SSD Drive Failures - Please Share Your Experiences

Started using an OCZ vertex ssd a couple of years ago. It worked fine for almost a year and then died so they replaced it with the same model. Since then it has died 2 more times and has been replaced with the same model each time.

 

That might be your opinion, but isn't a fact or anything like that. - On the contrary, if you wait for 3 more years before using one you have the same amount of time to deal with slow HDD's. If you got used to the speed of SSD most people can't!

And who knows ... what is state of the art storage in 3 years. - You have to start once, it's the same with upgrading to a new computer. You could always wait but then it will never happen.

In theory -> lower prices. And they dropped over the last years. - Since you don't need a big SSD if you just want an OS-Drive (having a storage HDD for large data etc.) you can get a VERY fast system for a few bucks nowadays. That is if you do have a real computer, not some small notebook or netbook where you can't have two drives installed.

I wasn't a fan of smaller structures and shortened lifespan too! But I don't think they would sell the stuff with years of warranty if it wouldn't last in a normal users life as long as an HDD.

I don't know how reliable you want SSD's to get before you start using one? I am saying that because I have no problems and it's the best money spent I can remember .. using Vertex 2 here, so quite old model today and also one that many people (from reading in a forum I guess?) BELIEVE is unreliable -> it isn't in my experience!).

If you stay away from barefoot controlled (like Vertex 1) or other old 1st gen SSD's reliability should not be a problem. To me it isn't. - And there is no way I go back to HDD for OS drive!

So whoever this reads: don't be afraid because some people think that technology isn't ready right now, just buy a model with good reputation for you c:\ drive and have fun with a lightning fast (especially running WSA as AV ) and reliable system. (Making backups never hurts and HDD's also can fail!).

 

The subject of SSD reliability is a contentious and ongoing debate - and very much dependant on individual experiences. Those with bad experiences will, of course, be the most vocal about SSD failures, whereas those who experience no issues will generally swear by them!
I can understand SSD makers trying to claim the 'reliability' factor due to no moving parts (after all, they are trying to sell them!) - but I think this is disingenuous of them. I don't see how anyone can claim reliability for something that has only been on the market for such a short period of time. Particularly given the proportion of failures of early SSDs.
That said, there appears to be little in common (with regard failure rates) between the current crop of SSDs and those of more than 2 years ago.

It seems to me that those who are considering buying an SSD and want reliability, plus cost, as primary considerations, should probably stick with 'spinners'. SSDs are new technology, and as such are suseptible to the problems typical of new technologies.

I considered an SSD as the best path to re-invigorating my 2 year old Notebook, despite the risks. I was still happy with my first gen Core i3 CPU and the rest of the hardware. It was just my 'dog' of a spinner hard drive that was making my system seem tired.
The SSD upgrade has proved to be an excellent choice – and this despite installing an 'older' Vertex 3 SSD with the now superceded Sandforce controller (plus the Vertex is somewhat 'strangled' by my mobo which is only SATA II capable) Claims that SSDs only enable faster startup times are not born out by my experience - Everything happens so much faster, including launching of programs, etc.

As far as I'm concerned, there is no way I would ever return to using a 'spinner' hard drive! – it's just too retrograde a step - if my SSD fails – I will simply replace it with a new one! That's my opinion of them!

 

if you are on Linux there are a couple of tweaks you can do to make sure your SSD is tweaked correctly; editing your fstab file and making sure your IO scheduler is set to Deadline.

here's a vid on how to do it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXbkoFSHoy0

 

Had an Acer Aspire One ZG5 from Craigslist. As soon as I re-installed Windows, I noticed that there were bad blocks that prevented me from adding new data, at least in FAT32. Didn't try NTFS since it was an 8 GB generic SSD, so I tried out Linux instead, because I knew the filesystem will spread out files across the drive. Worked out fine, albeit slowly, for 2 years until a stupid mistake broke it.

Now I've been using the Transcend 128 GB SSD of my MSI GT70 0NC for half a year. Recently I noticed that some programs start up later than others (everything's fine after boot), and the speed (especially write) is lacklustre compared to what MSI claims (yet still twice as fast as my hard drive). Both appear to be software related, but I'm too lazy to troubleshoot those minor issues. Overall, I like to put the operating system and programs in the SSD and data in the HDD.

 

Hi All

I purchased an MSI i7, 16GB RAM, with 2 x Vertex Plus 120GD SSDs in RAID 1 configuration, 17" HD laptop in October of 2011. Within a few days of purchase I started to receive Consistency check error messages on boot up. I did not think much about it at the time and just the consistency check routine do its thing. Sometimes it indicated drive C: required the check, sometimes it was drive E:

This went on for some months, until one time the laptop would not boot and I had to go in to recovery mode and boot from last known good configuration. All was then good - for a day or two before the consistency errors returned, but the laptop still functioned. About this point, I took in to the store from where purchased and asked them to fix it. They claimed to have run an over night diagnostic test on the two SSDs and come up without error. So, they just re-imaged the primary drive which replicated to the second drive.

The laptop was collected and function OK for a week or so until the consistency errors returned. I lived with them for a few months until one day the laptop would not boot at all. Back to the store it went, where they said that my profile had corrupted. Laptop was then re-imaged once again.

Laptop functioned OK for a week or so before the consistency check errors returned. Back to the store it went, this time the store tested the drives again and said that the primary drive (C, had failed the hardware diagnostic and would be replaced under warranty. They gave me a choice of replacement between an Intel or a Kingston SSD of the same capacity. I took the Intel drive.

Since then, I have been having recurring consistency checks on the remaining Vertex SSD. Not a single consistency check has occurred on the replacement Intel drive. Just a few days ago I took the laptop back for the fourth time to have the Vertex drive looked at. The store replaced it under warranty for an Intel drive. So far, no consistency checks at boot up - not a one.

At first, the guys at the store claimed that I had software corruption issues. However, after the drives started failing the hardware diagnostic, they seemed to think that there may have been a chipset compatibility issue between the laptop and the Vertex drives. I don't know what to believe anymore. That said, as the problem has now gone and it only the replacement of the drives under warranty was the cure, I am going to see if I can get refund on the monies spent on getting the re-images done the first two times around when the problem should have been identified as a hardware problem at that time and fixed under warranty.

The moral of my story as far as I am concerned, is don't use Vertex drives, stick to Intel.

 

I always think of OCZ as low-cost "gamerz" hardware.

 

Not me. OCZ is a quality brand - making excellent RAM and quality PSUs, for example. They did, however, grow a bit too fast for themselves and quality control suffered a bit. But they have new leadership now, and have narrowed their focus to fewer, but higher quality products.

Here's a good Anandtech OCZ SSD Review that provides some good insight to company's new philosophy. Note the Final Thoughts and the comparison to the most excellent Samsung 840 Pro.