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The MX500 comes in a small, blue box. While there aren't a lot of technical details, the packaging provides basic information like the drive's capacity and a list of the box's contents. Inside, you'll find the SSD, a mounting spacer for use with traditional 9.5mm drive bays and a small guide with information on where you can get additional help and download the migration and cloning software.
Physical Features:
The MX500 looks very similar to Crucial's other 2.5-inch SSDs. The outer casing is made entirely out of metal and is covered by a grey, textured finish. The top of the drive also has a large, blue and gray sticker showing that it is part of Crucial's MX series.
Like the BX300, the MX500 uses Silicon Motion's SM2258 controller. Designed specifically to meet the unique demands of managing 3D TLC NAND, this customizable turnkey controller solution employs SMI's proprietary NANDXtend error-correcting and data protection technology to triple the P/E cycles of 3D TLC NAND. The SM2258 also features advanced Direct-to-TLC and SLC caching algorithms for optimal sustained read and write performance.
For the 1TB version of the MX500, Crucial opted to use Micron's 64-layer, 256-gigabit 3D TLC NAND flash. Looking at the picture above, you can see that there are eight NAND flash packages on either side of the PCB. The drive is also equipped with a pair of 512MB Micron DDR3L memory chips that are used for caching.
