Current gen vs 4 yr old SSD question

[Failed Creation]

I have a Corsair Force LX 256GB SSD which I now use for OS, system apps and main games. It was the only drive in my computer up until 6 months ago and has had moderate use over the past 4 years. It has been formatted 4 times that I can remember. I have a few questions about it and a possible upgrade.

 

What sort of lifespan can I expect from it? I understand that there is a limited number of writes that can be performed before it dies.

 

I see articles about how much faster new SSDs are. Is this only for specific use case scenarios like massive files being transferred and say, content creation?

 

How much has current gen SSD tech improvements improved gaming load times over my older drive? How much faster will a new Evo 960 be for gaming, if at all?

 

My motherboard only supports PCIe M.2 cards so a more expensive NVME is necessary rather than a SATA M.2, would I be better off with a 2.5" Evo rather than a M.2? Are there any trade offs?

 

As I understand it, not having an OS on drive will improve load performance in games.

 

I need more space as the 1TB HD I bought 6 months ago is nearly full already, so it's not a case of should I buy, but what should I buy. Yes I know that a SSD will be vastly superior speed wise, and a HD will be more storage per dollar. I'm looking at SSDs now and already have an idea what to get to increase bulk storage.

 

Thanks guys.

[BeastyBaiter]

In my experience, HDD's wear out faster than SSD's in normal home use. So no worries there, SSD's last basically forever (or as long as they are useful anyways). In a server environment this is a different story, but that's not how you're using it.

 

As for improvements, I looked up your drive and it's about 1/3rd to half the speed of a modern SATA3 SSD (normal 2.5" drive, not NVME or PCI-E). That isn't as big of a deal as it might seem. The big jump is from an HDD to any SSD, no matter how crappy. The reason is an SSD is around 100x faster than an HDD in random read/writes/latency and 10x faster in sequential read/write (loading a single big file). The move from that to high end SSD's isn't nearly as significant, but still measurable.

 

In regards to the Samsung 960 Evo NVME specifically, on paper it's 6x faster than my Crucial MX300 (SATA3). But that's really only in large file transfers. When it comes to loading DCS and other games, there isn't a perceptible difference. If I broke out a stopwatch and timed it, I might see a difference but just using it feels about the same.

 

In hind sight, I should have bought a 1TB SATA SSD instead of the 500GB 960 Evo at the same price. The difference between the 2nd fastest NVME SSD (when I bought it) on the market and a budget friendly SATA3 SSD is marginal in my case and probably yours too.

Edited April 9, 2018 by BeastyBaiter

[Pilotasso]

I had a vertex 3 (same controller and NAND) that I owned for 7 years and its still rocking in my sisters PC. Unless you see problems developing (there are dignostic tools from the manufacturer) you shouldnt worry or need to change SSD. There wont be a massive boost in performance or reason to upgrade unless what your seeking is more space. Note, this is for SATA. For NVME upgrade I would go Intels 900P OPTANE wich is MUCH faster in random access with small files and the only worthy upgrade right now IMHO, or else stay put. (I got 960 EVO because intels were not out yet back then).

[Failed Creation]

Thanks for the replies guys. I actually posted this same message in a few places and got a couple of useful replies. I nearly went for a Kingston A400 480GB at a decent price, but had found a site with what were mostly the cheapest prices I've seen in my country. End up getting a 250GB 860 Evo because it ended up being $52 cheaper than the A400 and the consensus of replies and more research that an NVMe wasn't going to be noticeably faster despite the numbers. In the end I went for saving money while still getting a quality product. Oh and that 5 year warranty was pretty sexy too.

[BitMaster]

Good choice !