Crucial T500 - M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD - 4TB

The Crucial T500 is Crucial's top-tier Gen4 NVMe drive, built on Micron 232-layer TLC NAND with a Phison E25 controller and dedicated LPDDR4 DRAM cache. It reaches 7,300/6,800 MB/s sequential read/write on the 1TB model, pushing near the theoretical ceiling of the PCIe 4.0 x4 interface.

DRAM and Controller

The DRAM cache (1GB per 1TB of flash) keeps the flash translation layer in fast memory, which matters for sustained random I/O consistency. The Phison E25 controller is a step above what you'll find in budget Gen4 drives, and the combination delivers workstation-class Gen4 performance. Random I/O hits 1,180K/1,440K IOPS read/write on the 2TB.

Capacities and Endurance

Available from 500GB to 4TB. Endurance is strong: 300 TBW (500GB), 600 TBW (1TB), 1,200 TBW (2TB), 2,400 TBW (4TB). Five-year warranty. PS5 compatible on the heatsink variant. Includes Acronis True Image cloning software for drive migration.

Gen4 vs Gen5

The T500 occupies an interesting spot. It's the best Gen4 drive Crucial makes, but Gen5 drives like the P510 now offer higher sequential speeds at comparable prices. The T500's advantage is its DRAM cache, which gives it better sustained random I/O than the DRAMless P510. For Gen4-only platforms (AM4, older Intel), it's the top choice.

Best for: Gen4 platforms where you want the best available performance with DRAM-backed consistency. PS5 upgrades (heatsink variant). Primary boot and workload drives.

Avoid if: Your platform supports Gen5 and you're primarily moving large files. The P510 or T700 offer significantly more sequential bandwidth for similar money.