5 months old SSD hot at 63º average and only 78% health

[qwak]

It's quite new (5 months) and wasn't so hot before. I just reset Windows and checked on different days so it's too hot always.

It is a SK hynix BC501 SSD that comes in a HP laptop that I got some months ago. Also, the health is only 78% when it should be 100%.

When I start the laptop in the morning it is at 30º and jumps to 65º in a minute.

EDIT: I got it refurbished from Amazon sold by Amazon and I run the tests on arrival and said the SSD had like 500GB usage and 30 hours on. I can send it to repair for free or refund, that's no problem, my concern is if I can still use it without risk of damage of other components until Amazon reopens the repair service which is suspended until COVID passes and so on. I am super happy with it for the great price (value 600€ but paid 380€) and don't want to return it. I also have a quite new EVO 860 in my older laptop that I can always use. The laptop is a HP 15-db0045ns.


Here go the screenshots. Any suggestion?

 

[xtreemchaos]

lappy ssds do get warmer than in a desktop but yours is on another level, my lappys gets to about 50c after a long day, id deff say theres something not right, id back up and be looking for another ssd but saying that its still saying the ssd good, its a tricky one bro. maybe a duff sensor.

 

[btarunr]

If a new SSD has 10 TB lifetime writes, then it's very likely a refurbished SSD. Whoever refurbished it thought flashing the user area or rewriting the firmware would do the trick (it doesn't reset SMART counters).

Here's my WD Black, which I popped out of its box and started using in January 2019. With my super heavy use that involves several game reinstalls, gigabytes of images, temporary files, etc., per weekday, I only managed to burn 12.8 TB into my drive.

So I'm fairly sure you've been punked. Return the drive.

 

[Assimilator]

Any suggestion?

10TB lifetime writes on a "quite new" drive is a dead giveaway that you've been scammed. Return it.

edit: bta beat me to it.

The fact that the drive is so hot likely means that the controller is working overtime, probably because it's reorganising blocks away from failing NAND cells due to all the writes. Regardless, it's a ticking time bomb. Return it.

 

[qwak]

lappy ssds do get warmer than in a desktop but yours is on another level, my lappys gets to about 50c after a long day, id deff say theres something not right, id back up and be looking for another ssd but saying that its still saying the ssd good, its a tricky one bro. maybe a duff sensor.

If a new SSD has 10 TB lifetime writes, then it's very likely a refurbished SSD. Whoever refurbished it thought flashing the user area or rewriting the firmware would do the trick (it doesn't reset SMART counters).

Here's my WD Black, which I popped out of its box and started using in January 2019. With my super heavy use that involves several game reinstalls, gigabytes of images, temporary files, etc., per weekday, I only managed to burn 12.8 TB into my drive.

View attachment 156108

So I'm fairly sure you've been punked. Return the drive.

10TB lifetime writes on a "quite new" drive is a dead giveaway that you've been scammed. Return it.

edit: bta beat me to it.

The fact that the drive is so hot likely means that the controller is working overtime, probably because it's reorganising blocks away from failing NAND cells due to all the writes. Regardless, it's a ticking time bomb. Return it.

Thanks a lot for the replies. I download huge amounts of data every day and actually I have it for 5 months already (just checked) and when I got it the tests showed no use and perfect state. So if the major concern is the abnormal 10TB, that's probably my usage.

For the rest, the temperature can be lowered somehow? Thanks a lot. (I attached new tests screenshots in the first post showing it's ok)

If a new SSD has 10 TB lifetime writes, then it's very likely a refurbished SSD. Whoever refurbished it thought flashing the user area or rewriting the firmware would do the trick (it doesn't reset SMART counters).

Here's my WD Black, which I popped out of its box and started using in January 2019. With my super heavy use that involves several game reinstalls, gigabytes of images, temporary files, etc., per weekday, I only managed to burn 12.8 TB into my drive.

View attachment 156108

So I'm fairly sure you've been punked. Return the drive.

