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Questions tagged [lifespan]

81 questions
188
votes
15 answers

Is the performance of a CPU affected as it ages?

This is a hypothetical question about how a CPU operates. If I purchase two identical CPUs, and use one long term (say one year), will it be identical in speed to the unused CPU? Will the number of clock cycles, latency of requests, etc on the used…
Ben Simpson
  • 451
90
votes
10 answers

Does vertical position affect the lifespan or integrity of a hard drive?

I've noticed on many small PC cases that the hard drives are installed vertically. In midi cases, towers and others of a larger housing, they are in the horizontal position. What impact on a hard drive does a vertical position have? Does it affect…
yoosiba
  • 1,077
65
votes
5 answers

**How** harmful is a hard disk spin cycle?

It is conventional wisdom¹ that each time you spin a hard disk down and back up, you shave some time off its life expectancy. The topic has been discussed before: Is turning off hard disks harmful? What's the effect of standby (spindown) mode on…
Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
  • 72,151
50
votes
19 answers

Is it still necessary to shut down computers?

Nowadays with our modern operating systems, is it necessary to fully shutdown computers instead of choosing to stand-by or hibernate computers (desktops and laptops)? Would there be any side-effects of keeping a computer running continuously without…
JFW
  • 2,464
43
votes
9 answers

What happens when an SSD wears out?

Since SSDs are still fairly new, there isn't a history of posts saying "I reached my writes limit on 10% of my SSD... – and here is what happened (I.e. I lost 3 directories of work files. The entire drive just died...). Maybe it starts churning as…
Ken Roberts
  • 431
33
votes
1 answer

What is the lifespan of DVD and Blu-ray discs?

Given that they are protected from light, humidity and excessive heat & cold, what is the lifespan range of DVD and Blu-ray discs?
Mehper C. Palavuzlar
  • 55,953
28
votes
4 answers

Is there any way to find the remaining life on a SD card?

For SSDs we have a variety of programs that read their remaining life. I'm looking for the same thing for memory cards in a situation where they get a lot of writes. Google is not only not returning any answers but not even anybody asking the…
Loren Pechtel
  • 2,694
24
votes
2 answers

How to prevent programs (e.g. Process Monitor) from killing my SSD in 2 weeks?

I just got my first SSD - Intel 320 Series 120GB yesterday. And I have SSDLife monitoring in the background. I have TRIM enabled. After I have installed all software, and did some basic testings. SSDLife said "Total Data written, GB" = 52.1 (40GB…
user68795
23
votes
2 answers

Is it okay to have 100% CPU usage constantly?

I often do 3D rendering in the background which consumes 100% of the CPU (I lower the priority of the process so that it does not hinder any tasks I am working on). My concern/question is whether it is okay to run a computer/laptop with a 100% CPU…
kaivalya
  • 233
20
votes
2 answers

Lifespan of an SSD (NAND Flash) for minimal write use archive purposes: Write once, toss in (proverbial or literal) storage closet

Okay, so I saw this other question which was closed as being too localized and I understand the idea of that closure: Systems, environments and usage are all different. But my question is about using SSD for minimal write use, archival purposes.…
Giacomo1968
  • 58,727
17
votes
6 answers

How much "Load_cycle_count" can my hard drive hypotethically sustain?

I'm using S.M.A.R.T. to check my hard drives, I recently purchased a used WD Caviar Blue 2.5" and I've noticed that the Load_Cycle_Count has already exceeded the 300k mark, which is the maximum that the company Western Digital says it can…
Computer's Guy
  • 331
16
votes
4 answers

How many times can data be read from a USB flash drive?

While I am aware that performing writes on a USB flash drive degrades the life expectancy of the device. I have heard the quantity of writes is anywhere from 100 thousand to 10 million, but I have not heard about number of read operations. Does…
John
  • 163
16
votes
5 answers

How long will a CPU last running 24/7

I have a Ryzen 1700X (got it on launch), running on my main Linux machine, with other components that are on par with it. During the day when the computer is on and I'm not using it, I like to run BOINC client on it, which maximizes all 16 threads…
Nick Bailuc
  • 397
13
votes
2 answers

How much longer of a lifespan do TLC SSDs have compared to QLC SSDs?

I've come across several articles stating TLC SSDs have better reliability and longer lifespan than QLC SSDs. However, they don't specify how much more reliable they are. I'm aware the real-world lifespan of an SSD is dependent on many factors, but…
Stevoisiak
  • 16,075
13
votes
5 answers

How to extend battery lifespan / not charge to 100%

In the internet I found a lot of threads about Windows settings about making the battery last longer before you need to re-charge is. But this is about how to increase the battery lifespan. Also there are a lot of threads with settings about windows…
Thorsten Niehues
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