More and more SSDs are appearing in the market. So if you want to upgrade to get optimised performance, we’ve got your back. Today in our Crucial P5 Plus SSD review, we’ll talk all about this awesome SSD from Crucial.
It’s Crucial’s very first Gen 4 SSD to appear on the market. But even if Crucial categorises the P5 under their more premium SSD, it’s more in line with the budget-friendly and mainstream category.
If you think this is something for you, we’ll give you all the necessary details to know more about it. Continue reading our Crucial P5 Plus SSD review for information about its features, specifications, and performance. But first, let’s look at what’s inside the box.
Crucial P5 Plus SSD Packaging
The Crucial P5 Plus SSD that we received is the 1TB version, and it came in a sturdy-looking cardboard package. Crucial aimed for a simple design so the front only displays the SSD and company’s name, plus its capacity.
Inside the box, you’ll find the Crucial P5 Plus SSD packed securely to avoid any unnecessary damages to it. Other than the SSD, the box includes the Crucial Storage Executive, Acronis True Image, and an SSD installation guided.
Crucial P5 Plus SSD Review – Design and Functionality
The Crucial P5 Plus looks similar to the original P5 SSD. It has a black PCB and a clean black sticker set at the top.
On its rear, you’ll find all the compliance markings and SKUs related to the SSD. And just like the P5, the P5 Plus comes in an M.2 2280 form factor.
The controller is designed in-house and is similar to the P5’s 6-core controller. It’s possible that Crucial reduced the number of cores or used a smaller process node for this SSD’s controller. That’s because its heat output is lower than that of its predecessor.
Additionally, the P5 Plus’ controller features an 8-channel design that utilises the LP-DDR-4 DRAM to accelerate the FTL management. And like the 500GB version of this SSD, it sports a 1GB DRAM.
The P5 Plus is equipped with adaptive thermal protection and autonomous power state transition or APST. With these features, the P5 Plus kicks in at 80°C and above to keep data protected. It also comes with integrated power loss immunity since Crucial has a unique way of programming the flash.
Key Features of the Crucial P5 Plus SSD
Let’s look at the different features of the SSD in this section of our Crucial P5 Plus SSD review.
Proven Performance
PCIe 4.0 NVMe technology and Micron Advanced NAND are what you need for excellent reliability and performance. The Crucial P5 Plus is faster than the company’s previous-generation SSD, and its read speeds reach up to 6600MB/s.
Crucial developed, manufactured, and tested the P5 Plus to deliver the quality you can trust.
Increased Productivity
The P5 Plus’ cutting-edge technology is excellent for video editing, gaming, content creation, and the use of demanding engineering apps. This SSD allows you to work fast and get more things done.
Interoperable
The P5 Plus is flexible – it’s compatible with Gen3 and Gen4 builds. With this SSD, you can enjoy faster boot ups, launching apps in seconds, and games that load immediately.
Fully Loaded
Durability, performance, and advanced features make the P5 Plus a fully loaded SSD. These include innovative controller technology, industry-leading NAND, dynamic write acceleration, adaptive thermal protection, encryption, and error correction. Plus, it comes with Storage Executive and free cleaning software.
One of the World’s Largest Memory and Storage Manufacturers
Micron has been producing some of the most advanced storage and memory technologies for over forty years. All of Crucial’s products, including the P5 Plus, are made by Micron’s engineering team to ensure the best quality.
This time, our Crucial P5 Plus SSD review will discuss the P5 Plus SSD’s specifications.
Specifications
In this section of our Crucial P5 Plus SSD review, let’s discuss the different specifications of this SSD from Crucial.
The P5 Plus SSD uses a Micron Advanced 3D NAND and what we have today is the 1TB version. If you want something less or more than what we have, you can opt for the 500GB or 2TB version.
It makes use of the PCIe 4.0 NVMe technology and Gen 3 backward compatibility interface. For its form factor, the P5 Plus SSD sports an M.2 (2280) form.
Performance-wise, it has reads of up to 6,600MB/s while write is at 5,000MB/s. It also has an MTTF (mean time to failure) rating of over 2 million hours.
Its advanced features include the SSD has dynamic write acceleration, an array of independent NAND, and adaptive thermal protection. The SSD also features built-in power-loss immunity, SMART, ECC, active TRIM support and garbage collection, APST, and full-drive encryption capabilities.
Hands-on with the Crucial P5 Plus SSD
To complete our Crucial P5 Plus SSD review, we’ll now share our hands-on experience with the product. But before we discuss how it performed, we’ll talk about Storage Executive, the drive’s utility software.
Storage Executive Software
Crucial Storage Executive is the utility suite where you can monitor the P5 Plus and update the firmware. It’s also where you can enable specific features like Momentum Cache and view the drive’s remaining storage space.
This free downloadable tool allows the P5 Plus to perform faster. Not only that, it provides periodic updates to make the SSD work efficiently at all times.
Storage Executive is free and downloadable from the company’s official website.
The welcome screen on the interface shows the common details that most toolboxes show. These include the system’s general information and details about the installed drives. You’ll see the drives’ serial number, temperature, and used capacity.
On the Drive Details section, there are more details about the drives like the interface and driver version. The drop-down button next to the refresh icon includes “Get Debug Data” which saves the drive’s and system’s data. These are compressed into a ZIP file and can be sent to Crucial’s support team to analyse the drive.
The SMART section shows the SMART data that numerous utilities can read.
The Storage Executive software is easy to upgrade and is pretty straightforward. It automatically checks for updates and has release notes. With that, you can be informed on the changes in the firmware updates.
Drive Sanitation is Crucial’s secure-erase command feature which brings the drive back to its factory state. The software also has a PSID revert function for reverting a TCG Opal encrypted drive to its unencrypted state. It doesn’t require anything other than the PSID on the drive’s label.
The Storage Executive software is Crucial’s first attempt at providing a software package. Although it lacks some features, it has all the necessary tools and for drive troubleshooting and maintenance. Since this is the first version, there will definitely be more features in the utility’s future updates.
Our Crucial P5 Plus SSD review will now proceed to talk about how the SSD performed. This will help you decide if the P5 Plus is a good addition for your system.
Crucial P5 Plus SSD Review Summary
The Crucial P5 Plus is aimed at gamers who need reduced load times and more efficient workflow experiences. It’s a solid PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD with great features while having an affordable price.
Aside from the excellent features and price, it comes with a user-friendly utility suite that is downloadable for free. This software comes with all the necessary settings and options for managing SSDs.
This drive is clean and well-built with good performance. It lands somewhere between the best PCIe Gen3 and Gen4 drives, but of course, it still depends on the workload.
The P5 Plus is the upgraded version of Crucial’s NVMe SSD line. Like what the company says, it’s designed for everyone: creatives, gamers, professionals, and general consumers.
Overall, we were satisfied with the Crucial P5 Plus SSD’s performance and we highly recommend it. With its advanced features, this is one of the best drives on the market today. To get your hands on this SSD, it’s available for online purchase from Australian resellers.