TheCommander
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How long do SSDs hold data? And what is the general lifetime of a SSD?
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SSD data and lifetime question
- Thread starter TheCommander
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sabregen
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when i live 1000 years, i will have an answer for you. mine lived for 24 hours, but it's because i overvolted it, by accident (don't ask). life expectancy varies, model to model. i'd guess longer than spinning disk, but there are always exceptions.
SicKlown42012
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Intel states that their MLC drives can handle writing 80 GB/per for 5 years and still be in working condition. For normal usage, I would have to say that a SSD will last just as long as a mechanical, if not longer from the lack of moving parts to wear out. After a decade or so, there might be a problem with the flash chip's ability to retain the information, but don't take this statement as truth, since I'm not 100% sure here. In short, the drive will last until you buy a new, faster, bigger drive to replace it.
I recall reading somewhere that the flash chips start losing their charge after 10 years, which may be a problem for static data. I believe modern wear leveling algorithms regularly rearrange the data though, so that may affect the lifespan positively?
Moogle Stiltzkin
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SSDs don't have moving parts like conventional spinning hard disks.
However, SSDs have a component within that wears and tears whenever you delete data ..... so data deletion = erosion of this gate thingy ;_;
This is why SSD life span is based on how much data you delete, which the manufacturers then come up with an estimate when the drive dies based on a presumption of fixed amount of data deleted in a day. By the way, SSDs die after a certain fixed amount of data is deleted, however to come up with an estimate for the layman, Intel divided an alloted amount of presumed data deletion per day to come up with a MTBF in years for our convenience.
So if you delete 20 gigabytes of data consistently everyday, then your Intel X-25M would only last up to 5 years..... 20gb per day is just an example. I am not sure how many GB per day Intel listed for their SSD :X you can check the review sites for this.
For a regular pc user, i doubt you will be deleting 20gbs on it every single day x_x; so imho the MBTF for SSD isn't much to worry about. Besides Intel presumably has a tool that can check how close your SSD it to dying. A dead SSD won't let you delete anymore data, BUT it won't prevent you from reading data... meaning, you could copy the data to a new hard drive even though the SSD will not be usable anymore :} This is what i like about SSDs. With Spindles, when your drive dies, your hardware is most likely inaccessible most of the time and you hardly get much warning or know when it is going to fail except when only relying on the MTBF.
The best way to minimize wear and tear is to ensure downloaded media gets put into the normal spindle hard drive such as a Western Digital Black Caviar OR better yet a Samsung F3 Spinpoint H03SJ which is better then the Black Caviar and cheaper too
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/10/06/samsung-spinpoint-f3-1tb-review/1
So you would have the SSD for your operating system and programs, whereas your spindle hard drive is used for storage ....
If you want to load games on your fast SSD to make use of the faster speed, you can use the junction software to load games or other applications from one drives to another :}
http://junction-link-magic.software.informer.com
Also use SSD for windows 7 ideally because then you get trim feature for ssds that support it (only the Intel X-25M support it as far as i know). Trim works whenever you delete something on Windows 7, it will inform your SSD to delete the file cleanly without impacting your SSD performance. If you deleted something on Windows XP which does not support trim, it won't tell your SSD this and your performance will deteoriorate by a lot over time.
Just for your information, Trim feature is only available for Windows 7. And it depends if your SSD has support. Intel GEN1 SSDs DO NOT HAVE TRIM support.... only Gen2. So be careful when purchasing a SSD as not all have trim features available.
The Intel X-25M is probably the better SSD currently in terms of price and performance for an SSD + you get peace of mind of having trim and firmware upgrades :]
However, SSDs have a component within that wears and tears whenever you delete data ..... so data deletion = erosion of this gate thingy ;_;
This is why SSD life span is based on how much data you delete, which the manufacturers then come up with an estimate when the drive dies based on a presumption of fixed amount of data deleted in a day. By the way, SSDs die after a certain fixed amount of data is deleted, however to come up with an estimate for the layman, Intel divided an alloted amount of presumed data deletion per day to come up with a MTBF in years for our convenience.
