Sorry, this offer has expired. Set up a deal alert and get notified of future deals like this. Add a Deal Alert

Expired Hot Deals

Sorry, this offer has expired.
Set up a deal alert and get notified of future deals like this.
Set up a Deal Alert
Amazon.ca

Crucial MX500 500GB 3D NAND SATA 2.5 Inch Internal SSD...now $69.99 !!! And 1TB for $123.47

  • Last Updated:
  • May 14th, 2021 3:49 pm
Deal Addict
User avatar
Feb 17, 2005
4995 posts
2427 upvotes
Markham
Jep4444 wrote: One place where I still prefer SATA to NVMe is external enclosures. NVMe enclosures are more expensive and the drives produce more heat. Also, given the cost of Thunderbolt enclosures, most people are going to opt for a USB C enclosure and those cap at 10Gbps anyways. Yes that's faster than SATA's 6Gbps but the extra cost and stress on the drives due to poorer thermals make me lean SATA when the performance gap isn't huge.
Niche use to me but maybe common to others. Thermals is probably the biggest drawback of nvme drives.

The main advantage for SATA for me, is simply just way more ports vs nvme ports (my mobo has two).
Deal Fanatic
Nov 15, 2013
5761 posts
3916 upvotes
Toronto
Let's establish a few things. Do not use userbenchmark, for any comparison, ever. Their willingness to readjust scores and depreciate tests is actually laughable. Best example I can give, they actually rate the 11900k as better than the 5950x because they cap their tests at 8 core anyways. So the 5950x extra 8 cores are not factored into the score. They bury their 64 core test in nice to haves where it beats the 11900k by a whopping 77%.

Anyways, on to the comparison your provided. All that's really showing is that the P2 has better burst performance than the MX500. The P2 itself has been shifted from TLC to QLC (which doesn't really show in this benchmark cause it aggregates all drives listed as P2) and is DRAM-less to boot. The drive itself has some nasty edge case conditions where performance can drop down as low as 65MB/s, that's HDD territory, and not even a good HDD. To put it bluntly, I'd rather own an MX500.
Last edited by Jep4444 on May 14th, 2021 2:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Deal Fanatic
Nov 15, 2013
5761 posts
3916 upvotes
Toronto
evoviii wrote: Niche use to me but maybe common to others. Thermals is probably the biggest drawback of nvme drives.

The main advantage for SATA for me, is simply just way more ports vs nvme ports (my mobo has two).
Of course but your question was if one does have the free ports. I was providing a use case where I'd intentionally pick SATA over NVMe. But you're right, it's probably pretty niche, then again, so is having multiple SSDs in a system lol.
Member
Nov 19, 2006
293 posts
492 upvotes
Edmonton
A friend went from RAID dual SATA SSD Samsung’s as boot drive to single 1TB nvme SN750 and is extremely happy he did with everyday use… can’t stop urging me to switch if mobo supports and mobo support x4 Bandwidth
Deal Fanatic
Nov 15, 2013
5761 posts
3916 upvotes
Toronto
BlankdeBlack wrote: The NVMe SSD is also on sale for $129.99
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B089DNM8LR/ref ... ljaz10cnVl
I already commented on this drive but you posted while I was commenting. There is no reason to even look at this drive when drives like the Kingston A2000 and SN550 are only $5 more and frequently come down this low. I wouldn't even consider recommending this drive until its closer to $100. It is, IMO, the worst name brand (ie non-Chinesium brand) NVMe on the market right now.
Deal Fanatic
Sep 16, 2013
8929 posts
6615 upvotes
SW ON
Jep4444 wrote: The WD Blue 3D NAND absolutely has DRAM. It's the SN550 that doesn't. Though the SN550 will still outperform it and the MX500 in most tasks simply because it is not bottlenecked by SATA.

