Crucial MX300 SSD Review (750GB)

REAL WORLD FILE TRANSFER

We also wanted to see how performance was in a real world use when transferring large files to the SSD. For this test we are going to simply stress write performance by transferring over a 30GB folder of movies off of a 512GB Samsung 950 Pro to the test SSDs and time how long it takes. Once complete we can calculate the average speed. For reference we have included both a 2.5″ and 3.5″ WD Blue HDD.

Crucial MX300 750GB Transfer

The MX300 did very well in this benchmark. It was able to write at an average of 539MB/s. This puts it in line with the Samsung 850 EVO and other higher-end SSDs.

IDLE POWER EFFICIENCY

For our power consumption testing, we have the drive connected to the system as a secondary drive. To record the wattage, we are now utilizing a Quarch Technology Programmable Power Module. It allows us to accurately measure power consumption over time and is flexible enough to allow us to test any SSD that comes our way.

Quarch Technology Power Module Angle

Our power analysis may change as time goes on, but for now we are looking at just a few metrics with the main goal of measuring our results against the manufacturer’s ratings. Because most consumer systems are at idle for about 80% of the time, idle power consumption is an important measure to look at when understanding the efficiency of a drive.

Crucial MX300 750GB Idle

In the chart above we can see that SSDs are magnitudes more efficient than standard 3.5″ HDDs, though, the 2.5″ WD Blue does decent for itself, showing to be more efficient than some SSDs. The Crucial MX300 shows very well controlled idle power consumption, consuming only 36 milliwatts, which is almost the best we have seen from a 500GB/1TB class SSD other than Samsung 850 EVOs and its BX200 bother.

ACTIVE POWER EFFICIENCY

After recording idle power consumption, we record the power consumed during the 30GB transfer. This this data should give us some better insight into how little or how much power an active SSD consumes during write tasks, however, in order to paint a better picture, we then take the Watt values and divide it by the MB/s from the transfer to show each drive’s efficiency. The higher the result in the graph below, the better.

Crucial MX300 750GB Transfer Efficiency

In the chart above shows us some great results. First we see that the Crucial MX300 is the most power efficient drive under this specific workload, beating out even the Samsung 850 EVO! This test also shows that the efficiency of the 750GB model is nearly double that of the older MX200 500GB model.

8 comments

  1. blank

    There is a typo in the first page where you say that the mx300 has mlc nand, and some photos won’t zoom in. Otherwise good review.

    • blank

      Thanks for pointing that out, I fixed both issues! To be fair, TLC is technically MLC (MLC multi-level cell) NAND. Since TLC has 3-bits per cell it qualifies as MLC. It is sometimes referred to as 3-bit MLC. In the shows we’ve attended we have heard speakers refer to TLC as MLC as well due to this. It is just clearer to refer to TLC as TLC only.

  2. blank

    Thanks for testing also the sequential write speed over the whole capacity 🙂

    Sounds OK for 3D-TLC, but Samung Evo 500GB is almost 50% faster.

    If the price go strong down the MX300 is maybe a good buy. But still waiting for other capacities

    • blank

      You’re welcome! We are patiently awaiting the other capacities as well. We are hoping to see improvements in the base write performance and when production ramps up, hopefully lower prices too! Right now $199.99 is the MSRP, so street costs should drop rather soon.

  3. blank

    CLEVER MARKETING

    750 GB means there’s no direct competitor.
    This should really be the replacement for the BX200 (which deserves LEMON status)
    not the MX200-That would hopefully be replaced with 3D-MLC……………..
    Be interesting to see what follows-Have a feeling speeds will tank on smaller drives-Be
    interesting to see this size with a 8 ch controller……….

    Yeah Sean there was obviously no forward thinking when Dual bit was named MLC…
    Would be nice and simple if we had-SLC-DLC-TLC.

    Still a happy C400 user……………………………………………..

  4. blank

    Seems like a great all around drive. Has good performance, good feature set, and a good price. Can you name any other drives with similar performance or better performance that have power loss protection and encryption at this price point??

  5. blank

    The Crucial MX300 OR the MyDigitalSSD BP5e?! What would you pick Sean? Will use it for sample libraries storing…dependent on speed and reliability and ofc power efficiency, don’t want any of my SSD’s to crack. Best regards!

  6. blank
    Christopher Culligan

    MX300 M.2 if you can.

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