I decided to purchase this new Crucial MX300 750GB to replace my aging 250GB Samsung 840 EVO as my Windows 10 boot drive in my desktop computer. I have previously used Crucial's 64GB C300 series as well as their 1TB MX200 series SSD's and I always choose them for their performance, reliability, and longevity.
Crucial states that this drive should be able to sustain up to 220TB of writes, as it contains Micron's latest 3D NAND technology.
It's capable of reaching speeds of up to 530MB/sec read and 510MB/sec write, and I was able to get these speeds with Crystal DiskMark. The screenshot I have attached shows how much more of an improvement you get when you enable Momentum Cache, which is similar to Samsung's RAPID mode. This increases the endurance of the SSD by allowing the DRAM to absorb the random writes, as they tend to wear out the NAND cells faster than sequential writes. Crucial recommends that you only enable momentum cache for the SSD if you are in fact using it as your boot drive.
This drive would also be ideal for use in laptops because of it's incredibly low power draw of 0.075W of power. It certainly may extend your laptop's battery life over a traditional 5400rpm or 7200rpm drive, but the difference will likely be subtle. I would say maybe an hour longer? (just guestimating)
Still, I am glad to see Crucial finally releasing some software (Crucial Executive Storage Client) to compete with Samsung's excellent Magician software. You must download this from Crucial's website if you wish to enable their Momentum Cache for better performance. It's not quite as much of a standalone program as Magician, as it uses your web browser to configure your drive, but it has all of the most important information you need about your SSD, as well as the ability to easily update your firmware. I used it to update the firmware of my 1TB MX200 since the MX300 was already on its latest, being a brand new SSD at the time of this review.
If you are looking for a brand new SSD to replace the hard drive in your laptop, or to use as a Windows boot drive, look no further. The 750GB MX300 gives you a bit more bang for your buck than either a 500GB SSD or a 1TB SSD, so it really hits the sweet spot in price per gigabyte, and it should have no problem lasting you for several years of use. You will likely end up upgrading this drive long before it ever actually wears out.
My only complaint is that the Acronis True Image HD 2015 software that comes with this SSD would not allow me to resize my Windows partition from my old 250GB drive when I tried to clone it. I also tried using EaseUs Todo Backup as well as Macrium Reflect to no avail. It was likely due the Windows-created 450MB recovery partition that was positioned directly after my main Windows partition. I ended up doing a fresh install, which was probably for the best, as I originally had Windows 7 on my desktop computer before upgrading to Windows 8, 8.1, and then finally Windows 10.
| Brand | Crucial |
|---|---|
| Series | MX300 |
| Item model number | CT750MX300SSD1 |
| Hardware Platform | PC; Mac |
| Item Weight | 5 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 3 x 0.5 x 2 inches |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 3 x 0.5 x 2 inches |
| Processor Count | 1 |
| Computer Memory Type | DDR3 SDRAM |
| Flash Memory Size | 750 GB |
| Manufacturer | CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGY |
| ASIN | B01DUNLMUU |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | June 14, 2016 |
