Crucial
Crucial T705
$239.99
Released 2024-02
Best Internal Ssds · head-to-head
A sourced, side-by-side comparison. Seagate FireCuda 540 is cheaper at $189.99. Every spec and price links to its source.
Crucial
$239.99
Released 2024-02
Seagate
$189.99Cheaper
Released 2023
The Crucial T705 wins 2 of the 2 specs we compare head to head; the other wins 0. The Seagate FireCuda 540 is the cheaper at $189.99. Get the Crucial T705 for the stronger spec sheet, the Seagate FireCuda 540 to spend less.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Prices verified at capture; live price may differ.
The numbers that decide it, drawn to scale — longer bar wins, the accent bar is the stronger figure.
✓ marks the stronger figure where "more" — or "less", for price and weight — is unambiguously better.
| Spec | Crucial T705 | |
|---|---|---|
| US price | $239.99 | $189.99 |
| Brand | Crucial | Seagate |
| Released | 2024-02 | 2023 |
| Capacity options (TB) | 1, 2, 4 | 1, 2 |
| Form factor | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe | PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe |
| Seq read (Mbps) | 14500 | 10000 |
| Seq write (Mbps) | 12700 | 10000 |
| Random read kiops | 1550 | — |
| Random write kiops | 1800 | — |
| Nand type | 3D TLC | TLC |
| Has dram cache | Yes | Yes |
| Endurance tbw | 600 | 1000 |
| Warranty years | 5 | 5 |
Sources — Crucial T705: crucial.com (verified 2026-07-11). Seagate FireCuda 540: seagate.com (verified 2026-07-11).
Where the two actually differ on the specs we track (5 of 11). Matching specs are omitted.
Sourced tester consensus for each — the "what people who used it think" layer, not just specs.
Four hands-on testers — Tom's Hardware, StorageReview, PCWorld and TechRadar — each benchmarked the Crucial T705 and agree it is the fastest consumer PCIe 5.0 SSD at launch, with sequential reads near 14,400-14,500 MB/s. All four flag the steep price. Tom's Hardware and TechRadar additionally warn about heavy heat and power draw, while PCWorld and StorageReview note that the synthetic wins seldom translate to real-world or 4K workloads. (4 sourced reviews, 4 lab-tested.)
Praised: Record-setting sequential read speed — fastest consumer PCIe 5.0 SSD tested at launch; Effective bundled heatsink keeps the drive cool enough for full performance; Strong feature set: TCG OPAL/AES256 encryption, software suite, capacities up to 4TB.
Flagged: Very expensive / premium pricing across all capacities; High power consumption and heat output; requires cooling; Synthetic gains rarely translate to real-world / 4K performance.
Three whitelisted testers hands-on benchmarked the 2 TB FireCuda 540: Tom's Hardware and StorageReview at its 2023 launch, and TechPowerUp in a 2025 re-review. Consensus: a fast PCIe 5.0 drive with high sequential throughput, class-leading sustained/full-drive write speeds, and a standout support package (high TBW endurance plus 3-year data recovery), offset by poor power efficiency, high heat, and a hard requirement for a heatsink to avoid throttling. Both later-lens findings and StorageReview's enterprise tests show it only marginally leads top Gen 4 drives in real use and is weak in some write workloads. (3 sourced reviews, 3 lab-tested.)
Praised: High sequential throughput / impressive transfer rates; Class-leading sustained and full-drive write performance; Strong warranty, high TBW endurance and 3-year data recovery service.
Flagged: Poor power efficiency and high heat output; Requires cooling; throttles without a heatsink; Does not fully leverage Gen 5 - only marginally faster than top Gen 4 drives in real use, and weak in some write tests.