So if you delete 20 gigabytes of data consistently everyday, then your Intel X-25M would only last up to 5 years..... 20gb per day is just an example. I am not sure how many GB per day Intel listed for their SSD :X you can check the review sites for this.
For a regular pc user, i doubt you will be deleting 20gbs on it every single day x_x; so imho the MBTF for SSD isn't much to worry about. Besides Intel presumably has a tool that can check how close your SSD it to dying. A dead SSD won't let you delete anymore data, BUT it won't prevent you from reading data... meaning, you could copy the data to a new hard drive even though the SSD will not be usable anymore :} This is what i like about SSDs. With Spindles, when your drive dies, your hardware is most likely inaccessible most of the time and you hardly get much warning or know when it is going to fail except when only relying on the MTBF.
The best way to minimize wear and tear is to ensure downloaded media gets put into the normal spindle hard drive such as a Western Digital Black Caviar OR better yet a Samsung F3 Spinpoint H03SJ which is better then the Black Caviar and cheaper too
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/10/06/samsung-spinpoint-f3-1tb-review/1
So you would have the SSD for your operating system and programs, whereas your spindle hard drive is used for storage ....
If you want to load games on your fast SSD to make use of the faster speed, you can use the junction software to load games or other applications from one drives to another :}
http://junction-link-magic.software.informer.com
Also use SSD for windows 7 ideally because then you get trim feature for ssds that support it (only the Intel X-25M support it as far as i know). Trim works whenever you delete something on Windows 7, it will inform your SSD to delete the file cleanly without impacting your SSD performance. If you deleted something on Windows XP which does not support trim, it won't tell your SSD this and your performance will deteoriorate by a lot over time.
Just for your information, Trim feature is only available for Windows 7. And it depends if your SSD has support. Intel GEN1 SSDs DO NOT HAVE TRIM support.... only Gen2. So be careful when purchasing a SSD as not all have trim features available.
The Intel X-25M is probably the better SSD currently in terms of price and performance for an SSD + you get peace of mind of having trim and firmware upgrades :]
Last edited:
SicKlown42012
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Windows 7 native TRIM is supported on more than just Intel. Drives using the Indilinx controller(OCZ, Patriot,Crucial, and others) have had TRIM longer than Intel. Also, if you're not using Windows 7, you can download a app called Wiper.exe which will send a TRIM like command every time you use it.
Moogle Stiltzkin
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From what i know, Intel released trim for their Gen2 SSDs to coincide with the release of Windows 7.
Yes there are some tools that can send a trim on a set schedule too :x Not sure about the cons regarding this but sounds like it gets the job done just as well.
Not sure if that works on Intel Gen1s though.
Yes there are some tools that can send a trim on a set schedule too :x Not sure about the cons regarding this but sounds like it gets the job done just as well.
Not sure if that works on Intel Gen1s though.
SicKlown42012
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The wiper.exe works better than automatic TRIM. TRIM usually keeps drive at 80% of top performance(after every cell has been written to) while the manual app gets it up to 90%*. The draw back is that if you forget to run it, your performance will continue to decline. For Gen 1 Intels, I still believe that they're shit out of luck. Also, OCZ had working TRIM support before Windows 7 was even officially released. The other manufactures of Barefoot based drives recently got the 1819(1.4) firmware update that enabled fully automatic TRIM.
*This is for Indilinx based drives. Not sure if Intel is the same.
*This is for Indilinx based drives. Not sure if Intel is the same.
Moogle Stiltzkin
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Will that wiper.exe work for Intel X-25M Gen2 160GB??
Is it even worth bothering even though my Intel will auto trim??
Does wiper delete all data or jused unused space?? Cauz afraid it will reformat the whole disk when i got important data on it x_x;
One reason i am sticking to buying the Intel is because although the competition have double the writing speeds, the Intel seems to load faster latency wise. What do you think?
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=825&pageid=12
Is it even worth bothering even though my Intel will auto trim??
Does wiper delete all data or jused unused space?? Cauz afraid it will reformat the whole disk when i got important data on it x_x;
One reason i am sticking to buying the Intel is because although the competition have double the writing speeds, the Intel seems to load faster latency wise. What do you think?
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=825&pageid=12