As for which is better, there are some reports of write amplification issues on the MX500 (basically wearing out the SSD faster than normal) that could affect write heavy workloads, but I don't think it's a huge concern for most since most never come remotely close to wearing an SSD out, the WD Blue is a slightly poorer performer otherwise. Ultimately, I don't think most users would notice the difference between the two.
Thanks! Do you know whose memory chips the WD Blue uses and is it TLC or something else?
Deal Expert
Jun 20, 2020
20144 posts
29043 upvotes
Toronto
alpovs wrote: Thanks! Do you know whose memory chips the WD Blue uses and is it TLC or something else?
64-layer BiCS (Bit-Cost Scaling) 3D TLC NAND memory

Western Digital and their subsidiary SanDisk have a joint venture with Toshiba for flash memory
https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/ ... th-Toshiba
https://www.westerndigital.com/company/ ... kami-japan
Destiny is all
Deal Addict
User avatar
Feb 17, 2005
4995 posts
2427 upvotes
Markham
Jep4444 wrote: Of course but your question was if one does have the free ports. I was providing a use case where I'd intentionally pick SATA over NVMe. But you're right, it's probably pretty niche, then again, so is having multiple SSDs in a system lol.
That's a fair point.

lol I do have multiple though. 1TB SN750 nvme and 2TB SATA SSD along with HDD's. I can see people keeping their older drives as they upgrade if they have the space and ports.
Sr. Member
Dec 28, 2011
664 posts
419 upvotes
OAKVILLE
Should I be using a SSD as an external HD for a PS5?
(Telus $20 / 95GB 5G+ CAN&USA)
Sr. Member
Nov 1, 2016
682 posts
603 upvotes
Can the experts help me out. I have NVIDIA Shield Pro attached to a Seagate Expansion 5TB Portable External Hard Drive (STEA5000402). Using PLEX, my 4K MKV files stored on this are stuttering on high action scenes. Can please somebody help what to do to remove this stuttering which happens only at high bit rate action filled scenes. What drive/device may i buy to remove this stuttering?
Last edited by Deals997 on May 14th, 2021 2:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Deal Addict
Aug 4, 2007
2205 posts
1572 upvotes
Jep4444 wrote: The WD Blue 3D NAND absolutely has DRAM. It's the SN550 that doesn't. Though the SN550 will still outperform it and the MX500 in most tasks simply because it is not bottlenecked by SATA.

As for which is better, there are some reports of write amplification issues on the MX500 (basically wearing out the SSD faster than normal) that could affect write heavy workloads, but I don't think it's a huge concern for most since most never come remotely close to wearing an SSD out, the WD Blue is a slightly poorer performer otherwise. Ultimately, I don't think most users would notice the difference between the two.
Spot on, SN550 - that's the one I was alluding to. Apologies there.
Deal Fanatic
Sep 16, 2013
8929 posts
6615 upvotes
SW ON
irfan1729 wrote: Can the experts help me out. I have NVIDIA Shield Pro attached to a Seagate Expansion 5TB Portable External Hard Drive (STEA5000402). Using PLEX, my 4K MKV files stored on this are stuttering on high action scenes. Can please somebody help what to do to remove this stuttering which happens only at high bit rate action filled scenes. What drive/device may i buy to remove this stuttering?
Try a different player to play the same files. It may not be drive-related.
Sr. Member
Nov 1, 2016
682 posts
603 upvotes
alpovs wrote: Try a different player to play the same files. It may not be drive-related.
Which one do you recommend? Kodi?
Sr. Member
Nov 10, 2003
822 posts
430 upvotes
Richmond
Been using 240GB MX500 for ~6-7 years, rock solid!

Getting one as backup drive.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Mar 5, 2009
1216 posts
236 upvotes
has this gonna lower (the 1TB specifically), been eyeing one for my ps4
"Everything negative -pressure, challenges- is all an opportunity for me to rise."

-Kobe Bryant
Deal Addict
Dec 26, 2012
1386 posts
1800 upvotes
Quebec
jessagill wrote: Should I be using a SSD as an external HD for a PS5?
You can but only to store your games, playing them will require you to move them back on the internal drive.
PS4 games however should play from the external drive.
https://www.gamesradar.com/ps5-compatib ... ard-drive/
jm0287 wrote: If I purchase the MX500 and use Acronis to clone, will my Microsoft office licenses transfer over? I really don't want to have to activate a new subscription, I'm using the on prem version.

I also want to upgrade my ram, do I need to get proprietary RAM depending on which SSD I get?

I've got a Dell Inspiron 15R-5521
Unless MS changed how they manage license key, it's usually tied to the motherboard so cloning and replacing your HDD Shouldn't be an issue. Wasn't for me when I did it.
Deal Fanatic
Sep 16, 2013
8929 posts
6615 upvotes
SW ON
irfan1729 wrote: Which one do you recommend? Kodi?
There is a builtin video player but try Kodi, too.

Top