Crucial M4 256 GB
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We have collected 5 reviews of the Crucial M4 256 GB. Experts rate Crucial M4 256 GB 7.5/10. Reviewsor.com helps you find reviews, best prices, user reviews of the Crucial M4 256 GB and Crucial SSD hard drives.
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Crucial M4 256 GB Reviews
Crucial m4 mSATA 256GB SSD Review
It's long been suggested that solid state drives represent the most important upgrade you can give a modern computer for boosting its overall performance. Today that remains true by a considerable margin, where even budget-oriented SSDs wipe the floor with the fastest 3.5" hard drives, providing users with nearly instantaneous access times compared to the 10ms-plus delay associated with faster 7200RPM HDDs. Not only are SSDs faster than HDDs, but they also consume less power and generate less heat. Additionally, because they have no moving parts, they're quieter, more reliable and more compact than their spinning counterparts. These "bonus" attributes don't matter much to desktop users, but they're particularly advantageous to notebooks, which are increasingly outfitted with flash storage instead (or alongside) of sluggish HDDs. Recognizing that demand, the Serial ATA International Organization standardized a new compact "mSATA" form factor in September 2009, letting manufacturers produce tiny 1.8" drives for ultrabooks and other such mobile systems.
Crucial m4 256GB SATA 6Gbit/s SSD Review
Crucial has been selling computer memory for almost 15 years, but if one factors in that the company is the retail arm of Micron Technologies, then that number jumps to over 35 years. Over this time, Crucial has earned a solid reputation amongst enthusiasts for its memory stability and reliability by listing its kits with conservative specifications and verifying them before each kit heads out the door. With that in mind, over two years ago the company looked to carry over that reputation into the SSD space. Kicking things off, it launched the RealSSD C300, and this year has followed it up with the m4, which we're looking at here. The m4 is the official successor to the C300 Series drives, and is one of the first SSDs to feature (and actually show better performance utilizing) the SATA 6Gb/s interface. Inside the drive, one will find a Marvell 88SS9174-BLD2 controller running an in-house firmware developed by Crucial. As an interesting side-note, Intel recently began utilizing a nearly identical controller with its 510 Series drives. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Crucial should be quite flattered indeed.
Crucial M4 256GB review
Hand on heart, you know that drives with the latest SandForce SF-2200 series controller are probably the quickest you can buy. Is there any point in looking elsewhere? Well, yes. Price and reliability also come into the equation. Enter the Crucial M4 from one of the biggest outfits in memory. The new M4 256GB is hardly a slouch thanks to 6Gbps SATA support and 415MB/s read and 260MB/s write ratings. Not long ago, those would have been absolutely spectacular numbers. Admittedly, not so much today, but then again the M4's input-output operations per second (IOPS) performance which is around the 40 to 50K mark is far from shabby and should make for strong real-world performance. As for what makes the new M4 tick, it sports a mildly reworked version of the older Crucial C300's Marvell 9174 controller. As before, it remains an eight-channel controller, just like the SandForce SF-2200. Of course, the C300 was one of the first SSDs to offer SATA 6Gbps support, so it's no surprise to find the M4 does likewise. As for the flash memory chips, they're the latest 25nm NANDs from parent company Micron. The chips are fabbed in a joint venture with Intel.
Crucial m4
Crucial's follow-up to its C300 solid-state drive (SSD) last year, the m4 boasts improved firmware and other technologies that let it attain even higher speeds at higher capacities and a lower price. (Our tested 256GB model costs $499.99 list.) The m4 is a very good drive, that would be at home in any upscale desktop, but in terms of absolute capabilities it falls short of our Editors' Choice SSD, the 240GB OCZ Vertex 3 ($499.99 list, 4.5 stars). The m4 is equipped with the same 256MB cache the Micron RealSSD C300 sported when it was released in 2010, and an updated version of the C300's Marvell 8SS9174 controller. The C300 was the first consumer model on the market to use 6Gbps SATA III for data transfers; the m4 uses it as well. (There is also a 128GB version of the m4, which contains 128MB of cache.) The m4 also contains NAND flash memory constructed using the newer 25nm production process. Our particular drive delivers just over 238GB of data when formatted, and Crucial touts sequential read speed up to the 415MBps, sequential write speeds up to 260MBps, random reads of 40,000 IOPS and random writes of 50,000 IOPS.
Crucial m4 256GB SSD Review
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. The C300 was somewhat of a milestone for the consumer SSD market, being the only flash drive available with SATA 6Gb/s support for quite some time. Whereas most SSD makers opted for the SandForce SF-1200 controller with a peak read rate of 285MB/s, the C300 could hit speeds of 355MB/s courtesy of its Marvell "Van Gogh" 88SS9174 chip. 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. OCZ has undoubtedly delivered the finest SandForce-based product in the current generation.
