Crucial P310 500GB

The Crucial P310 uses the Phison PS5027-E27T controller, a 4-channel, DRAM-less design manufactured on a 12nm process, paired with Micron 232-layer QLC NAND. The drive relies on Host Memory Buffer (HMB) to compensate for the lack of dedicated DRAM and achieves near-saturation PCIe 4.0 read performance. The 500GB variant shows a notable read/write disparity due to limited NAND die interleaving and uses an aggressive pseudo-SLC (pSLC) cache that falls back to native QLC speeds for sustained transfers; recovery on the 232-layer NAND is improved over the previous-generation P3 Plus.

Key Specifications

• Interface: PCIe 4.0 x4 (NVMe 2.0)
• Form Factor: M.2 2280 (Single-sided PCB)
• Controller: Phison PS5027-E27T
• Controller process: 12nm
• NAND Flash: Micron 232-Layer QLC
• Sequential Read: Up to 6,600 MB/s
• Sequential Write: Up to 3,500 MB/s
• DRAM Cache: No (HMB Support)
• Endurance: Standard QLC durability rating (TBW scales with capacity)

Hardware Alternatives

• Corsair MP600 Elite: Shares the same Phison E27T controller architecture but uses TLC NAND, which generally offers superior sustained write speeds and higher endurance compared to QLC.
• Western Digital WD Black SN770 500GB: A direct competitor in the DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 segment that uses a proprietary SanDisk controller and BiCS TLC NAND, relying on HMB for high burst speeds suitable for consumer workloads and gaming.
• Crucial P3 Plus 500GB: The direct predecessor to the P310, using the older Phison E21T controller and 176-layer QLC NAND; the P310 provides generation-over-generation uplifts in sequential throughput and random IOPS.