Crucial M4 256GB SSD Review (C400)

The M4 SSD arrives in a very stylish white and blue box …

This box opens up in a gatefold design revealing the drive inside. There are two versions of this drive, one with a data transfer kit, costing £15 extra.

The drive is supplied in an understated chassis with the Crucial name on the front and specifications on the back.

The Crucial M4 256GB drive uses the Marvell 88SS9174-BLD2 controller which is the new version of the 88SS9174-BJP2 processor used in the previous range of C300 drives. There is also a large 256MB of DRAM memory onboard which is used as a cache.

There are four sizes of M4 released – 64GB, 128GB, 256GB and 512GB and they all use the same internal design with NAND connected to the controller across eight channels. The 256GB model we are reviewing today uses 16×16 (2x channel) Micron NAND, which is 25nm. As with previous drives in this series the smaller capacity drives use lower density NAND which means that performance is reduced.

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