Crucial T500 500GB

The Crucial T500 uses a Phison PS5025-E25 4-channel controller paired with Micron 232-layer 3D TLC NAND and independent LPDDR4 DRAM for address mapping. The design targets high PCIe 4.0 throughput while improving thermal management and power efficiency compared with older E18-based drives. At the 500GB capacity the drive has fewer NAND dies for interleaving than larger capacities, which restricts sequential write speed to 5,700 MB/s while still offering high sequential read performance.

Key Specifications

• Interface: PCIe 4.0 x4 (NVMe 2.0)
• Controller: Phison PS5025-E25 (4-Channel)
• NAND Flash: Micron 232-Layer 3D TLC
• Sequential Read/Write: 7,200 MB/s Read / 5,700 MB/s Write
• DRAM Cache: Yes (LPDDR4)
• Form Factor: M.2 2280 (Single-sided PCB)
• Features: Microsoft DirectStorage Optimized, TCG Opal 2.01 Encryption support

Hardware Alternatives

• Samsung 990 PRO: The primary direct competitor in the high-end PCIe 4.0 segment. While it offers similar throughput, it utilizes a proprietary 8-channel Pascal controller, offering slightly different sustained load characteristics.
• WD_BLACK SN850X: A proprietary design from Western Digital that rivals the T500 in random read/write IOPS, targeting the same high-performance enthusiast and gaming demographic.
• Lexar NM790: Shares the same Micron 232-layer NAND hardware but utilizes the Maxio MAP1602 controller. This serves as a DRAM-less alternative, offering similar sequential peaks but relying on Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology rather than the T500's dedicated DRAM.