Should I defrag my SSD just this once?

[Wickens]

I have a Samsung 840 EVO 120GB in my system right now, and it has quite a lot of fragmented files. Is it worth me defragging, despite the fact that it lowers the lifespan of the drive?

 

 

 

[Realist Peter Pan]

you don't defrag ssd's IT IS REALLY BAD FOR THEM! 

 

Edit: I'm just referring to writes to the ssd which is bad for it's life span. 

[loganryan99]

No. SSDs don't have to physically move (Like HDDs) to access different parts of the disk so  fragmentation doesn't affect performance much if at all.

Edited June 19, 2015 by Cat :^)

[Castdeath97]

NO

[Syntaxvgm]

No. Fragmentation is not much of a performance issues like it is on HDDs. 

[Wickens]

you don't defrag ssd's IT IS REALLY BAD FOR THEM! 

Oh, I know. It's very tempting though.

 

No. SSDs don't have to physically move (Like HDDs) to access different parts of the disk so  fragmentation doesn't affect performance much if at all.

So the fragmented files themselves aren't taking up 31GB? That's my issue - Not the performance loss (Which as you said, is none to a little) but the space they eat - If they do eat space.

[Dzzope]

you don't defrag ssd's IT IS REALLY BAD FOR THEM! 

That was when everyone thought ssd's had really really low write- life-span.. disproven by tests..

 

That said, it offers no benefits, however clear space does.

[Wickens]

That was when everyone thought ssd's had really really low write- life-span.. disproven by tests..

 

That said, it offers no benefits, however clear space does.

 

If you can link me to these tests, I might work up the balls to do it.

[Dzzope]

Oh, I know. It's very tempting though.

 

So the fragmented files themselves aren't taking up 31GB? That's my issue - Not the performance loss (Which as you said, is none to a little) but the space they eat - If they do eat space.

They use a little more space but so little it makes no impact.. it just means that there are 31 GB of fragmented files, not that the fragmentation is causing more space to be used.

[loganryan99]

Oh, I know. It's very tempting though.

 

So the fragmented files themselves aren't taking up 31GB? That's my issue - Not the performance loss (Which as you said, is none to a little) but the space they eat - If they do eat space.

No, fragmented files don't take up more space. Windows is just telling you the amount of fragmentation so you know how long defragmenting might take

[Sakkura]

you don't defrag ssd's IT IS REALLY BAD FOR THEM! 

 

It isn't really bad for them. Unless you do it hundreds of times.

[AlwaysFSX]

Oh, I know. It's very tempting though.

Go for it if you feel like killing your drive.

[Wickens]

No, fragmented files don't take up more space. Windows is just telling you the amount of fragmentation so you know how long defragmenting might take

 

 

They use a little more space but so little it makes no impact.. it just means that there are 31 GB of fragmented files, not that the fragmentation is causing more space to be used.

 

Fair enough then - So I might as well not bother and save myself the risk of a packed up SSD?

[Dzzope]

http://techreport.com/review/27909/the-ssd-endurance-experiment-theyre-all-dead

 

Basically the TLDR is, it will affect the life span.. But the life span (writes) is no-where near as short or performance impacting as anyone thought.

 

The first drive to "fail" was an Intel... but that was a software managed retirement.. at 700TB written..

It took them 9 months of constant writes to get there.. other drives did much better..

 

basically, you WILL replace your drive before it dies..

 

Especially if your not running a server or something on it with constant writes.

[Mighty_Miro_WD]

Hi there @Wickens!

 

You don't need and don't want to defrag a SSD because it wouldn't make your access faster, nor your speed, and it will decrease the lifespan of the drive. Since there's no physical movement in the SSD the defragging is just causing a significant number of writes for no reason, which decreases its lifespan as that is set by the number of writes per cell.

 

Cheers!

[Syntaxvgm]

http://techreport.com/review/27909/the-ssd-endurance-experiment-theyre-all-dead

 

Basically the TLDR is, it will affect the life span.. But the life span (writes) is no-where near as short or performance impacting as anyone thought.

I actually sometimes  defrag SSDs for a few specific reasons, but by imagine it to another drive first, then back. Probably worse, but it allows me to say I don't defrag SSDs . 

[Dzzope]

I actually sometimes  defrag SSDs for a few specific reasons, but by imagine it to another drive first, then back. Probably worse, but it allows me to say I don't defrag SSDs . 

You'd be better off de-fragging... Not that defragging affects it's performance.. used space however does affect performance, you want to keep it as low as possible.. but even then your looking at maybe 20% decreased performance from empty to 90% full.. it's not that much real-world impact.

[Syntaxvgm]

You'd be better off de-fragging... Not that defragging affects it's performance.. used space however does affect performance, you want to keep it as low as possible.. but even then your looking at maybe 20% decreased performance from empty to 90% full.. it's not that much real-world impact.

It's more for moving partitions from larger drives onto smaller ones anyway.