For notebook and PC users, it is currently almost impossible to use this type of equipment without the help of an SSD. These data drives have been replacing the old HDDs (popularly known as “hard drives”) as they offer much faster and more reliable transfer quality and data access. A great example of a quality SSD is the Crucial P1 SSD, which offers 500 GB a 1 TB of storage space a high degree of performance for data transfer. In this article, you get a complete review of this powerful SSD.
Design and specifications
Crucial's P1 is a PCIe NVMe SSD that has a very compact size: its dimensions are 22 mm wide and 80 mm long. The unit is sold in storage sizes of 500 GB e 1 TB, and can be found here in Spain from R$ 480,00 e R$ 760,00, respectively. Overall, the two models of the Crucial P1 SSD are cheaper than most of the competition these days. Both versions are guaranteed 5 years old manufacturer.
Below you can check a table with the general specifications of the two models:
| Product | P1 500GB | P1 1000GB |
| Price | R$ 480,00 | R$ 760,00 |
| Capacity | 500GB / 512GB | 1000GB / 1024GB |
| Interface/Protocolo | PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 |
| Controller | Silicon Motion SM2263EN | Silicon Motion SM2263EN |
| DRAM | DDR3 – 512MB | DDR3 – 1GB |
| NAND Flash | Micron 64L 3D QLC | Micron 64L 3D QLC |
| Sequential Reading | 1,900 MB / s | 2,000 MB / s |
| Sequential Recording | 950 MB / s | 1,700 MB / s |
| Random Reading QD1 | 90,000 IOPS | 170,000 IOPS |
| Random Writing QD1 | 220,000 IOPS | 240,000 IOPS |
| Cryptography | Does not have | Does not have |
| Endurance | 100 TBW | 200 TBW |
| Warranty | 5 years old | 5 years old |
The P1 series of Crucial provides transfer rate of up to 2GB/s read and 1,75GB/s sequential write, and up to 250.000 IOPS random read/write. As listed above, performance varies based on drive capacity. To achieve these speeds, the P1 uses Crucial's dynamic and hybrid recording acceleration technology. The P1 firmware is exclusive to Micron, but the feature set is similar to Intel on SSD 660p, which also comes with the same components.
Like most modern SSDs, the P1 has an SLC buffer that absorbs incoming data for increased performance. Crucial's implementation takes a two-step approach to buffering. The drive has a fixed SLC buffer capacity of 5GB on the 500GB drive and 12GB on the 1TB model.
In addition to the fixed buffer, the drive has a dynamic buffer that expands or contracts based on the amount of data stored. This buffer can be located anywhere on the NAND array and consumes up to 14% of usable capacity. This means that the 500GB model should have a maximum buffer capacity of approximately 75GB and the 1TB model expands to 150GB.
Performance
The results presented in this article were recorded in tests performed on a Crucial P1 drive with 1 TB of storage capacity. First, we have the test with the CrystalDiskMark, a classic storage drive benchmark program. Comparatively, the Crucial P1 was tested alongside other SSD drives: the Samsung 860 QVO (in SATA mode), the Samsung 970 Evo Plus and the WD Black NVMe SN750.
As we can see, the 1TB Crucial P1 really passed the standard test, although it falls far short in performance when compared to the Samsung 970 EVO. The tests included a drive in SATA mode just to show how much the user will earn simply by switching to NVMe. It's worth remembering that in all our reviews of SSDs in NVMe mode, even the slowest model is faster than SATA by a large margin.
In another test using the benchmark program AS SSD 2.0 4K, Crucial P1 also shows good performance when compared to other devices. However, as more threads are used to transfer high quality video files, the Crucial P1's transfer speed starts to lag compared to the Samsung 970 and WD Black. In standard mode (without the use of multiple threads), the Crucial P1's performance is practically similar to other devices.
Analyzing the Crucial P1 in terms of performance, we can conclude that it is satisfactory for everyday use, but it can frustrate the user who depends on transferring large masses of data.
Final considerations
The price is definitely the SSD's biggest attraction. Crucial P1. Its affordable value lets you forget about having an average performance in reading and writing data. If you want fast and reliable transfer rate when copying more than 50GB of data (or probably 25GB with the 500GB version), it's a good idea to look for a better performing but higher priced drive.
From the test results it is clear that the Crucial P1 it's certainly faster than a SATA-type SSD most of the time, and it's significantly better than any HDD, but with the brutal competition in the SSD market, its price is still the biggest draw.
Did you like it? You can find the Crucial P1 SSD through the links below:
Amazon
Americanas.com
