500 can be had as a bare drive or with a sized perfectly for PS5 heatsink for $10 more.

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Jon's Test System Specifications

Intel Test System

• Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS Tachyon
• CPU: Intel Core i9-13900KS - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45 - Buy from Amazon
• RAM: Sabrent Rocket DDR5 32GB - Buy from Amazon
• Graphics Card: MSI SUPRIM X RTX 3080 12GB - Buy from Amazon
• Case: PrimoChill's Praxis Wetbench - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1200W - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit - Buy from Amazon

AMD Test System

• Motherboard: GIGABYTE X670E AORUS Master
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45 - Buy from Amazon
• RAM: Sabrent Rocket DDR5 32GB - Buy from Amazon
• Graphics Card: MSI SUPRIM X RTX 3080 12GB - Buy from Amazon
• Case: PrimoChill's Praxis Wetbench - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1200W - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit - Buy from Amazon

Because we at TweakTown like to be first at everything whenever we can, we will present our storage performance results for the test subject on both 13th Gen Intel and 7000 Series AMD platforms going forward for the foreseeable future. Because Intel still delivers the best real-world storage performance, (Look Here), our running chart will continue to be Intel-based until AMD can deliver better real-world storage performance than its rival.

Crucial T500 2TB Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD

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Sony PlayStation 5 - M.2 Storage Expansion

PS5 Read Performance

With Sony's wildly popular PlayStation 5 console now enabled for M.2 NVMe SSDs to be used as fast storage expansion, we include results for PS5 compatible SSDs we test as a part of our reviews going forward.

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We only chart SSDs that can deliver a minimum of 5,500 MB/s read, which is Sony's original recommendation.

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5,535 MB/s makes the cut, but not by much. We aren't sure why an SSD with the amount of throughput the T500 has on offer isn't netting better sequential speeds on the PS5. However, we aren't worried in the slightest as sequential throughput, as it is with PC, isn't the best indicator of tangible performance.

Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, Anvil, ATTO

CrystalDiskMark

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We employ CDM as our standard measurement for both sequential throughput and Q1T1 random read. In terms of sequential throughput, we find our test subject fully capable of meeting and exceeding quoted up to specifications (which are given for AMD). 7,405 MB/s read matches exactly factory up to spec. At 7,133 MB/s, sequential write speeds are the highest we've ever attained from any PCIe Gen4 interfaced SSD. Impressive. Q1T1 random read at 103 MB/s is right up there with the best of the best.

Anvil's Storage Utilities

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As expected for a 4-channel controlled SSD, the T500 is dishing out midrange overall synthetic read performance.

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We employ Anvil's random read test as our standard for measuring max random read IOPS. This test is very accurate as it at its core is Iometer skinned over. We test at QD128. Our results, while quite good, are, as expected, a bit lower than factory up-to-spec due to our more demanding user state of the system disk with 150GB of data onboard.

ATTO

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ATTO gives us a clear picture of what transfer sizes a particular SSD favors in terms of sequential throughput. We chart 128K transfers. The T500 favors sequential transfers of 1MB or larger when serving data to the host (reading) and 64K or larger when programming (writing) data. QD4 sequential 128K write, as delivered on our AMD platform, parallels what we saw with CDM in that it is the highest we've seen to date coming from a PCIe Gen4 SSD.

Real-World Testing: Transfers, 3DMark SSD Gaming Test, PCM10 Storage

Transfer Rates

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Our 100GB data transfer test is not your ordinary 100GB of data, ours is a crushing mix composed of more than 62K files. Write performance random or sequential, is an infrequent operation, and as such, we do not consider it to be an important performance metric in the consumer space. An example being how many times is a game installed vs. how many times it's played. The T500 manages to again deliver the best ever done by a flash-based PCIe Gen4 SSD. Impressive.

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Unlike programming (writing) data, serving data to the host (reading) is always an important performance metric as it relates to the consumer space. This is where 4-channel SSDs can't keep up with 8-channel, having a slight 200-300 MB/s disadvantage. Our test subject does, however, deliver the most we've seen to date from a 4-channel controlled SSD. Now that we are finished with synthetics and transfer testing, let's get into performance that matters.

3DMark SSD Gaming Test

UL's newest 3DMark SSD Gaming Test is the most comprehensive SSD gaming test ever devised. We consider it superior to testing against games themselves because, as a trace, it is much more consistent than variations that will occur between runs on the actual game itself. This test is the same as running the actual game, just without the inconsistencies inherent to application testing. In short, we believe that this is the world's best way to test an SSD's gaming prowess and accurately compare it against competing SSDs. The 3DMark SSD Gaming Test measures and scores the following:

• Loading Battlefield V from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Call of Duty Black Ops 4 from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Overwatch from launch to the main menu.
• Recording a 1080p gameplay video at 60 FPS with OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) while playing Overwatch.
• Installing The Outer Worlds from the Epic Games Launcher.
• Saving game progress in The Outer Worlds.
• Copying the Steam folder for Counter-Strike Global Offensive from an external SSD to the system drive.

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Gaming is a performance metric that matters to the majority of DIY consumers, especially to the enthusiast crowd that TweakTown caters to. Now we've reached the point where results start to matter as they are a direct reflection of user experience. A score of 5,200 here has only ever been attained by three flash-based PCIe Gen4 SSDs in history, the T500 being one of those three. As we see it, the T500 doing so is far more impressive than the other two, being that it is 4-channel controlled. Incredible.

PCM10 Storage Tests

PCMark 10 Storage Test is the most advanced and most accurate real-world consumer storage test ever made. There are four different tests you can choose from; we run two of them. The Full System Drive Benchmark and the Quick System Drive Benchmark. The Full System Drive Benchmark writes 204 GB of data over the duration of the test. These tests directly correlate with mainstream user experience.

PCMark 10 Full System Drive Benchmark

This particular test writes 204GB data and covers a broad range of common consumer tasks, including booting Windows 10, file transfers, Adobe and Office applications, and startup times for games, including Battlefield V, COD Black Ops 4, and Overwatch. Unlike synthetic numbers, this is comprehensive real-world data, which is why we use it to rank SSDs in terms of user experience.

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Our 4-channel contender delivers the second-best ever for a PCIe Gen4 SSD, outdone only by Samsung's 990 Pro running in full power mode. In standard Mode, the 990 Pro loses to the T500 here. It is even more stunning when we consider this is a 4-channel controlled SSD running heavy consumer workloads.

PCMark 10 Quick System Drive Benchmark

The Quick System Drive Benchmark writes 23 GB of data over the duration of the test.

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Again, second best ever for any flash-based PCIe Gen4 SSD and doing so with half the channels to work with. Impressive. This is performance that matters.

Final Thoughts

The current collaboration of Crucial and Phison is producing what are the best overall consumer SSDs ever made to this point in time. Phison with its cutting-edge controllers and Crucial/Micron with the world's best-performing 3-bit flash on the planet. It's a match made in storage heaven.

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We rank SSDs in terms of overall user experience (performance where it matters most) as expressed by PCMark 10 storage and 3DMark gaming storage tests. We consider a user experience score of 14K or more to verify an SSD as a TweakTown Elite performer. Crucial's T500 2TB is the most impressive PCIe Gen4 SSD we've ever tested. Of the PCIe Gen4 SSDs, only the 8-channel controlled 990 Pro, and only when running in full power mode, can outperform the 4-channel controlled T500. We don't see that as a win for the 990 Pro.

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It's an engineering masterpiece, our new favorite PCIe Gen4 SSD, and worthy of our highest award. Editor's Choice.