New Firmware for Crucial m4 SSD Jumpstarts Performance with Faster Boots

Posted 08/29/2011 at 6:44am | by Paul Lilly

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We're all about receiving free performance upgrades, which is exactly what Crucial's offering with the latest firmware update for its m4 solid state drive series. The new firmware supercharges the m4 series with faster boots, improved write latency, better PCMark Vantage benchmark scores, and other enhancements just a few mouse clicks away.

According to TomsHardware, Crucial is touting up to a 20 percent increase in sequential read speeds, saying it's like "having your cake and eating it too." We couldn't dig up that specific claim from Crucial (we're waiting on clarification from the company), but did uncover the official release notes with the following changelog:

• Changes made in version 0002 (m4 can be updated to revision 0009 directly from either revision 0001 or 0002)
• Improved throughput performance
• Increase in PCMark Vantage benchmark score, resulting in improved user experience in most operating systems
• Improved write latency for better performance under heavy write workloads
• Faster boot up times
• Improved compatibility with latest chipsets
• Compensation for SATA speed negotiation issues between some SATA II chipsets and the SATA III device
• Improvement for intermittent failures in cold boot up related to some specific host systems

The firmware applies to all four capacities in the m4 line, including 64GB (CT064M4SSD2), 128GB (CT128M4SSD2), 256GB (CT256M4SSD2), and 512GB (CT512M4SSD2). You can download the firmware here.

Image Credit: Crucial