Compare Crucial T500 1TB and Crucial P310 2TB: prices, speeds, $/TB. Which to buy in May 2026? Full spec breakdown.
Both run on Gen 4 hardware but at different capacities: 1 TB for the Crucial T500 1TB versus 2 TB for the Crucial P310 2TB. Whether the larger drive's $/TB advantage justifies the higher upfront cost depends on how much you actually need.
Hardware-wise, the Crucial T500 1TB runs on the Phison E25 — a refined Gen 4 controller widely used in mid-range NVMe drives. The Crucial P310 2TB pairs Phison's E27T — a four-channel Gen 4 controller for HMB designs.
Price separates these two meaningfully. The Crucial P310 2TB costs $77.50/TB versus $115.00/TB for the Crucial T500 1TB — a 33% premium that needs justification in real benchmarks, not just spec-sheet bragging.
The Crucial T500 1TB carries a dedicated DRAM chip for FTL (Flash Translation Layer) mapping; the Crucial P310 2TB relies on HMB (Host Memory Buffer), borrowing 64 MB from system RAM. The practical gap shows up only under sustained random write loads.
On warranty endurance the Crucial P310 2TB carries 880 TBW against Crucial T500 1TB's 600 TBW. Both will outlast typical use, but the gap matters if you're doing professional content work.
Heading to a PlayStation 5? Both drives drop into the console's M.2 bay and report identical real-world benchmarks since the PS5 caps storage at PCIe 4.0 speeds. The Crucial P310 2TB wins this matchup on $/TB. Heavy write workloads — video editing, RAW photo libraries, backup operations — favor the Crucial T500 1TB's 6,800 MB/s sustained write speed. Both drives use the 2280 form factor, which is too long for Steam Deck or ROG Ally — you'd need a 2230 variant if either manufacturer offers one, or a dedicated handheld-format drive instead.
Pick the Crucial T500 1TB if you value the lower retail price ($115 vs $155), and a dedicated DRAM cache chip. Crucial drives benefit from being a direct Micron product — the same NAND that powers competitors' drives, but at lower margins.
Pick the Crucial P310 2TB if you value better $/TB economics ($77.50/TB), and a higher TBW endurance rating (880 TBW).