Crucial P5 2TB PCIe M.2 2280 SSD Review

SSD by stefan @ 2021-06-29

The P5 2TB model comes with a similar performance as the 1TB SKU, in some cases succeeding to overpass it by making use of more available SLC cache and the DRAM cache for storing the mapping tables. If the drive is heavily used at once, throttling will occur as well, as it can be seen in some of our test results and graphs, which makes us recommend it to be used in very well-ventilated enclosures and even better, on motherboard which have an integrated heatsink for the M.2 slot.

Introduction

 

At first we would like to thank Crucial for sending a sample of their P5 2TB PCIe M.2 2280 SSD for testing and reviewing.

 

 

About Crucial:

 

“Looking for computer memory or a new storage drive? You've come to the right place!

 

Crucial is a global brand of Micron Technology, Inc., one of the largest memory and flash storage manufacturers in the world. We make computer memory upgrades (DRAM) and solid state drives (SSDs), and offer more than 250,000 upgrades for over 50,000 systems. For 17 years, we've sought to provide the Crucial Difference — award-winning products, outstanding support, and a team of memory and storage experts who explain complex lingo in everyday terms. We're here to help improve the performance of your system.

 

Crucial memory and SSDs have been qualified and approved by major original equipment manufacturers, and every single module that leaves our doors has been rigorously tested at the component and module level. That's a big deal in the memory industry, but it's not all. When it comes to our SSDs, each drive undergoes over a thousand hours of prerelease validation testing and hundreds of qualification tests to ensure optimal reliability and performance.

 

To find upgrades in just a few clicks, our award-winning Crucial System Scanner or Crucial Memory Advisor™ tool will identify compatible upgrades for your system, and if you order on Crucial.com, we guarantee compatibility — or your money back. With fast and free shipping, outstanding tech support, and an exhaustive library of articles, videos, and install guides, we make it easy to find and install the right upgrade for your system.

 

Let us be your memory and storage experts.”

 

Product Features

Seamless Performance

With the P5, operating systems and apps open quickly, and games load as soon as you’re ready to spawn.

 

Conquer Expectations

The Crucial P5 combines 3D NAND and cutting-edge controller technology for fierce read/write speeds up to 3400/3000MB/s, pushing the limits of PCIe® Gen 3 NVMe™.

 

Security

Capable of enhancing data security and management with rapid, full-drive encryption, helping protect your data without performance degradation.

 

Unprecedented Endurance

Dynamic write acceleration, error correction, and adaptive thermal protection optimize performance and durability.

 

One of the Largest Storage Manufacturers Worldwide

Crucial is backed by Micron’s expert quality and engineering innovation. Micron has produced some of the world's most advanced memory and storage technologies for over 40 years.

 

Product Specifications

Brand - Crucial

SSD series - P5

Warranty - Limited 5-year

Form factor - M.2 (2280)

Sequential Read - 3400 MB/s

SSD Endurance (TBW) - 1200 Terabytes

Capacity - 2TB

Sequential Write - 3000 MB/s

Interface - NVMe (PCIe Gen 3 x4)

Specs - 2TB M.2 SSD • PCIe NVMe Gen 3 • 3400 MB/s Read, 3000 MB/s Write

 

Packaging, A Closer Look

In this article we will revisit the P5 SSD model from Crucial, but now the SKU with more capacity, 2TB. The unit is aimed at the mainstream market, being speedy enough as a boot drive but also as a secondary SSD. The TBW is noted at 1200TB, and the product comes with a 5-year warranty as well.

