Crucial P5 Plus PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe review - Specifications & Features

Specifications & Features

Crucial as stated is offering three versions of the P5 PLUS; 500GB, 1TB, and 2 TB, unfortunately not a 4 or 8TB model. For endurance, our tested 1TB model has been rated at 600 TBW. The series will be fitted with TLC written 3D NAND flash memory (vertically stacked over 172 layers). This allows the company to offer proper storage volumes. So instead of using Planar NAND, 3D NAND is used. 3D TLC NAND is physical vertical NAND cell stacking not to be confused with chip stacking in a multi-chip package. In 3D NAND, NAND layers, not chips, are stacked in a single IC. The good news is continued cost reduction, smaller die sizes, and more capacity per NAND chip. Also, installed NAND toolsets in the wafer fabs can, for the most part, be reused, thereby extending the useful life of fab equipment. The performance stems from the hugely increased bandwidth of PCIe 4.0 (PCI-Express Generation 4). Easily fitting into a PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, the NVMe interface has been bumped upwards to the new 1.4 protocol and high-density TLC NAND

Micron DM02A1 controller

Little is actually known about the Micron DM02A1 controller. It offers 8 channels and of course, is PCIe Gen 4.0 (x4) ready.  In addition to the Micron DM02A1 controller, there are two 512GB packages of Micron B47R 176-Layer 3D TLC NAND and a 1GB DLPDDR4-4266 chip for caching duties. The controller's specifications are scant, to say the least; the only things we know about it are that it has eight channels and that it supports hardware encryption. However, we do think the Micron DM02A1 is essentially an improved DM01B2, which would make it a six-core controller.

Model	Crucial P5 Plus (1 TB)
Check	Micron DM02A1 (8 channels)
Cache	500 GB: 1 GB LPDDR41 TB: 1 GB LPDDR42 TB: 2 GB LPDDR4
NAND	Micron 3D TLC 176 Layer
Available Capacity	500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB
sequential read / write rates	Read: 6,600 MB/s / Write: 5,000 MB/s
Total written change (TBW)	500 GB: 300 TB1 TB: 600 TB2 TB: 1,200 TB
MTBF	2 million hours
Warranty	5 years
Price	About 165 Euro (1 TB)