The Crucial BX100 is a consumer-oriented SATA III (6 Gbps) solid-state drive (SSD) released by Crucial in early 2015 as the company’s first entry in their budget-focused “BX” product line. Positioned below the mainstream MX series in both price and performance, the BX100 was designed to provide an affordable pathway for consumers upgrading from traditional hard drives while maintaining solid performance metrics.
The BX100 was a starting point in Crucial’s market segmentation effort to introduce a clear differentiation between their budget (“BX”) and performance (“MX”) product lines. At launch, the drive competed directly with other value-oriented offerings such as the Samsung 850 EVO, OCZ ARC 100, and SanDisk Ultra. Crucial explicitly acknowledged that the BX100 “isn’t the fastest drive on the market,” instead focusing on delivering exceptional value through aggressive pricing. The 500GB model was typically selling for around $180 at launch – a substantially lower price compared to many competing drives.´
| Capacity | 120GB | 250GB | 500GB | 1TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model Number | CT120BX100SSD1 | CT250BX100SSD1 | CT500BX100SSD1 | CT1000BX100SSD1 |
| Interface | SATA 6.0 Gb/s, AHCI | SATA 6.0 Gb/s, AHCI | SATA 6.0 Gb/s, AHCI | SATA 6.0 Gb/s, AHCI |
| Form Factor | 2.5-inch, 7mm | 2.5-inch, 7mm | 2.5-inch, 7mm | 2.5-inch, 7mm |
| Sequential Read | 535 MB/s | 535 MB/s | 535 MB/s | 535 MB/s |
| Sequential Write | 185 MB/s | 370 MB/s | 450 MB/s | 450 MB/s |
| Random Read (4K) | 87,000 IOPS | 87,000 IOPS | 90,000 IOPS | 90,000 IOPS |
| Random Write (4K) | 43,000 IOPS | 70,000 IOPS | 70,000 IOPS | 70,000 IOPS |
| DRAM Cache | 256MB DDR3L | 256MB DDR3L | 512MB DDR3L | 1GB DDR3L |
| Controller | Silicon Motion SM2246EN | Silicon Motion SM2246EN | Silicon Motion SM2246EN | Silicon Motion SM2246EN |
| NAND Type | Micron 16nm 128Gb Synchronous MLC | Micron 16nm 128Gb Synchronous MLC | Micron 16nm 128Gb Synchronous MLC | Micron 16nm 128Gb Synchronous MLC |
| Endurance (TBW) | 72TB | 72TB | 72TB | 72TB |
| Power (Idle/Active) | 0.38W / 2.42W max | 0.38W / 2.42W max | 0.38W / 2.42W max | 0.38W / 2.42W max |
| Warranty | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years |
Controller
A departure from Crucial’s previous reliance on Marvell controllers, the BX100 featured the Silicon Motion SM2246EN, a four-channel SATA 6Gb/s controller. Allegedly, Crucial worked closely with Silicon Motion to develop custom firmware specifically for the BX100, ensuring the drive wouldn’t simply be another reference implementation of the SM2246EN platform.
The SM2246EN chip supports various error correction technologies including BCH ECC, and features like TRIM support, Active Garbage Collection, and SMART monitoring. However, unlike its MX-series siblings, the BX100 notably lacks hardware-based AES 256-bit encryption support – a deliberate omission to reduce validation costs and maintain the drive’s budget positioning.
Cache Architecture
For DRAM caching, the BX100 uses Micron DDR3L-1600 memory chips (part number MT41K256M16HA-125 M:E). The cache allocation varies by capacity: the 120GB and 250GB models include 256MB of cache, while the 500GB features 512MB. The largest 1TB model includes 1GB of DRAM. This cache serves as a buffer for the drive’s flash translation layer and helps maintain performance consistency during mixed workloads. The DDR3L implementation operates at lower voltages than standard DDR3, contributing to better power efficiency.
NAND Type
The BX100 uses Micron’s 128Gb 16nm synchronous MLC (Multi-Level Cell) NAND flash memory, manufactured by IMFT (Intel-Micron Flash Technologies). These chips carry part numbers such as MT29F512G08CMCCBH7-10:C (FBGA code NW744), with each package containing 64GB of storage capacity. This was a cutting-edge process technology at the time, as the 16nm node was exclusive to Micron among major manufacturers. The 16nm NAND utilized high-K gate dielectric technology, allowing for improved scalability compared to traditional planar NAND designs.
The choice of synchronous MLC NAND provided a balance between performance, endurance, and cost-effectiveness. Unlike the TLC NAND increasingly common in budget drives, the MLC flash offered superior write endurance and more consistent performance under sustained workloads.
Power Consumption
One of the BX100’s highlighted features was its excellent power efficiency, achieved through what Crucial termed “Extreme Energy Efficiency” technology. The drive demonstrates very low power consumption figures: idle power draw measures just 0.38 watts, while maximum power consumption during write operations peaks at only 2.42 watts. This is approximately 2x better energy efficiency compared to typical hard drives and even outperforms many contemporary SSDs (including Crucial’s own MX200 series which consumed up to 4.11 watts under load). The drive also supports the DEVSLP (Device Sleep) function, allowing compatible systems to further reduce power consumption during extended idle periods.
Reviews
The BX100 provides exceptional value through aggressive pricing while maintaining the reliability expected from Micron’s consumer storage products… painstakingly engineered to provide a massive performance boost, while also delivering an unrivaled value among SSDs.
Built around a Silicon Motion controller, it delivers fast, consistent performance that’s just within 1% of the Crucial MX100.
The Crucial BX100 makes up for its pedestrian performance with excellent power efficiency as well as one of the lowest SSD price tags on the market.
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