Actually it was refurbished from Amazon indeed, sold by Amazon itself, and the question is that the price was so much chaeaper that I'm still very happy with it and will not be worth to return it as I hace another Samsung 860 Evo SSD from my older laptop which is fairly new too.

However, I run all these tests when I first received this laptop and it was fine temperature, 100% health and 500GB usage.

So, you say that someone did some trick to hide a much bigger usage with some software trick and now it's been revealed?

In any event, I can get the EVO from the older laptop but the problem is that this new one is closed, it has no access to the disk, meaning I'd need to take the risk of forcing it and try to replace it with my low knowledge and it is risky in many ways.

I am extremely happy with the laptop for the price I paid, my main concern is if it can stop working or I can go ahead with this temperature indefinetely.

THANKS!!

*EDIT: Actually... I only download around 10GB a day, which in 5 months means like 150 days x 10GB = 1500GB = 1,5TB... very far from the 10TB...

Do you know if there can be something downloading without my knowledge such as that bitcoin mining thing (I know nothing about it)

 

[Chrispy_]

If a new SSD has 10 TB lifetime writes, then it's very likely a refurbished SSD. Whoever refurbished it thought flashing the user area or rewriting the firmware would do the trick (it doesn't reset SMART counters).

Here's my WD Black, which I popped out of its box and started using in January 2019. With my super heavy use that involves several game reinstalls, gigabytes of images, temporary files, etc., per weekday, I only managed to burn 12.8 TB into my drive.

So I'm fairly sure you've been punked. Return the drive.

what's the endurance rating on your WD Black? Hopefully more than 10TB ;D

 

[btarunr]

what's the endurance rating on your WD Black? Hopefully more than 10TB ;D

300 TBW rated by WDC.

 

[mstenholm]

Do you know if there can be something downloading without my knowledge such as that bitcoin mining thing (I know nothing about it)

Girl friend/wife. Not mining, you would know with to constant 100% CPU/GPU load.

 

[Regeneration]

My primary workstation SSD has 10TB writes and been using it for 710 days.

 

[qwak]

Girl friend/wife. Not mining, you would know with to constant 100% CPU/GPU load.

Lol. Tak for det. Det er umuligt, jeg bor stadig med mine forældre

Please guys, is it dangerous to use it at 63º average or it's OK as long as it doesn't go over 70º? Should I try to change it for my EVO 860 or can I not bother with it by now?

THANKS

 

[TheLostSwede]

Lol. Tak for det. Det er umuligt, jeg bor stadig med mine forældre

Please guys, is it dangerous to use it at 63º average or it's OK as long as it doesn't go over 70º? Should I try to change it for my EVO 860 or can I not bother with it by now?

THANKS

The temperature isn't an issue, in fact, the NAND flash itself has better data retention at high speeds, as long as the drive gets to cool down before you power it off. So maybe invest in one of those ugly laptop coolers to leave it on for 10 minutes before you power off your notebook?
I suggest you read this article.

The Truth About SSD Data Retention

www.anandtech.com

That said, obviously the SSD controller will throttle at high temperatures, which means slower write speeds.

 

[qwak]

The temperature isn't an issue, in fact, the NAND flash itself has better data retention at high speeds, as long as the drive gets to cool down before you power it off. So maybe invest in one of those ugly laptop coolers to leave it on for 10 minutes before you power off your notebook?
I suggest you read this article.

The Truth About SSD Data Retention

www.anandtech.com

That said, obviously the SSD controller will throttle at high temperatures, which means slower write speeds.

Ok, so it's not dangerous I understand, just maybe lower performance, but I'm happy with it anyway.

Tack så mycket

*EDIT: Hey guys, sorry to ask again but I started downloading stuff and the temperature raised to 77º stable, that is dangerous, isn't it?

 

[Assimilator]

The Truth About SSD Data Retention

www.anandtech.com

Did you read that article? It's only applicable to drives that have reached their maximum amount of data written.

Ok, so it's not dangerous I understand, just maybe lower performance, but I'm happy with it anyway.

