Crucial P5 Plus 2TB SSD Review - Elite Performance

1. Introduction & Drive Details
2. Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, Anvil, ATTO
3. Real-World Testing: Transfers, 3DMark SSD Gaming Test, PCM10
4. Final Thoughts

TweakTown's Rating: 99%

The Bottom Line

Class-leading performance and bargain pricing are a rare combo. Get some.

Buy at Amazon

Introduction & Drive Details

Crucial's flagship consumer SSD, the P5 Plus, has already proven to be one of the top-performing SSDs ever made. The 1TB model we tested back in August earned a TweakTown Elite certification. Impressive. However, even more impressive than its performance was its bargain pricing. At the time, it offered the best pricing for any Hyper-Class SSD. Well, today, as we test the even better performing 2TB model, pricing is even lower than it was back in August.

Currently selling at Amazon for a head-turning price of $299.99, or 15 cents per GB, for the 2TB model, the P5 Plus is by far the lowest priced SSD arrayed with 176Layer Micron B47R flash on the market. Additionally, the 2TB model is the only 2TB 176L arrayed SSD we've seen to date featuring a preferred single-sided design. All components are located on one side of the PCB, meaning fewer components, less power draw, and easier to cool. Elegant and attractive design. Also, this baby is perfectly suited for PlayStation 5 storage expansion.

Drive Details

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Crucial includes a free copy of Acronis HD with the P5 Plus. Additionally, Crucial provides free of charge its award-winning SSD management software. Crucial SSDs are the complete hardware/software package. The P5 Plus offers true hardware encryption, as evidenced by the PSID reset code printed on its label.

Jon's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS ROG Z690 HERO - Buy from Amazon
• CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45 - Buy from Amazon
• RAM: Crucial DDR5 32GB 4800MHz - Buy from Amazon
• Video Card: Zotac 2080Ti AMP Edition - Buy from Amazon
• Case: PrimoChill's Praxis Wetbench - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 1000W 80+ Gold - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit - Buy from Amazon

Crucial P5 Plus 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 SSD

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$182.52	$146.00	$168.57	$182.11	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 4/19/2024 at 12:51 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, Anvil, ATTO

CrystalDiskMark

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CDM verifies better than advertised sequential speeds. Sequential read performance is more than 200 MB/s better than advertised. This is somewhat refreshing as some SSDs, like the 980 Pro, fail to reach advertised sequential throughput.

Anvil's Storage Utilities

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Although the 1TB and 2TB P5 Plus are advertised as having equivalent performance, the 2TB model actually enjoys slightly better random read performance, and this is our first taste of it. Almost 10K. Very nice. On the top end, we see roughly a 24K IOPS advantage for the 2TB model.

ATTO

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Sequential reads ramp up a bit slowly but demonstrate a nice consistent pattern. Sequential write speeds ramp up quickly, albeit not as smoothly as seq. read as transfer sizes climb.

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

Transfer Rates

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Slotting in on our chart just above its smaller sibling, the 2TB P5 Plus demonstrates an above-average transfer rate.

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We are looking for 4,000 MB/s here, and the 2TB P5 Plus comes close, but no cigar.

3DMark SSD Gaming Test

UL's newest 3DMark SSD Gaming Test is the most comprehensive SSD gaming test ever devised. We consider it to be 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, in fact, 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 SSDs 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, this is performance that matters, and as this chart demonstrates, the 2TB P5 Plus is one of the better gaming SSDs you can buy.

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. The Quick System Drive Benchmark writes 23 GB of data over the duration of the test. These tests directly correlate with mainstream user experience.

PCMark 10 Full System Drive Benchmark

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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.

As expected, the 2TB P5 Plus is a consumer workload juggernaut. It is the best performer of the 176Layer flash arrayed SSDs and is only outdone by BiCS arrayed SSDs. Impressive.

PCMark 10 Quick System Drive Benchmark

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Performance that matters. Again, the 2TB P5 Plus clearly demonstrates its prowess when dealing with consumer workloads. Outstanding.

Final Thoughts

Fast storage matters. Storage performance impacts every aspect of personal computing. Nothing is as important or more important for a superior user experience than superior storage performance. Period. As expected, the 2TB P5 Plus, just as its smaller sibling did previously, demonstrated that where performance matters, Crucial's P5 Plus stands ready to deliver the goods. Not only that, as currently priced, it will do so for the lowest cost per gigabyte for a hyper-class SSD of its kind. Its performance to price ratio is currently unmatched as we see it.

And with the P5 Plus, it's not just about performance alone. It's about form as well. As we stated earlier in the review, it is the only single-sided 2TB 176Layer arrayed SSD that we are aware of. We love single-sided SSDs, because they fit better, draw less power, and run cooler than equivalent double-sided SSDs. And finally, if all that goodness isn't enough, Crucial's free complimentary SSD management software and included Acronis imaging software puts it over the top.

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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 11K or more to verify an SSD as a TweakTown Elite performer. With the 5th best overall user experience rank we've witnessed to date, Crucial's P5 Plus has earned its TweakTown Elite stripes. Wow.

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Class-leading performance and absolute bargain pricing have earned Crucial's P5 Plus an editor's choice award, which could just as easily be a best value award with pricing like that. Well done, Crucial.

PS... PlayStation 5

Pros

• User Experience
• Single Sided 2TB
• Pricing

Cons

• None