Crucial P3 Plus SSD Review: Capacity on the Cheap
The Crucial P3 Plus is the first drive tested with Phison’s E21T controller and Micron’s new 176-layer QLC flash. Starting at just $54 for 500 GB capacity and $94 for 1 TB, it’s set to be a cheap PCIe 4.0 option with varying capacities available for PCs. Unlike many other SSDs in this price/performance ratio, the P3 Plus offers up to 4TB of storage. Also, despite its affordable price, this drive offers very efficient yet attractive performance. It also comes with a professional 5-year warranty and Crucial software support.
The budget PCIe 4.0 SSD space has been heating up for some time with some good drives mixed in. HP FX900, silicon power UD90, and WD SN770. The P3 Plus stands out by using QLC NAND. This gives you more capacity and a lower cost per GB, but best SSD at the market.
QLC has been paired with the early adopter Phison E16 controller in the past, Sable Rocket Q4, a new controller, and Micron’s 176-layer QLC flash aim to replace such obsolete relics. Newer drives are more efficient, often faster, and more affordable.
Crucial uses its own controller in its P5 and P5 Plus drives, but has a licensed solution in its budget model. The P2 comes with Phison’s E13T, and the P3 Plus uses his E21T, which we first reviewed on the UD90. I’m relatively impressed with the UD90’s performance, but the P3 Plus’ QLC shouldn’t be that great. Especially since the P3 Plus works well with laptops, it’s exciting to see he 2TB and 4TB options that are realistically affordable in this space.
specification
product | 500GB | 1TB | 2TB | 4TB |
---|---|---|---|---|
price | $59.99 | $99.99 | $189.99 | $399.99 |
Capacity (User / Raw) | 500GB/512GB | 1000GB/1024GB | 2000GB/2048GB | 4000GB/4096GB |
form factor | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
interface/protocol | PCIe 4.0 x 4 | PCIe 4.0 x 4 | PCIe 4.0 x 4 | PCIe 4.0 x 4 |
controller | Phison E21T | Phison E21T | Phison E21T | Phison E21T |
DRAM | No (HMB) | No (HMB) | No (HMB) | No (HMB) |
flash memory | 176-layer micron QLC (N48R) | 176-layer micron QLC (N48R) | 176-layer micron QLC (N48R) | 176-layer micron QLC (N48R) |
Sequential read | 4,700MBps | 5,000MBps | 5,000MBps | 4,800MBps |
Sequential write | 1,900MBps | 3,600MBps | 4,200MBps | 4,100MBps |
random read | none | none | none | none |
random write | none | none | none | none |
safety | none | none | none | none |
Endurance (TBW) | 110TB | 220TB | 440TB | 800TB |
part number | CT500P3PSSD8 | CT1000P3PSSD8 | CT2000P3PSSD8 | CT4000P3PSSD8 |
guarantee | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years |
The Crucial P3 Plus is available in capacities of 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB. High-density QLC performs best at high densities where the controller has enough dies for parallelization, so minimum densities are less exciting. This drive peaks at 2 TB with sequential reads and writes of 5.0 / 4.2 GBps respectively. The most interesting is the 4 TB option. That’s because it’s plenty of room for M.2 drives, especially drives in the budget segment with only 4-channel controllers.
Crucial backs it with a 5-year warranty. This is very good. The write endurance of 200-220 TB per 1 TB of capacity is even more disappointing. Solidigm’s recently announced P41 PlusWith the SM2269XT controller and 144-layer QLC it should be in direct competition and the TBW is almost doubled. It’s interesting because Solidigm instead 670pWe’ll have to revisit the P41 Plus in the future to see if its new caching scheme dominates, but for now the P3 Plus has at least the advantage of a 4TB option.
The 1 TB price ($94 at time of writing) is decent, but not cheaper than most of the competition.However, having 2TB and 4TB options is pretty great for this market segment, and Crucial already offers this drive in the latter capacity for under $325. P2 Having likely sold well on Crucial, the P3 and P3 Plus underperform the market with QLC, especially at higher capacities. Especially since this hardware promises to be more efficient, this will be a compelling compromise once the older PCIe 3.0 option is retired.
Software and accessories
Crucial’s site has several downloads that apply to this drive. The SSD Toolbox, or Crucial Storage Executive, can help you get basic information about your drive. It can also be used to get firmware updates and other features, but I recommend not using the Momentum cache feature which uses part of his DRAM in your computer as a cache. The site also links to Acronis True Image for Crucial, which can be used for disk cloning and backup.
look carefully
The 2TB Crucial P3 Plus is single-sided and has plain labels that don’t help with heat dissipation. The controller is placed between a pair of two NAND packages where no DRAM is present. This type of layout is beneficial for design and thermal balance.
The Phison E21T is a relatively new DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 controller. This is clearly a budget option and was put to good use in the Silicon Power UD90. It can handle up to 4 TB of flash, but 2 TB should be optimal in QLC due to die count.
It competes a lot with the SM2269XT and IG5220 controllers, not to mention WD’s own design found in the SN770. These new mid-range PCIe 4.0 controllers have proven to be a strong foundation for value SSDs. P3 Plus is the first implementation of QLC that we have tested.
The four flash packages are labeled NY161.This is very similar to the NY165 packaging we’ve seen on newer models 4TB Crucial X6This is Micron’s new 176-layer QLC (N48R) in a 4DP/QDP configuration with four 1Tb dies per package. This flash should become more common and could be seen on older Crucial products as an organic upgrade. Although the architecture is different, it is comparable to Intel, now Solidigm’s 144-layer QLC. Other flash manufacturers such as Kioxia and SK hynix have their own 176-layer QLC designs.
QLC tends to have higher read latency than TLC, and one way to improve read performance is to allow each of the four planes of the flash die to be read independently. Also, since QLC is much slower to program and write to, enhanced programming algorithms help you get to your desired values more quickly. Since QLC is ultimately about density (capacity per square millimeter), all major manufacturers place control circuitry (CMOS) underneath the layered flash array. All of this makes QLC more affordable while still maintaining enough performance to compete with TLC options.
In this particular generation, which is Micron’s first for QLC, the manufacturer has focused on simplifying the architecture while using various technologies to get the most out of it. For example, dies are accessed in an order that minimizes peak power consumption. The goal is to maintain I/O performance without compromising endurance or increasing power consumption. Most of these factors are invisible, but we are able to offer a 4 TB drive at a record low GB/$ price. This is important in terms of “good enough” and bringing NVMe to the masses.
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