Tack så mycket

*EDIT: Hey guys, sorry to ask again but I started downloading stuff and the temperature raised to 77º stable, that is dangerous, isn't it?

Yes, SSDs are generally rated at up to 70º C. Replace the damn thing already unless you like losing your data.

 

[AsRock]

What does HDS say in the temp section ?, that might show how long this has been going on for ( daily and Average ), although you only have 32 days of info but still.

 

[qwak]

Did you read that article? It's only applicable to drives that have reached their maximum amount of data written.



Yes, SSDs are generally rated at up to 70º C. Replace the damn thing already unless you like losing your data.

But the only risk is losing my data or it can damage other components?

Because I really have no data to lose, all stuff is in the cloud, I just have videos and music and games.

My concern is mostly the risk of hurting other hardware components.

What does HDS say in the temp section ?, that might show how long this has been going on for ( daily and Average ), although you only have 32 days of info but still.

You mean this?

 

[Bill_Bright]

Your SSD temps are up there but I agree, are not, by themselves, your problem - not when your CPU is sitting at 51°C. That is, I don't believe your SSD temps are causing your problems. I think there is a problem with your SSD causing your high SSD temps.

I also agree it looks like you got ripped off. Note that is 10TB writes in just 32 days. With only 32 days, the health should easily still be at 100% too.

But the only risk is losing my data or it can damage other components?

Well, never say never. It is always possible the failure in one electronic device can result in a "cascade" event where the failed device takes out other connected devices. But probable? No.

It's quite new and wasn't so hot before.

How new?

 

[P4-630]

How new?

I have it for 5 months already (just checked) and when I got it the tests showed no use and perfect state. So if the major concern is the abnormal 10TB, that's probably my usage.

 

[Aquinus]

Thanks a lot for the replies. I download huge amounts of data every day and actually I have it for 5 months already (just checked) and when I got it the tests showed no use and perfect state. So if the major concern is the abnormal 10TB, that's probably my usage.

What in the world are you doing with the SSD where you're writing that much? Each of the 120GB SATA SSDs in my tower have >40,000 hours of on time, but only 14.2TB worth of writes each and you're saying that you've done that in just 5 months and that when you got it, everything was low?

Just for clarity, that's like writing about 60GB every single day for 5 months. That seems excessive under most situations.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you use this machine for?

 

[TheLostSwede]

Did you read that article? It's only applicable to drives that have reached their maximum amount of data written.

The write temperature is still correct though, no? The NAND flash doesn't take damage from high temperatures, unless you go beyond the rated temperature of the NAND itself. I think you skimmed that article a bit as well...

 

[newtekie1]

Thanks a lot for the replies. I download huge amounts of data every day and actually I have it for 5 months already (just checked) and when I got it the tests showed no use and perfect state. So if the major concern is the abnormal 10TB, that's probably my usage.

I think the health issue is related to the drive being almost full and you writing a lot to it. I assume you are downloading and deleting a lot of data. You have less than 25% of the drive free, which is going to drastically limit the controller's ability to wear level when writing to the drive. This means it is going to have to write to the same flash cells a lot more than a drive that isn't a full. So the small amount of cells that it can write to are going to wear out faster.

I also agree it looks like you got ripped off. Note that is 10TB writes in just 32 days. With only 32 days, the health should easily still be at 100% too.

Try reading some of his posts. He said when he got the drive it was in fact sold as refurbished, he check then and it was only 500GB written, he downloads a lot of data to the drive each day, he recently did a Windows refresh(which writes a ton of data to the drive), and power on cycles are 564 which means he's either hibernating or shutting down the laptop a lot and each time that's all the contents of RAM being written to the SSD.

 

[qwak]

What in the world are you doing with the SSD where you're writing that much? Each of the 120GB SATA SSDs in my tower have >40,000 hours of on time, but only 14.2TB worth of writes each and you're saying that you've done that in just 5 months and that when you got it, everything was low?

