The 2TB Crucial MX500 is 37% off and going for just £134 this Black Friday
One of our favourite SATA SSDs of all time.
The Crucial MX500 is one of our favourite SATA SSDs here at Digital Foundry. It has made its way through several of our recommendation guides and continues to be a good option even in these modern times where M.2 drives are starting to make some serious inroads. Now thanks to some amazing Black Friday discounts, you can have this all-time great SSD for an even better price.
If you make your way down to Amazon, you can now find the 2TB model of the Crucial MX500 selling for just £134, a considerable 37 percent discount over its usual price of £214. This makes it just a bit more expensive than the 1TB model of most M.2 SSDs.
The Crucial MX500 is a typical SATA SSD, with a standard 2.5-inch form factor. This makes it compatible with practically every computer made in the last decade, some of which may not have the modern M.2 slot. This makes it a great way to upgrade not just the storage but overall performance of an aging computer and further extend its lifespan.
A 2.5-inch SATA SSD also has other applications, besides being used in a PC. If you have a PS4 or PS4 Pro console, you can replace the mechanical hard drive that came with the console with the MX500. While these older consoles and their games aren't designed to fully utilize the bandwidth of an SSD, they can still see notable improvements in loading times, which is again a good way to extend the lifespan of the machine.
Another good use for a SATA SSD is to just get a cheap USB 3.0 to SATA adapter, like this Benfei model selling on Amazon for £5.5, and convert the SSD into a portable external drive. This can then be used with a computer for transferring data or with a previous or current generation console for archiving unused games and even running them directly off the drive for older games. Even with the cost of the adapter, you still save several pounds over buying a proper 2TB portable SSD.
Regardless of how you use it, the Crucial MX500 still makes for a great purchase. If you're looking for an SSD specifically for your PlayStation 5, check out our buyer's guide. If you want more deals on SSDs, check our Black Friday deals guide. With Cyber Monday on the way, you'd also want to stick around for a new wave of deals that will be coming in shortly. And don't forget to follow us @dealsfoundry for more amazing deals.