Crucial 128 GB M4 on W520 - any good?

Did someone try Crucial M4 128 GB or 256 GB on W520? Any screen freezing issues?

I've checked the Crucial forum and it seems that there is a registry hack that needs to be applied against freezing. I am not sure if it was fixed in the latest firmware updates.

Pls comment.

 

hmm, just ordered one of these for my new t520. if there's problems with that model too, please mention it.

 

I don't know if that applies to the M4 or not. The reports started with the C300 series.

See Solution: C300 Disk Freeze-ups in Windows 7 solved... - Crucial Community

 

I have also used an M4 in my X220 before switching to mSATA, and the issues I had previously had it before were fixed in firmware update 0009 (i think). I had the issues with my Alienware m14x with that drive as well, but the firmware update definitely fixed it. And also eliminated the need for the registry modification.

 

On the C300, they claim the freeze ups were fixed but even with the latest firmware I still get it if I don't do the registry update on a Windows machine.

 

May I ask, why did you switch to mSATA? I have just ordered W520 with Intel 160GB SDD and contemplating a few options of what drive to install into UltraBay. I am thinking of three options:

1) Intel SSD 160GB as a primary drive + Crucial M4 256GB in UltraBay.
2) Intel SSD 160GB as a primary drive + HDD 750GB in UltraBay.
3) Intel SSD 160GB as a primary drive + HDD 750GB in UltraBay + mSATA 64GB.

Perhaps purchasing a few UltraBay adapters on ebay would give most flexibility, i.e. to keep one with SSD and one with a large HDD, may be even 1TB 5400.

 

I'm using it because I wanted to use my personal laptop at work, and our VPN only works on XP..I read that setting up XP on an SSD was a pain and didn't feel like going through that, so I went the easy route. Now I have Win7 on the mSATA and XP on the HDD.

I was happier with the M4's speed, but the mSATA gets the job done

 

you could have windows 7 as your main OS on an SSD, setup a virtual machine using virtual box/ vmware player and install XP there. so unless you'd need proprietary hardware connected to your windows XP it should run the way you need it to

 

just fyi, installed new m4 128gb in my t520 tonight and it screams. 7.9 on the windows experience index for primary hard disk.

 

What VPN software? Have you looked at ShrewSoft VPN? Works on Vista/7 32 and 64bit and supports many VPN schemes. I use it as a replacement for Cisco VPN client.

EDIT: Well, I did prior to jumping ship to Apple.

 

I tried the virtual machine route, but for some reason the VPN would disconnect a lot more than it does now, like every few minutes.

 

Thanks for the tip, i will definitely look into that! I hate having to use XP just because of that

 

It looks as Crucial M4 had serious problems with BSOD and freezing after about 5,200 hours. Search the Crucial forum on "0x00000f4 error on M4". Crucial had admitted the problem and promised a firmware fix to be released in Jan. I have not seen any reports confirming whether it was fixed or not.

Anyway, Crucial and Intel show the lowest failure rates comparing to other brands. For me, Intel 520 with 5 yrs warranty looks more tempting as the price premium is not as high - $220 vs $170 for 120GB.

 

I do not recommend using M4 on Lenovo laptops. To avoid the 5184 hours bug it is necessary to update the firmware to 0309, which has some compatibility issues and may cause intermittent BSOD on certain systems.

If you are dead set on M4, then get the 128GB version (4k page size) instead of the 256GB version (8k page size), because statistically the 256GB and 512GB versions are obviously less reliable (check newegg reviews if you don't believe me). I already have two (2) out of three (3) M4 512GB died in my hand in different computers.

If M4 is not your only choice and if you can stretch your budget a bit further, then the Samsung 830 and the Plextor M3P are both better choices in terms of BSOD-free.

 

In that case Intel 520 is even a better choice in terms of performance and reliability + 5 yrs warranty.

 

The Intel 520 looks good, though you'll have to pay extra premium for the luxury tax It appears to me that there hasn't been many users reporting BSOD, and my guess is that Intel has fixed the problems of the SandForce controller.