At CES 2013 Crucial announced the release of their new M500 series SSDs. This new model was meant to replace the aging M4 series and push the SSD industry towards a more budget friendly direction.

The big news surrounding the Crucial M500 during CES this year was the shockingly low price per GB. The price of a 960GB for $599 brings the price per GB down to 63 cents. This is the lowest price on the market, and with Crucial's solid reputation in the SSD space it makes for a safe bet.

Crucial's M500 offers the lowest price per gigabyte for an MLC SSD with enterprise-class features not seen on typical consumer SSD data drives. With new 128Gbit MLC NAND paired with the Marvell 9187 controller the M500 should deliver great performance at a historically low price point.

The Crucial M500 solid-state drive may be at the bottom of our lineup, but it can still hold its own. This SSD is quick and efficient and will do the job in just about any machine. A Marvell controller drives this device along with MLC flash-component technology and SATA 3 compatibility.

The Crucial M500 solid-state drive is fast; and Crucial has fantastic help and support options

This is a 2.5-inch form factor SSD that does not come with a 3.5-inch mounting kit

Today we have in our labs the latest SSD offering by Crucial, the Crucial M500 series. Announced earlier this year at CES, it is the world's first SSD series to use Micron's new 128Gbit MLC NAND die.

Crucial has returned to the hit list of must-have SSDs with its M500. Not because it's the fastest but because it has great multi-platform PC support, a good balance of large- and small-file transfer speeds, and an attractive price without relying on slower performance three-layer cell (TLC) flash...

The SSDs that comprise Crucial's new M500 range come in a variety of capacities, from a relatively low 128GB to a large 960GB, but each SSD uses the SATA3 interface, a Marvell 88SS9187 controller and 20nm Micron MLC NAND flash chips.

Crucial's new M500 SSD is built on an upgraded Marvell flash controller with new 20 nanometer 128 Gbit die MLC flash. This combination makes for a very affordable drive that also provides excellent performance in both synthetic and real-life performance testing.

Great pricing; 7.5 mm thin-Ultrabook compatible; Adapter for 9.5 mm drives included; Supports TRIM; 3-year warranty

Can't find anything wrong

Behind Crucial stands Micron Technology, one of the world's largest semiconductor makers, which may go some way to explain the great value that Crucial SSD s have offered to date. See all Storage reviews .

The speed of this drive is amazing regardless of the type of file you are working with. It is an easy to set up high quality drive. We did a massive amount of research about SSD drives before purchasing and Crucial drives are the very best. They don't disappoint.