The Crucial m4 SSD Update: Faster with FW0009
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 31, 2011 12:56 AM ESTFinal Words
The 0009 firmware update for Crucial's m4 drive mostly improves its sequential read performance. Unless you're doing a lot of large file copies to another high speed SSD or drive array you likely won't see any huge gains in real world use. Where does the m4 stand in the grand scheme of things? It is among the SF-2281 and Intel SSD 510s of the world when it comes to performance. The latter two generally benchmark better but all three drives do well in real world usage.
| SSD Pricing | |||||
| Crucial m4 | Intel SSD 510 | Kingston HyperX | OCZ Vertex 3 | ||
| 256GB/250GB/240GB | $390.99 | $504.99 | $489.99 | ||
| 128GB/120GB | $227.99 | $276.99 | $244.99 | $219.99 | |
At $390.99 the m4 is one of the most affordable 256GB drives on the market today. You don't get the best absolute performance in all of our tests but you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. The m4 does quite well in our light workload which is very representative of a typical desktop usage experience. My only concern with the m4 is really how bad the controller will let performance get with sustained random writes. I'd gladly trade lower 4KB random write performance for better sustained numbers.
If you don't want a SandForce drive and want something more affordable than Intel's SSD 510, the m4 just started looking a lot better.
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ckryan - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - link
As one of those Intel 510 owners, I wish Intel would release some differing firmware releases to enhance some aspects of drive performance (I for one would enjoy smaller read and write ability over top end speed the 510 has). It's good to see some improved performance with the M4 at any rate, and there weren't many fixes needed either. Between the Crucial C300 and m4, the Intel 510, and the Corsair P3, you can get some vastly different performance characteristics just on firmware alone.I don't regret buying the 510, but I do regret not saving some money and getting the Performance 3, a drive which recently was going for >$100 less than the 120 GB 510 on Newegg a few days ago. So all told, Micron powered drives are -mostly- the same, but there are some important differences -- mostly price. If you don't want a SandForce controlled SSD, get which ever one is cheaper.
cactusdog - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - link
The 256GB M4 is excellent value....imaheadcase - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - link
Picked one up from newegg.com for $330. Its a awesome drive.jdietz - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - link
I got this same deal. $1.30 per GB is excellent. As mentioned in the conclusion, there's probably little difference between this and more expensive drives.radium69 - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - link
What counts most for me, is that the M4 seem very reliable. And all of the bad things really are solved. I'm very tempted to buy the 256GB one. Also for what you get, it's absolutely great.With the price they are currently offering it's a very competitive product, and we all know that competition is good. :)
Also Crucial seems to have a great customer service, which is a mood point but still nice to know.
With all of the trouble about sandforce drives, Corsair force 3, OCZ vertex 2 and vertex 3, I absolutely don't want to risk any data corruption/loss. Why spend more and have a greater risk? Why all the bleeding edge products, when you can get nearly same results for a much friendlier price.
GoodRevrnd - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - link
Yup. If the Samsung 830 turns out to be a disappointment I'll likely be picking up one of these.damianrobertjones - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - link
"Improvement for intermittent failures in cold boot up related to some specific host systems."Intermittent? According to the forum AND my Elitebook it's EVERY single boot from off that causes the black screen of nothing'nuss.
I just love how they worded that little bit there.
Glad they've fixed the problem... or have they... 'Improvement'?
Patrick Wolf - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - link
Recently the 128GB M4 has been $180 or less on many sites, making it the best value.Marlin1975 - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - link
Most were $160 and buy.com was $150 with coupon for the 128gbI could not pass up a non-sandforce 128gb for $150 shipped.
raducanon - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - link
Today 8/31/2011 at Newegg Shell Shocker Deal (between 10.00 AM - 12.59 PM PT ) the Crucial M4 SSD 128 GB will be $169.99 !!!!!!