CRUCIAL P5 PLUS
Just like the Crucial P3 Plus, this speedy drive is ousted from the top spot due to an even better WD rival.
★★★★☆ 1TB, $179 | crucial.com
At the top of Crucial’s SSD lineup is the P5 Plus. This is a thoroughly modern drive, with some of the fastest throughputs available. We’ve reviewed the 1TB drive, although 500GB and 2TB models are also available.
As you might expect from a modern SSD, this M.2 drive uses the PCI-E Gen4 interface, which means that quoted throughputs are 6,600MB/sec read speed and 5000MB/sec write speeds. Both are fast enough that the drive can be used in the PS5, as well as in a PC.
As well as these quoted speeds being faster than those for the P3 Plus (another
Gen4 drive), the benchmarks show that the P5 Plus is a considerable way ahead for sequential transfers. Scoring 5,492MB/sec write speeds and 4,516MB/sec read speeds, the P5 Plus sits firmly in the premium category and is a genuinely fast drive, able to cope with more demanding uses.
Move to the random file test, and the P5 Plus isn’t quite as good. It’s faster than its siblings, but drops down the table compared to the competition: 2,222MB/ sec write speeds and 2,707MB/sec read speeds.
Moving to the PCMark 10 benchmarks, which simulate regular use, the P5 Plus scored highly in the Data Disk test (3,506) but wasn’t quite as impressive as its stablemates in the Data Disk test (4,815).
This SSD uses TLC memory and has an SLC cache (the size of which depends on the total size of the drive). Using TLC, rather than QLC as the cheaper Crucial drives do, means that endurance is improved. At 600TBW for the 1TB model, the Crucial P5 Plus has average industry endurance.
Again, the only thing that gets in the way of the Crucial P5 Plus is the price. While it’s not an expensive drive, the WD Black SN850 only costs a little more, yet is faster in all tests, while the slightly more expensive FireCuda 530 is faster in AS SSD and has even better endurance figures. Based on this, either drive is a better buy for most people.
"Quoted throughputs are 6,600MB/sec read speed and 5000MB/ sec write speeds. Both are fast enough that the drive can be used in the PS5, as well as in a PC."