Crucial MX300 Review: Powerful NAND SATA M.2 SSD

SSDs have a long and storied history. From their humble beginnings in the 1950s as core magnetic memory to their use as semiconductor memory for early IBM supercomputers in the 1970s and 1980s.

The late 1980s saw the first arrival of flash SSDs for use in personal computers. In the early ’90s, RAM-based SSDs were used in servers that required fast data access. 3.5-inch SSDs were introduced later that decade but they were expensive and unreliable.

Today, the finest gaming SSDs are far more reliable, accessible and less expensive than they used to be. They also have more space. Because they’re flash (or RAM) based, they take far less physical space than hard disk drives.

But shopping for an SSD isn’t as simple as shopping for an HDD. If you’re buying an HDD for your personal computer, it will most likely use the SATA interface. You won’t make a mistake and buy a SATA instead of NVMe or an M.2 SSD with an “M” key instead of a “B” key.

In this guide, we’ll be reviewing the M.2 version of the Crucial MX300. Let’s see if it’s worth integrating into your gaming setup.

Crucial MX300 Review

Crucial is basically Micron’s brand of storage and memory devices. Micron has been around since the late 70s and they’ve been shipping their storage and memory devices under the Crucial name for the past twenty years.

Okay, so if you were unfamiliar with the brand before, now you know that you can trust it.

They’re not new to the game.

There are two versions of the MX300. You get the standard 2.5-inch version and the M.2 version which is geared more towards gaming laptops or compact builds. It uses a B+M key so before reading the rest of this review you need to ensure that it fits your device.

Alternatively, you can check if it will fit your system by using Amazon’s fit tool on the product page.  All you need to do is select your brand and enter in your model number. If it doesn’t fit your device’s socket, you could always get an adapter PCIe adapter.

This review will cover the 1-TB MX300’s performance and design. We’ll also answer a few burning questions near the end of the review so if you want to learn more about the product as well as SSDs in general, I suggest you read on till the end.

Crucial MX300 Performance

A good reason to buy the M.2 version of the Crucial MX300 (besides just size) is the price. It’s substantially cheaper than the 2.5-inch version and it will also give you the same performance.

It’s amazing at how much storage space we can fit into this tiny form factor. A decade back, all an SSD was really good for was booting your OS from. It didn’t have enough space to house large games and give them enough of a performance boost to warrant an upgrade for gamers.

Today, if you’re playing a competitive game like Rocket League, an SSD would cut down startup times. Because of the now ample SSD storage space, you should be able to pack it with a slew of games that can all benefit from performance boosts.

This is also great for RPG games like the Witcher or Dark Souls – where you may find yourself constantly dying over and over again during particularly difficult levels or boss stages. Quicker reload times mean that you don’t have to sit there stewing in your failure and frustration.

But just how good is the MX300? 

It’s a definite upgrade on the MX200 and BX200. It’s made with Micron’s proprietary 3D TLC NAND which has larger NAND cells. This increases and improves performance and endurance in the long run. It’s a key reason as to why someone would choose Crucial over any other brand. It’s a SATA drive that can hold its own against nearly any NVMe – especially in terms of price, not just performance.

The MX300 will give you sequential read speeds of up to 530 MB/s and write speeds of up to 510 MB/s on all file types. The random read and write speeds are just as impressive with 92k Input/Output Operations per Second for reads and 83k for writes.  And your writes are protected through Power Loss Protection which ensures that your write commands are completed even after the lights go out.

It also features dynamic write acceleration to give those transfer speeds an additional boost. Life is short. Any time saved on loading screens is a win in my book. Those seconds accumulate and count for something eventually, right?

We all know that less moving parts equate to more energy efficiency (in most cases). Crucial likes to boast that the MX300 is 90 times more energy-efficient and greener than your typical gaming HDD. That should go without saying.

Crucial MX300 Design

Less moving parts also means less structural complexity and more durability. So the Crucial MX300 M.2 is also more durable than your standard hard drive but it’s smaller, which means it’s also easier to lose. Now if only it was cheaper too.

Anyone, especially with an untrained eye could quite easily mistake it for a RAM module. It’s about 22mm wide and 80mm long.

It has a very non-descript look. Crucial chose function over form here and put their money into making this thing effective instead of wasting it on making it look nice. M.2 SSDs like these are geared towards laptops anyway so it’s not like you’ll see much of it, once it’s locked into your system.

I just want to reiterate that it’s a “B+M” key M.2 drive so don’t buy this thinking it will fit any and all systems. Make sure your computer can interface with it.

In terms of scope of delivery, in the box you get your M.2 SSD, mounting screws and an Acronis True Image HD certificate which you can redeem online for cloning and back-up software. It comes in a very tiny package that can be held with your thumb and index finger.

