Choosing between 2 used Intel G2 SSDs

[JTravers]

I was hoping someone could help me with a decision I have to make.

I have a chance to get a used Intel 160GB G2 SSD from a friend. I have to choose between 2 drives, however. One has about 4TB of host writes and a reallocated sector count of 60. The other drive has around 30TB (yes, 30, that's not a typo) of host writes and a reallocated sector count of 20.

I'm leaning towards the 30TB host writes drive since the reallocated sector count is so much lower. But the 4TB host write drive might be easier to get warranty coverage on through Intel if anything goes wrong in the future.

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions on this.

Thanks for your help!

 

[FishAk]

30TB (yes, 30, that's not a typo)

I would definitely go with the one that can absorb 30 terabytes of anything- even errors!

 

[JTravers]

I would definitely go with the one that can absorb 30 terabytes of anything- even errors!

Those NAND cells are definitely well tested.

But are they closer to end of life? And will Intel's warranty still be valid considering that they've stated a drive's expected life is about 20GB of Host Writes per day x 5 yrs = ~36TB of Host Writes?

Of course, the more than twice as many reallocated sectors on the 4TB Host Write drive is a bit troubling. Is that normal?

 

[Voo]

Of course, the more than twice as many reallocated sectors on the 4TB Host Write drive is a bit troubling. Is that normal?

My own 160gb drive has almost 4.5TB host writes and a reallocation count of 0.

But Sample size = 1 and even 60 reallocated sectors are only 240kb, which doesn't sound that problematic.
On the other hand Intels estimate for host writes is extremely conventional (and that's even though I'm almost certain Intel say 100gb/day and not just 20) so 30tb aren't that worrying either.


Probably both drives will be perfectly fine, so uhm.. take the cheaper one?

 

[JTravers]

Probably both drives will be perfectly fine, so uhm.. take the cheaper one?

They're the same price :hmm:

 

[razel]

I was hoping someone could help me with a decision I have to make.

I have a chance to get a used Intel 160GB G2 SSD from a friend. I have to choose between 2 drives, however. One has about 4TB of host writes and a reallocated sector count of 60. The other drive has around 30TB (yes, 30, that's not a typo) of host writes and a reallocated sector count of 20.

Check the PDF readme that goes with the Intel Toolbox, it'll tell you how to read the reallocated sector count. IIRC, it's might be different from G1 vs G2. I think the G1 counts down... meaning the lesser number, the worst it is, which actually makes sense for what you're seeing, but double check the PDF for your G2, I'm too lazy to dig it up for ya

 

[JTravers]

Check the PDF readme that goes with the Intel Toolbox, it'll tell you how to read the reallocated sector count. IIRC, it's might be different from G1 vs G2. I think the G1 counts down... meaning the lesser number, the worst it is, which actually makes sense for what you're seeing, but double check the PDF for your G2, I'm too lazy to dig it up for ya

I think you may be talking about the Media Wearout Indicator. That counts down from 100 for both the G1 and G2 drives. According to the Toolbox PDF Manual, the reallocated sector count should be multiplied by 4 for the G1 to calculate the number of retired blocks (not sectors) on the drive, while for the G2 the reallocated sector count maps 1:1 to the number of blocks retired.

Thanks for making me look that stuff up. There's lots of good information in that manual.

 

[razel]

No problem... good thing I mentioned to double check. You helped refresh my aging memory.