I built a new PC about 6-7 months ago, using a Samsung 980 500GB SSD as my main OS drive for Windows 11, while a 990 Evo Plus 2TB serves as my secondary storage. I recently checked the drive's health with CrystalDiskInfo and saw it's down to 98% health with 7 terabytes written. I believe the total bytes written (TBW) for this drive is around 300, which I didn't really consider during the build. Should I be concerned about this over time? Is it worth upgrading to a larger OS drive with better TBW in the coming years?
6 Answers
Your Samsung SSDs use TLC flash, which are good quality. QLC might slow down before reaching TBW, but yours should hold strong.
If it took you 7 months to use just 2% of the TBW, you’re in a pretty good spot unless you plan to use this PC for the next 30 years!
If you do the math, at your current write rate, it would take over 20 years to hit that TBW limit. You're good for now!
Just a heads up: some software like OBS lets you record directly to RAM instead of constantly writing to the SSD. This can help reduce wear on your drive if you use those programs often.
From my experience, TBW isn't usually a huge concern. I have an old 500GB Samsung 850 Evo that was my boot drive for years, and it’s still alive after 10 years with 62 TBW, still at 92% life. I've had issues with cheaper brands like ADATA, but never from reaching TBW limits; they just failed randomly.
Yeah, same here! My cheap drives always seem to die unexpectedly, while my reliable ones last far beyond their warranties.
Honestly, you’re totally fine with TBW at your rate. You’re looking at easily 20+ years before you reach the limit, so no need to panic!
But c'mon, who needs an SSD to last 50 years? They should be here for us now!