also @ TechSpot: Google, NASA join forces to build quantum computing laboratory

Crucial m4 256GB SSD Review

By

On May 27, 2011, 4:02 AM Breaking News

Crucial announced worldwide availability of its next-generation solid-state drive late last month. Known simply as the "m4," the company's latest entry is hailed as the successor to its award-winning RealSSD C300, promising to deliver more speed and higher capacities. Despite those claims, we can't help but feel the m4 has some big shoes to fill.

On top of excelling at sequential throughput, the C300 provided strong random performance when working with files of all sizes, making it a well-rounded contender. However, it's been more than a year since the RealSSD C300 landed, and a lot has changed in that time. Above all, the latest SandForce SATA 6Gb/s controllers have been a real game changer.

Considering its intended price point, we shouldn't expect the m4 to dethrone the OCZ Vertex 3 and perhaps not even Intel's SSD 510. Nonetheless, we could be in for a pleasant surprise if Crucial's newest contender delivers performance in excess of what the RealSSD C300 did in its heyday, so let's press on and find out what the m4's made of.

Read the complete review.

,

User Comments: 12

Got something to say? Post a comment
  1. Thanks for the excellent review as always.

    Think I'll still be looking to the Vertex 3 as my long term SSD replacement eventually though.

  2. Soo... A dissapointment after all?

    Out of question, will you be reviewing the new Corsair offerings? they're supposed to be Vertex 3 speeds but with much lower prices.

  3. Staff

    burty117 said:

    Soo... A dissapointment after all?

    Out of question, will you be reviewing the new Corsair offerings? they're supposed to be Vertex 3 speeds but with much lower prices.

    We hope to but Corsair is one of the harder companies to get samples out of so we will see what we can do. OCZ seem more willing to promote their products hence the early Vertex 3 review.

  4. Steve said:

    We hope to but Corsair is one of the harder companies to get samples out of so we will see what we can do. OCZ seem more willing to promote their products hence the early Vertex 3 review.

    Awesome! I hope they do want to promote at least these SSD's!

    I mean, they could take on OCZ if they really are as good as they are claiming.

    Anyway I sure do hope you get a review sample! fed up with a spindle hard drive now and only holding back on a vertex in the hope these new Corsair ones can produce the same speeds at a much lower price.

  5. After my recent experiences of Corsair I wouldn't purchase anything they made any more anyway tbh. As soon as I can afford it I'm dumping the Corsair H50 as well.

    And yes, I'm going to slam them down every chance I get from now onwards - Having 2 PSU's fail in months is a joke - especially for someone like Corsair!

  6. Leeky said:

    After my recent experiences of Corsair I wouldn't purchase anything they made any more anyway tbh. As soon as I can afford it I'm dumping the Corsair H50 as well.

    And yes, I'm going to slam them down every chance I get from now onwards - Having 2 PSU's fail in months is a joke - especially for someone like Corsair!

    I needed a power supply that was modular and could power two 8-pin graphics cards, so right away I started looking at Corsair AX and HX series units. The web reviews praised them, so I went on to check customer reviews at newegg and was shocked at all the negative reviews. I didn't like what Antec or Enermax had at the price I was willing to pay. I lucked out and found the Coolermaster Silent Pro 850 at a brick and mortar Canada Computers store for $129.99. Newegg wanted $179.99 at the time.

    [link]

    Good review as always. I'm glad my C300 is still a competitor... but man i want a Vertex 3 or Agility 3 sooo bad.

  7. Great review, albeit disappointing results.

    I second the request for a review of the Cosair SSD, particularly the Force 3* which promises:

    550 MB/s sequential read, 510 MB/s sequential write, and 85k IOPS (4k aligned). They supposedly use the same Sandforce chip as the Vertex 3 and start at $219 for 128GB. If those numbers are accurate than its without question an incredible deal and the best price/performance ratio in SSD's. But this review has me thinking it might be too good to be true, hopefully this isn't the case.

    *Link - http://www.corsair.com/solid-state-drives/force-series-3.html

  8. anyone picking an OCZ drive over a Crucial gets what they deserve, a massive headache sooner or later

  9. I just got one and I think I got much better benchmarks...maybe there has been a firmware update?

    http://betterlogic.com/roger/2011/11/crucial-m4-benchmark-cr
    stal-disk-mark/

  10. This review should be updated with the benchmarks using latest firmware (0309) , it is totally a different drive now..

  11. Everything I am reading everywhere suggests this drive is alot better than the review suggests. Maybe an update required as Guest has suggested.

  12. Staff

    Everything I am reading everywhere suggests this drive is alot better than the review suggests. Maybe an update required as Guest has suggested.

    The updated version has been used in our more recent SSD reviews...

    [link]

Recently commented stories

Post a new comment

Social Login & Guest Posting TechSpot Members
Login here or sign up for free,
it takes about a minute.
Get complete access to the TechSpot community. Join thousands of technology enthusiasts that contribute and share knowledge in our forum. Get a private inbox, upload your own photo gallery and more.
TechSpot on:

Subscribe to TechSpot

Get free exclusive content, learn about new features and breaking tech news.