Crucial MX300 2 TB Storing Device Fresh Review

 
Brand - Crucial
Model - CT2050MX300SSD1
Controller - Marvell 88SS1074 BSW2
Flash Type - Micron, 16 nm TLC
MT29F3T08EUHBBM4-3R:B
Endurance - 400 TB total bytes written
Form Factor - SATA 2.5"
Thickness - 7 mm (Ultrabook compatible)
Capacity - 2050 GB (1905 GB usable)
254 GB additional overprovisioning
Interface - SATA 6 Gbps (compatible w/ 1.5 & 3 Gbps)
Firmware - M0C
TRIM supported - Yes
NCQ supported - Yes
Warranty - 3 years

Packaging

Crucial MX300 comes in a compact package with a distinctive design. General characteristics data are given.
 
A thickening frame is included, increasing the thickness from 7 to 9-9.5 mm. A card has a key to the program Acronis True Image.
 
The Crucial MX300 is produced in a metal casing. It is assembled without the usage of screws.
 
All information is collected on a sticker on the bottom of the case. Here you will find information about the place of production, firmware version and serial number.
 
It is connected with the traditional SATA connector. This drive can be considered for installation in ultrabooks.
 
Characteristic features
 
The heart of the Crucial MX300 is the Marvell 88SS1074 NAND controller, manufactured using a 28nm process technology, based on two cores with ARMv5 architecture running at 400 MHz. With the flash memory, this controller can communicate on four channels with the support of interleaving up to eight memory devices on each channel and data transfer rate up to 400 megatransactions per second. A simple controller focused on building a budget SSD, for which it supports TLC NAND, including vertical layout and LDCP error correction.
 
The uniqueness of the Mucentum Cache implemented by the Crucial developers is that the RAM used for it can be dynamically released for the operation of other applications. However, usually it is not recommended to rely on any DRAM-caching technologies, for obvious reasons: they are not very reliable and do not guarantee the safety of information in case of hardware or software failures.
 
However, one should bear in mind that server layer security in the MX300 is not provided. This drive does not guarantee full storage of data that was caught in processing in a case of a sudden unplanned shutdown. It is protected only from corrupting the address translation table and damaging the structure of the flash memory pages. In other words, the existing battery of capacitors can save the SSD from failure, but it does not guarantee that the writing operations that were occurring during a power failure will be performed fully.

Crucial MX300 does not look like a typical budget drive and a bundle of supplies. Realizing the full encryption and protection from power interruptions in the drive, the manufacturer decided not to trivialize everything and fill in the box with the SSD key for the popular means for data migration of Acronis True Image HD.
 
To service the M-, MX- and BX series drives, Crucial develops a specialized service utility Crucial Storage Executive, which in its latest versions has become fully compatible with the new MX300. This utility is somewhat cumbersome, because it is written in JAVA and works through the browser, but nevertheless its functionality is beyond questions.
 
In addition to monitoring, the Crucial Storage Executive provides some functions for more qualified maintenance of the drive. In particular, the utility can update the firmware, reset the flash memory and reserve for SSD additional space to increase endurance.
 
Conclusion
 
Pluses:
+The Crucial MX300 2 TB SSD is currently available online for $550.
+Outstanding price-per-GB
+Huge capacity
+Great price/performance
+3-year warranty
+7 mm thin—Ultrabook compatible
+Acronis TrueImage HD included
 
Minuses:
-TLC not trusted by as many users as MLC
-Only average performance