Prices
| Retailer | Information | Prices | |
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Crucial M4 256GB 2.5 Solid State Drive (SSD) with Data Transfer Kit | $180 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB 2.5 7mm Solid State Drive (SSD) | $189.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB 2.5 SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD) | $192.99 | See it |
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Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch (9.5mm) Solid State Drive with Easy Desktop Install Kit CT256M4SSD2BAA | $194.74 | See it |
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Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch (9.5mm) Solid State Drive with Easy Desktop Install Kit CT256M4SSD2BAA | $194.99 | See it |
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256GB m4 2.5-inch STA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive | $194.99 | See it |
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Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s with Data Transfer Kit CT256M4SSD2CCA | $197.95 | See it |
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Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch (7mm) SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive CT256M4SSD1 | $199.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256gb Sata 6gb/s 2.5 Solid State Drive | $199.99 | See it |
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Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch (9.5mm) SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive CT256M4SSD2 | $199.99 | See it |
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Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch (7mm) SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive CT256M4SSD1 | $199.99 | See it |
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Crucial m4 256GB mSATA Internal Solid State Drive CT256M4SSD3 | $202.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB mSATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SSD) | $204.1 | See it |
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Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch (9.5mm) SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive CT256M4SSD2 | $204.79 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB mSATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SSD) | $204.99 | See it |
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Crucial m4 256GB mSATA Internal Solid State Drive CT256M4SSD3 | $204.99 | See it |
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Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s with Data Transfer Kit CT256M4SSD2CCA | $205.04 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB 2.5 SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD) with 3.5 Adapter Bracket | $205.99 | See it |
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256GB m4 2.5-inch STA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive | $206.99 | See it |
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Crucial 256gb M4 2.5 Ssd With Data Transfer Kit | $209.99 | See it |
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Crucial 256 GB Internal SSD Serial ATA-600 2.5 M4. New Factory Sealed | $210 | See it |
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Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch (7mm) Solid State Drive with Data Transfer Kit CT256M4SSD1CCA | $213.57 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB 2.5 SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD) | $214.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256gb 2.5 7mm Solid State Drive (ssd) | $214.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB 2.5 7mm Solid State Drive (SSD) | $214.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256gb 2.5 Sata Iii Solid State Drive (ssd) | $214.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB SATA 6GB/Sec 2.5 Inches Solid State Drive. New Factor | $215 | See it |
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Crucial Model M4 Capacity 256GB Max Read Speed 500 Mbps Max Write Spee | $215 | See it |
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Crucial SSD CT256M4SSD3 256GB mSATA SATA III 6Gb s Retail | $215.28 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB 2.5 7mm Solid State Drive (SSD) with Data Transfer Kit | $217.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256gb 2.5 Sata Iii Solid State Drive (ssd) With 3.5 Adapter Bra | $219.99 | See it |
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256GB Crucial m4 Internal 7mm | $227.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256gb 2.5 Solid State Drive (ssd) With Data Transfer Kit | $227.99 | See it |
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256GB Crucial m4 Internal mSAT | $227.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB 2.5 Solid State Drive (SSD) with Data Transfer Kit | $227.99 | See it |
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Crucial 256GB m4 2.5 SATA Solid State Drive | $227.99 | See it |
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Crucial SSD CT256M4SSD1 256GB M4 2.5inch 7mm SATA III Retail | $229.88 | See it |
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256GB Crucial m4 2.5 SSD with 3.5 Adapter Bracket | $229.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB SATA 6GB/Sec 2.5 Inches Solid State Drive With Data T | $232 | See it |
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Crucial 256GB 2.5 SSD w/ 3.5 adpt | $232.99 | See it |
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Crucial 256GB Crucial m4 SSD 2.5 SATA 6Gb/s Solid-State Drive | $234.41 | See it |
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256GB Crucial M4 Ssd 2.5 SATA 6GB/S So | $237.99 | See it |
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Crucial 256GB m4 2.5 SATA Solid State Drive with Data Transfer Kit | $240.99 | See it |
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Crucial 256GB Crucial m4 SSD 2.5 SATA 6Gb/s Solid-State Drive | $242.94 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256GB 2.5 7mm Solid State Drive (SSD) with Data Transfer Kit | $242.99 | See it |
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Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD1 256GB 2.5 7mm SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) | $243 | See it |
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256GB CRUCIAL M4 2.5-INCH (7MM) SATA 6G | $244.99 | See it |
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256GB Crucial m4 Internal 7mm 256GB Crucial m4 Internal 7mm | $247 | See it |
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Crucial CT256M4SSD2 M4 256GB 2.5 MLC SSD SATA3 Hard Drive | $249 | See it |
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Crucial SSD CT256M4SSD3 256GB mSATA SATA III 6Gb s Retail | $259 | See it |
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256GB Crucial M4 2.5-Inch (7Mm) SATA 6G | $259.99 | See it |
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Crucial CT256M4SSD2 256 GB Internal Solid State Drive. 256GB CRUCIAL M4 2.5IN SATA 6GB/S SATSSD. 2.5 feet- SATA/600 | $260.48 | See it |
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Crucial CT256M4SSD1 SSD 256GB M4 2.5inch 7mm SATA III Retail | $263.21 | See it |
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Crucial CT256M4SSD2 SSD 256GB M4 2.5inch SATA 6Gb-s Retail | $263.21 | See it |
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Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD1 256GB 2.5 7mm SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) | $272.19 | See it |
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Crucial SSD CT256M4SSD1 256GB M4 2.5inch 7mm SATA III Retail | $272.19 | See it |
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CRUCIAL 256GB m4 SSD 2.5 SATA - CT256M4SSD2 CT256M4SSD2 | $412.59 | See it |
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Crucial M4 256 GB : (7.5/10)
5 expert reviews
0 user reviews