Generally, SSDs are less power-intensive than HDDs which means they also give off less heat. The MX300 also comes with Adaptive Thermal Protection which allows for adaptive cooling. If you know what you’re doing, the MX300 is pretty easy to install.

Just make sure you have the right interface. There’s nothing more that can be said about the design. It looks like a circuit board with chips on it and a couple of stickers. It doesn’t need pretenses and it doesn’t need to look pretty. It just works.

Crucial MX300 Pricing and Alternatives

The Crucial MX300 525GB 3D NAND SATA M.2 will cost $82.99 from Amazon which is a bargain. However, you may not have the right equipment to interface with it. You could go for the 500GB Crucial P1 which uses an “M” key. While it has less storage space at $66.95, it also costs a little less.

If you’re looking for something more current with a “B+M” key, check out the WD Blue SN500 500GB internal SSD which is priced at $64.99.

If you want more space, you could go for the addlink S70 1TB SSD. It uses an ”M” key and is one of the most cost-effective PCIe NVMe drives on the market. You can get it for $119.88.

Crucial MX300 FAQ

Are Crucial SSDs Good?

Crucial has over twenty years of experience when it comes to creating memory and storage devices. Their SSDs also tend to come with 3-5 year warranties. Crucial has a good reputation among buyers. Critic (as you can see from this review) and consumer consensus would indicate that Crucial SSDs are good.

What is SSD NAND?

SSD NAND Flash memory is the complete opposite of RAM memory. Which means its non-volatile memory. Which means data can be saved or stored on it, without it needing a power source to keep the data stored. SSDs aren’t the only place where NAND flash memory is used. It’s also used in digital cameras, MP3 players, etc.

It’s called NAND Flash memory because it’s made up of floating-gate transistors whose connections resemble that of a NAND Gate.

Which is Better MLC or TLC SSD?

MLC is better than TLC because it’s more reliable, fast and SSD based on MLC require less energy. However, TLC SSDs are cheaper to manufacture but they don’t last long. MLC stands for Multi-Level Cell while TLC stands for Triple Level Cell (not tender loving care). MLC writes two bits per cell while TLC writes three. TLC allows for more storage and works for smaller form factors. You may find that a lot of M.2 SSDs use TLC based flash memory.

Does MX300 Support TRIM?

The MX300 supports TRIM. If you’re unfamiliar with TRIM, that allows operating systems to slow down SSD performance degradation by informing the SSD of which data blocks are no longer in use. The SSD will then take this information and erase these blocks and add them to the free block pool. Not all SSDs have TRIM support.

What is TBW in SSD?

TBW stands for Terabytes Written. It’s used to measure or predict an SSD’s lifespan. It refers to the amount of data an SSD can write before it’s likely to fail. The 525GB version of the MX300 has 160 TBW, while the 1TB version has 360 TBW.

Which Lasts Longer SSD or HDD?

On average, an HDD will outlast an SSD. An HDD doesn’t have performance degradation in the same way SSD’s do and if you take care of your HDD, it can last a pretty long time. HDD’s also don’t have a limitation of the amount of data you can write to them in the same way SSDs do. An SSD’s mortality can be measured while the HDD can fail at any and for various reasons because of all its moving parts.

Do SSDs Get Slower When Full?

An SSD does get slower when it is full. It’s because of the way SSDs fill up or write data to blocks. SSDs can only write data in pages of either 4KB or 8KB inside of a 256KB block. Once that block is filled, the leftover empty space can’t really be filled without destroying the data so the SSD will have to initiate a write operation that copies or takes the data out of the block and places it into the cache where it modifies its content by adding and combining the new data.

Once it’s done doing that, it writes the pages back into the block. This can be a lengthy process. Which is why your SSD slows down as more blocks are filled. A simple solution is to secure-erase your SSD and get it back to optimal speed in no time.

Final Verdict

It has TRIM, SMART and supports active garbage collection and is reasonably priced. If it can fit into your machine and you have enough bucks to purchase it, I don’t see what the delay is. It might be a bit of an older model, which means you can get it for far cheaper than its release price was. It’s also important to note that Micron doesn’t manufacture these anymore so stocks are limited.

Performance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Gives you great read and write speeds with plenty of other perks. Not the fastest gun in the west but it’s fast enough.

Design: ⭐⭐⭐

A very barebones design. Not much to look at but doesn’t really matter much. Small and effective.

Price: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of the most affordable SSDs currently on the market. Great value for money.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you can still find a place (besides Amazon) that sells it for cheap, buy it. It’s a bit like finding a rare Pokémon in the wild. It’s a bargain.