I've been experiencing what feels like an ongoing issue with SSD failures and I'm wondering if anyone can help me figure out what's going wrong. I built my PC back in 2012, and for a long time, it ran fine with hard drives. When I finally switched to an SSD, starting with a Sandisk in 2019, things took a turn for the worse. Here's a quick rundown of my boot drive history:
- 2012-2018: Seagate HDD (6 years) - failed
- 2018-2019: Toshiba HDD (1 year) - did not fail, swapped for SSD
- 2019-2021: Sandisk SSD - failed after about a year
- 2022-2023: Western Digital SSD - failed after about a year
- 2023-2024: Another Western Digital SSD - failed again after a year
- 2024: Samsung SSD - failed after 6 months
When I got the Sandisk, I replaced my motherboard, CPU, and PSU for the first time. In 2022, I replaced the motherboard, GPU, and RAM, and in 2024, the same thing but with a new PSU, motherboard, RAM, and CPU. So far, my new M2 drive seems fine. Throughout these upgrades, I've done full clean installs of Windows 10 each time.
I mostly use my PC for gaming, CAD with Solidworks, and some development work. I'm past the point where I feel like there's something I must be doing wrong since those SSD lifespans are ridiculous. Anyone have thoughts on why this keeps happening?
5 Answers
You might want to keep an eye on your SSD's temperatures. SSDs can fail if they consistently run too hot, especially during heavier workloads. Look into SSDs that come with thermal management features or just get a good heatsink.
How do you know for sure that the SSD has failed? Do they show up at all in BIOS? Maybe the boot sectors are corrupt, but the data is still recoverable if you connect them to another system. Tools like SCANDISK could help check the drive health.
They usually don’t show up in BIOS after they fail, which makes troubleshooting tough. I guess I could try connecting the drives externally to see if they respond.
It sounds like a power issue if you're on your fifth SSD. After all that, I’d suggest going for a high-quality PSU with sufficient wattage. You can also consider a new surge protector to rule out issues from your power grid.
I’ve moved several times and switched PSUs, but perhaps I just have terrible luck with my power sources. I'll keep that in mind!
You might want to consider putting your system on a UPS to protect against power surges. Those spikes can really mess with SSDs. A good model, like a 1500VA from APC, can help stabilize your power supply.
Is a UPS just a battery backup? I have my setup plugged into a surge protector already. Would a UPS work in this case?
I’d bet your problem lies with the PSU. If it's a low-quality or failing power supply, it could compromise the power stability to your SSDs, causing failures. You should also check the temperature where your drives sit; if it’s too hot, that could affect longevity too.
The old PSU did mess with my motherboard once, so that could be it. But I’ve replaced the PSU a few times, so it's hard to say if that’s where the issue is.
That's a good point! I should check the airflow in my case and possibly get a heatsink for my M2 SSD.