 

The drive is shipped inside a compact cardboard enclosure, which shows the total storage capacity on the top cover, but also the supported bus (NVMe M.2 format):

 

 

 

On the back side, we will note some online resource links which help locating the Data Transfer Software, the Installation Guide but also the newer firmware, if it exists:

 

 

 

Inside, we will get to see a printed leaflet, but also the drive, which sits securely inside a transparent plastic mold:

 

 

 

The mentioned leaflet instructs the user to go online to access other resources, in different languages:

 

 

 

On the top drive PCB, we will find a large sticker with the Crucial logo, but also the product name and format (2280):

 

 

 

The back side does not hold any additional components, but a sticker with more information such as the internal code name, the serial number, firmware version, power rating but also the supported standards:

 

 

 

After removing the large frontal sticker, we can look closer at the components:

 

 

 

The Micron DM01B2 controller is sitting on a small PCB of its own and features a metallic heatspreader. This is an 8-channel architecture with support for DRAM caching:

 

 

 

The Micron D9XGJ LPDDR4 2GB memory IC helps with storing the mapping tables:

 

 

 

The two Micron NW970 96-layer TLC NAND packages add for a total of 2TB of storage space:

 

 

 

Test Setup and Extra Info

Test Bench:

 

CPU: Intel I5 9700K Retail

CPU Cooler: Deepcool Captain 240 EX RGB AIO

Motherboard: Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming

RAM: Patriot Memory Viper RGB Series DDR4

Video: KFA2 GeForce GTX 1060 OC 6GB

Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W

SSD: OCZ Vector 150

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

 

 

The drive has arrived unformatted; we did proceed with the usual steps in order to format it as NTFS:

 

 

With the help of AIDA64, we could extract more information regarding the drive:

 

 

Test Results (Blank) Part I

The Tests

 

HDTach Short Test


Blank SSD

 

HDTach Long Test

 

Blank SSD

 

CrystalMark HDD Test Suite


 

AIDA64 Disk Test Suite


 

PCMark05 HDD Test Suite


 

 

Test Results (Blank) Part II

PCMark 8


 

HDTune Test Suite


Blank SSD

 

PCMark Vantage HDD Test Suite


 

PCMark 7


 

Anvil [Read]


Anvil [Write]


 

Extra Tests:

 

AS SSD Benchmark

Blank SSD

AS SSD Benchmark (IOPS)

Blank SSD

ATTO Disk Benchmark

Blank SSD

CrystalDiskMark

Blank SSD

 

 

 

Test Results (Filled) Part I

The Tests

 

HDTach Short Test


Filled SSD

 

HDTach Long Test

 

Filled SSD

 

CrystalMark HDD Test Suite


 

AIDA64 Disk Test Suite


 

PCMark05 HDD Test Suite


 

 

Test Results (Filled) Part II

PCMark 8


 

HDTune Test Suite


Filled SSD

 

PCMark Vantage HDD Test Suite


 

PCMark 7


 

Anvil [Read]


 

Anvil [Write]


 

Extra Tests:

 

AS SSD Benchmark

Filled SSD

AS SSD Benchmark (IOPS)

Filled SSD

ATTO Disk Benchmark

Filled SSD

CrystalDiskMark

Filled SSD

 

 

Conclusive Thoughts

The P5 2TB model comes with a similar performance as the 1TB SKU, in some cases succeeding to overpass it by making use of more available SLC cache and the DRAM cache for storing the mapping tables. If the drive is heavily used at once, throttling will occur as well, as it can be seen in some of our test results and graphs, which makes us recommend it to be used in very well-ventilated enclosures and even better, on motherboard which have an integrated heatsink for the M.2 slot.

 

The SLC cache and firmware can keep the write speeds at high values, with the very small occasional drops, but when throttling kicks in, the speed will be automatically lowered in order to protect the drive from damage:

 

 

 

This is a great, spacious drive to be used in systems which do not currently support the next PCIe 4.0 generation in order to be used as a boot drive or for working with large projects (mostly video editing).

 

In terms of pricing, the P5 2TB can be found online for about 270 Euros, which is fair considering the performance, TBW, capacity and total warranty of 5 years.

Crucial P5 2TB PCIe M.2 2280 SSD is Recommended for:

 

 

 

We would like to thank again to Crucial for making this review possible!

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