Need to defrag SSD revisted due to files becoming corrupted

HI, i have a 128 GB vertex 4 SSD with a firmware of 1.5 running on windows 8.1 pro. For the first couple of weeks windows booted lightning fast...all the startup programs were just there. Then things slowed down some.
I keep the drive less than 1/2 full now ...but have come to live with it being slower. Anyways, while trying to fix a microsoft store problem and create a system image file ... i came across 2 things i had not thought of before or seen any reference to in SSD optimizations articles and the like.

When i create a system image file of the O/S on my SSD, i noticed it is 48% fragmented. Which does not matter for the SSD. But then tracking down my store issue, i found a chkdsk recovered file fragment and i was surprised. Now and then i have run chkdsk on my SSD drive and it has always said there is no issue.

But here is the thing, should we not be defragmenting the SSD afterall to avoid losing files? Higher fragmentation leads to increased chance of it happening on a HDD. I had not thought of this on an SSD before nor seen reference to it. I would like to know if i should defrag my vertex 4 and i ask here because alot of articles say that defragging can actually make the SSD run slower in addition to impact on lifespan (which is less of a concern these days)... yet no mention of file loss is made of such a fragmented SSD. TIA

That is not normal whatsoever. I would RMA the drive ASAP after backing up your data.

Honestly, if you are losing files, there is something else wrong and it should be looked at, because running defrag is not really going to save your files.

Now, we should start with your system specs. Followed by some type of benchmark showing the current performance of the vertex. All drivers and firmware updated? Stuff like that and we can go from there.

Sounds like major issues are afoot. Backup important data now. Could be a bad ssd.

hi well .. I am running on an intel I5 4670k in a msi z87 45 gaming MB 8 gig corsair ram .. with a radeon r9 270x PSU is a corsair HX 650 (the only part I am not really happy with)

- latest drivers save the msi firmware is at 1.5 instead of 1.9

vertex 4 latest firmware is 1.5 .. I've always assumed even though I reduced capacity to less than 1/2 .. the garbage collection never went back to performance.

both crystal info and system mechanic pro agree that all attributes are still 100% save for the read error rate which is at 5 (everything else at 100) and worst has been 0. But I have ignored that warning after trying to find about it a few months ago.

My score for performance matches all the other posts I managed to find on vertex 4 performance ..a lille higher in some cases. I just wish I had tested it when things seemed ultra fast.

from crystal disk mark :
seq 420.4 MB/s (540 was advertised) READ 391.5 MB/s WRITE
512k 340.4 MB/s READ 397.6 MB/S WRITE
4k 21.19 READ 118.4 MB/s WRITE
4k QD32 360.9 READ 302.9 MB/s WRITE

lifechecker says that I have 7.82 years left.

I am not worried about my SSD... well a bit now But from the responses, you guys have no worry that all that fragmentation in an ssd will not harm files? It's a hardware issue instead? IN that case, I will not worry about it anymore and monitor my vertex more closely. I am backing up now anyways, as I am getting ready to risk updating my motherboard bios

edit: and oh ya I put the system together in march of this year but I did carry over the SSD. Still, it is young yet.

you guys have no worry that all that fragmentation in an ssd will not harm files?

Click to expand...

Fragmentation can not harm your files. This is a hardware, driver or firmware issue.

well thanks for the group consensus . I guess I am just having a hard time getting over my decades of defragging bias to avoid corruption and performance loss. I can't find any current info, drescherjm, to maintain my position and concern. I also learned that the windows 8 disk utility actually optimizes ssds now instead of defrags them. SO I ran it. IT had been 16 days before windows had last issued trim commands to the ssd.