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ADATA SU800 vs Crucial MX500: Which one to choose?

    After getting a lot of requests from the readers of SSD Sphere, I am finally doing a brief yet very interesting comparison of two popular SATA 2.5″ SSDs in the market. It’s interesting because the results are not what you were expecting.

    The ADATA Ultimate SU800 is a budget SATA SSD but with competitive features. But, the Crucial MX500 is a performance SATA SSD and is one of the most popular SSDs ever launched by Crucial. Crucial is much more popular as compared to the SU800 but that’s doesn’t deny the fact the SU800 is not worth your money.

    I know the source of this confusion. Both ADATA Ultimate SU800 and MX500 have the same 3D TLC NAND along with identical DRAM configurations. Also, the controllers used in both are the same (SMI SM2258) with exact similar configurations.

    But, just like always, I have tried my best to do this comparison and give you the exact details. We are going to compare not only the theoretical specs, but also benchmark scores, practical applications, and price.

    So, if you want to make a decision between these SSDs, I am here to give my insights on them. So, without any further delays, let’s get started.

    Note: All the features and specifications of both the ADATA SU800 and SX850 are the same. So, you can consider this comparison between Crucial MX500 and ADATA SX850 as well.

    We are going to compare both these SSDs by taking five different parameters into considerations. We will see the results one by one. So, let’s start.

    Let’s compare the theoretical specifications of both these SSDs and see which one has better features to offer.

    SpecificationsCrucial MX500ADATA SU800
    Sequential Read SpeedUp to 560MB/sUp to 560MB/s
    Sequential Write SpeedUp to 510MB/sUp to 520MB/s
    Random Read IOPS95K85K
    Random Write IOPS90K85K
    Capacity250GB-2TB128GB-1TB
    Available Form Factors2.5″ and M.2 22802.5″ SATA
    TBW360800
    NAND TypeMicron’s 3D TLCMicron’s 3D TLC
    DRAMYesYes
    WarrantyLimited 5-YearsLimited 3-Years
    AvailabilityCheck AmazonCheck Amazon

    Results: In terms of the Warranty Period, the MX500 is surely a winner with its 5-Years limited warranty period. However, the TBW ratings are higher in SU800. The sequential read speeds are the same in both but the SU800 has 10 MB/s more in write with its 1TB variant. But, overall, the MX500 is winning because of its high random speeds, warranty, and M.2 Form Factor availability.

    Check Crucial MX500 Product Flyer

    Check ADATA SU800 Specs

    As I do in other comparisons on this website, I tried testing both these SSDs using CrystalDiskMark 8 on my Intel i5 8th Gen PC. I have a lot of software installed on this system. The total RAM is 8GB (3200MHz). No graphics card is there. The OS is Windows 10 Home. I installed a new Windows OS on both these SSDs and then tried running the synthetic benchmark tests. The average results are as follows.

    ParameterCrucial MX500 2.5″ (1TB)ADATA SU800 2.5″ (1TB)
    Sequential Read486 MB/s481 MB/s
    Sequential Write434 MB/s419 MB/s
    Random 4K Read39.6 MB/s36.7 MB/s
    Random 4K Write93.9 MB/s92.3 MB/s
    Deep Queue 4K Read367.1 MB/s315.2 MB/s
    Deep Queue 4K Write311.1 MB/s287.6MB/s

    Results: Interestingly, I found that the SU800 was offering almost similar results in terms of sequential operations. But, it was a little bit slower in random tasks. MX500 was doing great even after reading or writing huge files whether they include random or sequential data. I was not expecting these impressive results from SU800 but is actually offering great results until now.

    Now, with the same setup that I talked you about in the above section, I tried running several software using these SSDs. I also tried opening my Windows 10 Home several times and the results are as follows.

    Software/OSCrucial MX500 1TBADATA SU800 1TB
    Windows 10 Home (Ready to use)In 25 Seconds In 30 Seconds
    Fortnite (Chapter 2)45 Seconds55 Seconds
    Adobe Photoshop CC19 Seconds15 Seconds
    Adobe Premiere Pro31 Seconds36 Seconds
    Google ChromeWithin 5 SecondsWithin 5 Seconds
    Blender (Animation Software)36 Seconds39 Seconds

    Results: As compared to the Hard Drives, any SSD will reduce your software loading times drastically. But, here, we can see that the ADATA SU800 is a little bit slower as compared to the MX500. I tried to confirm the speed by firing up all the software twice or thrice. But, I found a difference of around 5 seconds. I don’t know why Adobe Photoshop was opening a little bit faster with SU800 but slower with MX500. This could be an issue with my PC as well. But, overall, the MX500 was a winner by just a couple of seconds in all the tests.

    Both the companies have highlighted their TBW limits on the official website. You can check them as well. Let’s compare them as well to see which one is much more reliable.

    Version (Capacity)Crucial MX500 (TBW)ADATA SU800 (TBW)
    128GB Version not available 100
    250/256GB100200
    500/512GB180400
    1TB360800
    2TB7001600
    4TBVersion not availableVersion Not Available

    Result: I am impressed with the TBW ratings of ADATA SU800. It has much higher TBW limits as compared to the MX500. Especially, the 1600 TBW of the 2TB version. Let’s have a look at the MTBF as well.

    Crucial MX500 MTBF: 1.8 Million Hours

    ADATA SU800 MTBF: 2 Million Hours

    The MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) is again higher in ADATA SU800.

    However, the main concern is of the warranty period. The ADATA SU800 has just a 3-years warranty which is two years less than that of the MX500.

    Even if you do not have any technical knowledge about the SSDs, it is good to know which one has better internal configurations. I have compared these specs below and highlighted the better ones.

    SpecificationsCrucial MX500ADATA SU800
    NAND TypeMicron’s TLC 3DMicron’s TLC 3D
    NAND Layers64/9632/64
    Cache TypeDRAM CacheSLC/DRAM
    ControllerSMI SM2258SMI SM2258
    Controller ConfigurationsSingle-Core, 4-ChannelsSingle-Core, 4-Channels

    Results: As you can see, there are only two differences. The ADATA SU800 is using its intelligent SLC and DRAM caching technology. However, the MX500 was able to offer good sequential and random read/write speeds because of its more NAND layers.

    If we talk about 1TB and 2TB variants of both the SSDs, the price difference can be bigger. I mean to say that the ADATA Ultimate SU800 is going to be a little bit expensive as compared to the MX500 on any platform you buy it. But, the prices keep changing so it is hard to tell the actual difference between the prices.

    I would suggest you go for Crucial MX500 if you are looking for a 5-year Warranty as compared to SU800’s 3-year warranty. However, if you want performance, both of them are good when it comes to tough practical applications.

    So, it is tough to make a perfect final decision. But, in terms of reliability, the Crucial MX500 is surely a better option.

    Thanks for reading!

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