An enthusiast turned a Crucial QLC 512 GB SSD into a 120 GB SLC with increased resource and speed

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Энтузиаст превратил SSD Crucial QLC 512 ГБ в SLC 120 ГБ с увеличением ресурса и скорости

Энтузиаст превратил SSD Crucial QLC 512 ГБ в SLC 120 ГБ с увеличением ресурса и скорости

Tech enthusiast Gabriel Ferraz converted his Crucial BX500 512GB SSD with QLC ( 4 bits per cell) to SLC (one bit per cell). At the same time, the storage capacity was reduced to 120 GB, and the performance and durability of the SSD increased.

The Crucial BX500 512GB SATA SSD uses Silicon Motion's SM2259XT2 controller and Micron's QLC NAND for a low-cost solution. However, QLC storage has a reputation for being low-performance and questionable in terms of durability. Sometimes drives have DRAM or SLC cache, or use some RAM to run faster and last longer.

The Silicon Motion SM2259XT2 controller has a single-core 550 MHz 32-bit ARC processor and dual 800 MT/s (400 MHz) data links with no DRAM cache. This SSD uses four NAND Flash dies from Micron with part numbers NY240. Every two matrices have their own channel. These NAND Flash dies were designed to operate at 1600 MT/s (800 MHz), but are limited to only 525 MT/s in this SSD.

Энтузиаст превратил SSD Crucial QLC 512 ГБ в SLC 120 ГБ с увеличением ресурса и скорости

The average endurance of these matrices is 1500 program/erase cycles for NAND FortisFlash and about 900 cycles for Mediagrade. Converting the same drive to SLC increases these figures to 100,000 and 60,000 respectively. To reprogram the SSD, we used the MPtools program for the Silicon Motion SM2259XT2 controller, where it is important to enter the correct markings of the memory chips, as well as enter and check a number of other parameters and modify the software files. The case-sensitive configuration file is modified to allow the dies to operate as SLC NAND Flash. The process is described in detail in the video.

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As a result, the storage capacity is reduced from 512 GB to 114-120 GB, and the endurance of the SSD is up to 4000 TBW (terabyte overwrite), which means approximately 3000% increase (30 times). Performance has also increased, but is largely limited by the SATA 3 interface and controller, but latency and access times have been significantly reduced.

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Энтузиаст превратил SSD Crucial QLC 512 ГБ в SLC 120 ГБ с увеличением ресурса и скорости

Энтузиаст превратил SSD Crucial QLC 512 ГБ в SLC 120 ГБ с увеличением ресурса и скорости

It is better not to repeat these manipulations without careful preparation and knowledge of the matter. Inaccurate settings or manipulation of files can “kill” the drive. Also, the method only works on some SSDs. The enthusiast notes that before the experiment he consulted with experts on how to do everything and demonstrate it in the video.

Sources: TechPowerUp, Tom`s Hardware

The Technology section is published with the support of Favbet Tech

Энтузиаст превратил SSD Crucial QLC 512 ГБ в SLC 120 ГБ с увеличением ресурса и скорости

Энтузиаст превратил SSD Crucial QLC 512 ГБ в SLC 120 ГБ с увеличением ресурса и скорости

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