I did a little bit of research. The most reliable SSD drive that is still in consumer reach is the Intel Optane 905P Series. The 480GB version has an insane TBW of 8760TB (!) and MTBF of 1,6 million hours. It is also the fastest SSD overall. It will cost you about 500-600$ though.

To put these numbers in perspective, the recent high performance Samsung 980 Pro has a TBW of 'only' 300TB for the 500 GB version and a 1,5 million hour MTBF.

If you're on a budget the older Samsung 860 Pro (with SATA interface) is rated at 600TB for the 512GB version and 1,5 million hour MTBF. That's more than any other consumer SSD I could find. For about 100 dollar, that's crazy cheap But you do end up with a SATA drive limited to about 500MB/sec sequential read/write as opposed to M.2 with PCIe-gen4 that will go to about 5GB/sec sequential read/write.

Anyway, I guess this was too much info anyway.

 

hollywood prices

 

I would not rely on that completely. My employers' Laptop doesn't recognize an external SSD in a casing that is connected via USB 3 (Win 1903). Defrag is configured to run automatically when I am not doing anything for 10 minutes - I cannot change these settings and the admins are unwilling to change this group policy. So I have to disconnect the external SSD, otherwise it is always defragged senselessly. Or, I have always to do something...

 

No wonder the real value of the Optane technology is their RAM-like use.

 

That is weird. i guess the sata-USB interface is programmed to show as a HDD not an SSD. I have an old WD portable drive i was going to put an SSD in, good to know.
I also would not run into this as defrag is not automatic on my system & i wouldnt keep any usb connection on long term, id use SATA.

But i totally agree, an SSD could get fucked up on windows 10 this way.

BTW, why is your employers windows 10 so outdated? is it on an enterprise update schedule or something, could that be it?..

 

I think it is the interface in the USB casing, it works very well but is just cheap and probably doesn't provide that information...like most of those USB Hubs. But it makes no difference if I use a hub or connect the casing directly.

My employer is always a few versions back, to prevent malfunctions and crying users. They updated recently from 1803 to 1903. That update, despite their precautiosn, deleted some vpn certificates and I had to travel to an office to reconnect and to be administrated.
However, with this philosophy they skipped Vista, and later Win8. Since 2002, they only had XP, Win7 (as long as possible) and Win10.

 

Last edited: Dec 2, 2020

There is one point I have to mention, a Windows setting related to the write-cache of an internal SSD. It happens often when a normal HD is replaced by an SSD, and the OS is transferred by disk cloning, that this is nnot set right. Normally, whith a Win10 fresh install, it should be ok, but it doesn't hurt to check.
In Device-Manager, right click your SSD and select properties (Eigenschaften). In the properties box select the second tab (policies ? - Richtlinien). Then, the second option should be active (and the first, of course).
If not, Windows decides whenever the write-cache has to be emptied, and that can from my experience affect the SSD's performance.
There are hints mentioning you should activate these options only when you have a battery, so it is mostly for laptops (which I use solely).

 

Last edited: Dec 3, 2020

Interestingly, on my other SSD, which is connected to the Laptop's WWAN SATA port, the setting with the said option deactivated, is better for performance.

 

Last edited: Dec 3, 2020

Well, it seems that bitlocker encryption or ssd model is affecting the outcome of these settings, so you have to try out which setting is best for you, for instance with as-ssd.

 

1: The easiest way: Most ssd vendors also include secure erase utilities, either separate from or included in their ssd's suite/maintenance software like Samsung, WD/SanDisk, Crucial, Intel etc. If you don't have access to such utility read on:

2. The power user way:
Remember to type all commands without the quotes.
- Run command prompt as admin.
- type "diskpart" . Press Enter.
- type "list disk" and enter will list all your drives.
- type "select disk # " whereas # is your mentioned drive number, press enter.
- type "clean all" and it will perform a secure erase on your drive, that is write all zeros to the ssd.

3. Secure erase the system/OS ssd (c: drive)
If this ssd is your c: drive and you intend to fresh install Windows or whatever OS, just boot from a usb stick with a bootable disk management software installed in the stick's root directory. Most softies of this category offer you a bootable option like Acronis, EaseUs, Paragon etc. You can boot from the management software and completely erase the disk from there, then move on and install Windows.

The Samsung 970 Pro 1tb (pci-e gen3 x4) has a warranty of 1,200 TBW or 5 years. Costs about 300 euros. It's the cheaper alternative to the 905p.
Cheers

 

Last edited: Dec 11, 2020

i do have a bootable usb drive with ubcd, ultimate boot cd i use it for at least 15 years i use killdisk for zeroing my mechanical drives even unreadable usb stick and drive can be fixed with killdisk
so my question is can i zero my m.2 ssd
alot of people say it's no good zeroing ssd's

 

Well, one thing to be aware of about zeroing ssds is, it counts as a full write of the ssd. It doesn't damage anything but your xxx TBW will decrease after zeroing. If your ssd has a control/management app, zeroing is pretty much not needed as the maintenance app will move the data on the ssd's flash so the ssd performs as efficiently as possible. So zeroing an ssd should be a last case resort, when everything else hasn't improved performance.

 

Don't worry friend, this affliction will quickly pass as they usually do for you.

I wonder what happens if you change the location well after a fresh install of windows. Would it move or copy the files to the new location, thereby allowing one to save space and lengthen SSD life? Or would your software go all wonky, jacking up the registry and whatnot. I might just try it and find out. But not today.

 

Nope!

 

Only a certain amount before they die! And plus, you aren't supposed to rewite on an SSD all the time!
That's what we have cheap HDD scratch-discs for.

 

So no SSD system drives then? They're being constantly written to, right?

My system drive, a Samsung EVO (so not the highest caliber) is rated 300TBW (or 5 years), and now that it's a bit over a year old it has around 26TB written, I'd say you're being a bit hyperbolic here

 

where can i see this information for my ssd system drive?

 

As I checked a Samsung drive I used their Magician-software, check your manufacturer if they have a tool available.

If that fails, CrystalDiskInfo can show it for most drives: https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/