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Crucial MX500 vs Samsung 870 EVO: Which one should you buy?

    Crucial MX500 is one of the most popular SATA SSD offered by Crucial. At the same time, Samsung 870 Evo is also a very impressive SATA SSD from Samsung. So, if you are confused between them both, I have tried to solve your problem here. In this article, we will cover all the important aspects which will help you make a perfect decision.

    As we all know that these both SSDs use the SATA protocol, and the speed would never go beyond 600MB/s. So, whether you are using any of these SSDs, don’t expect anything more than that. However, because the Crucial MX500 and Samsung 870 Evo are competing hard in this domain, various people want to know which one is the best between these both. So, in this article, we are going to reveal the same by doing some straight comparisons. Now, without any further delays, let’s get started.

    Let’s see what are the key offerings given by the manufacturers of these SSDs. Comparing them will give you a good idea of what you can expect from them.

    SpecificationCrucial MX500 (1TB)Samsung 870 Evo (1TB)
    Sequential Read Speed560 MB/s560 MB/s
    Sequential Write Speed510 MB/s530 MB/s
    Random Read (IOPS)95K98K
    Random Write (IOPS)90K88K
    TBW360 TBW600 TBW
    InterfaceSATA/AHCISATA/AHCI
    Form Factor2.5″ and M.2 SATA2.5″ SATA
    Capacities250 GB to 4 TB250 GB to 4 TB
    WarrantyLimited 5-YearsLimited 5-Years
    Check AvailabilityAmazonAmazon

    With these numbers, we can clearly see that the Samsung 870 Evo has some better things to offer. Total endurance, sequential write speed, and random read speed are better in Samsung 870 Evo. Whereas the Crucial MX500 is winning the other things such as M.2 Form Factor, and random write speed.

    The theoretical specifications can say anything but we should not trust them before using the product personally. To help you with this, we have done the live benchmarks which will help you understand the core capabilities of these SSDs. The tests were done on an Intel i5 12th generation PC with 16 GB 4200MHz of RAM. All the tests are performed on 1TB variants of both SSDs.

    sequential benchmarks MX500 vs 870 evo
    random performance benchmark mx500 vs 870 EVO

    There are no serious differences between these SSDs if we look at their benchmark scores. However, the Samsung 870 EVO is winning over the MX500 in terms of random read and write speeds.

    Both these SSDs are great in terms of reliability as well. They offer a good warranty period along with the TBW limits. Let’s compare them below.

    SpecificationsCrucial MX500Samsung 870 Evo
    TBW (Terabytes Written)100(250GB) – 700(2TB)150(250GB) – 2400(4TB)
    MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure)1.8 Million Hours1.5 Million Hours
    Warranty5-Years5-Years

    The reliability factor of both these SSDs is good enough. We are getting what we are paying for. For a normal or even a hardcore computer user, these numbers are just great.

    SpecificationCrucial MX500Samsung 870 Evo
    NAND Type and Layers64/96 Layers 3D TLC NAND128 Layers 3D TLC NAND
    DRAM (Caching)DDR3 DRAMLow-Power DDR4 SDRAM
    ControllerSMI SM2258Samsung MKX
    Controller ConfigurationsSingle-Core, 4-Channels, 8-CE/ChannelTri-Core, 8-Channels, 8-CE/channel

    In terms of NAND, DRAM, and Controller configurations, the Samsung 870 Evo is way better than the Crucial MX500. This might be the reason why 870 Evo was performing better in random read/write tests.

    Price is another one of the major factors affecting your decision. So, it becomes important to compare the prices of both these SSDs here because the differences are huge. The Samsung 870 Evo is way pricier than the MX500 even after having slightly similar features.

    Generally, you will find all the variants of MX500 way cheaper than the Samsung 870 EVO. So, if you are looking just for an affordable yet effective SSD between the both, Crucial MX500 is surely the best pick.

    In my opinion, the Crucial MX500 is the best pick in terms of price and features. As we saw earlier, there is very little difference in the benchmark scores. Also, the MX500 is a well-known product in this field. However, it was lacking in terms of random read/write speeds.

    The Samsung 870 Evo is a perfect option for those who are finding a perfect balance between speed, reliability, and other specifications. However, the Samsung 870 Evo is way pricier than the MX500. So, if you are finding the best quality product from a company like Samsung, the 870 Evo should be your pick. But, if you ask me to choose between them both, I would go for MX500 because of its impressive results at a reasonable price.

    Thanks for reading!

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    Amir
    Amir
    1 year ago

    You addressed the comparison very clear and good. Thank you

    Alex F
    Alex F
    1 year ago

    Excellent comparison to the point and very clear. I knew they were very similar but I needed to know more details.
    After reading I decided for the Samsung.
    Thank you!

    Aaron Eliezer Pilchick
    Aaron Eliezer Pilchick
    1 year ago

    Thanks for the article. You’ve clarified the points I wanted to know.

    Mat
    Mat
    1 year ago

    Great reviews! Keep up the good work 🙂

    A jew
    A jew
    1 year ago

    helpful article.

    Henry
    Henry
    1 year ago

    You wrote: “In terms of NAND, DRAM, and Controller configurations, the Samsung 870 Evo is way better than the Crucial MX500.” So according to you that performance is not worth the added $20?

    John
    John
    1 year ago

    Excellent comparison.

    Ike
    Ike
    11 months ago

    Samsung is obviously the Superior drive for endurance, but at a Premium price.
    Its a Lexus vs Toyota argument, both will get you there, but one is 30-50% more expensive. For most users The Crucial has a far better value proposition for the end user unless they require higher speed constant read write usage out of the drive where Samsung’s differences shine.

    Last edited 11 months ago by Ike
    SteveA
    SteveA
    11 months ago

    We bought 48 Crucial MX500’s to use as OS drives in 12 backup servers. Cheap disks, not many writes, only used for backup OS (proxmox backup server)

    2 1/2 years later we have replaced 29 of those disks. After the 10th failure we started to replace them with Samsung 870 EVO. None of the Samsung have failed… yet!

    test test
    test test
    7 months ago
    Reply to  SteveA

    Similar experience, Samsungs SSD are WAY more reliable than crucial