Just for clarity, that's like writing about 60GB every single day for 5 months. That seems excessive under most situations.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you use this machine for?

Sure, I explained this before. Something is not right. When I received from Amazon (refurbished) I run the HD tests and they said it had only like 500GB usage and something like 30 hours on.

I just use it for normal home and entertainment use, I download movies, games, etc, I watch a lot of youtube, sometimes Amazon Prime Video... not a big deal, and was estimating around 10 GB per day, which is certainly much higher than reality, maybe just 5 GB per day average, so my estimations must be totally short and wrong and it's not my own usage. That is why I wasked if there can be some sort of trick to hide the real usage that has come to light now for some reason, like tricking the kilometers counter of an old car. Is this possible?

So the question is that after a month or so I had to send it back to Amazon to repair because the touchpad and keyboard weren't working and they fixed it. Maybe they changed the SSD for an older one and I didn't notice. This laptop costs 600€ new and I paid only 380€ and I am super happy assuming that Amazon covers 2 years guarantee and they fixed it for free. Its very light, slim, fast.. so I take some defects. Additionally I happen to have an EVO 860 quite new too in my older laptop, so not much is lost if I have to replace it but Amazon told me they would fix this one too when the COVID thing passes and they resume working (everything is closed here for 2 months and a half).

Do you know if something other than bitcoins mining can be using my SSD without me noticing? My CPU temp is usually low around 45º-50º, but it's true that the fan runs too often for unknow reasons, and in that noise moment I always check the task manager and it's always normal at 40-50% RAM and normal CPU %, so it's kind of a mystery but maybe the CPU or motherboard are damaged too. It would be great to find out as Amazon still offers me repair and refund and still have 19 months guarantee.

MANY THANKS for your help to all of you!!

 

[Regeneration]

Bitcoin mining doesn't use 10TB of bandwidth. It is possible to fake SMART data.

Something is either wrong with the drive, or you just keep writing and delete data nonstop, or it was the Amazon people.

 

[GreiverBlade]

78% on a new SSD after 5 month is fishy ... even my 7yrs old 120gb OS drive is at 97% (26tb read 36tb write)

Something is either wrong with the drive, or you just keep writing and delete data nonstop.

very very verrrryyyy wrong imho

 

[qwak]

I think the health issue is related to the drive being almost full and you writing a lot to it. I assume you are downloading and deleting a lot of data. You have less than 25% of the drive free, which is going to drastically limit the controller's ability to wear level when writing to the drive. This means it is going to have to write to the same flash cells a lot more than a drive that isn't a full. So the small amount of cells that it can write to are going to wear out faster.



Try reading some of his posts. He said when he got the drive it was in fact sold as refurbished, he check then and it was only 500GB written, he downloads a lot of data to the drive each day, he recently did a Windows refresh(which writes a ton of data to the drive), and power on cycles are 564 which means he's either hibernating or shutting down the laptop a lot and each time that's all the contents of RAM being written to the SSD.

Exactly. Yes I always suspend it, every day a few times, always suspend by night and occasionally I hibernate or turn it off. So what of these options is better for the SSD preservation and the temperature problem? Suspending is just very practical but if it is causing damage I might turn it off. I any case a new SSD costs 50€ not a big deal, a bigger problem is opening the laptop for replacing it as it is a closed model...

And I have reinstalled Windows a few times from the pendrive as I had these previous touchpad/keyboard problems and wanted to try to fix it. It was not refreshing but fresh installs, lets say 3-4 times in 5 months. Does it make sense for the 10TB usage? Any other advice about SSD preservation? Should I delete all those movies and games and try to keep the SSD as empty as possible? How full maximum do you recommend? It's really no problem, I just have it full because I thought it was no problem but I can have it very empty without any problem, I keep videos for ages without watching them...

THANKS!!

 

[qwak]

Bitcoin mining doesn't use 10TB of bandwidth. It is possible to fake SMART data.

Something is either wrong with the drive, or you just keep writing and delete data nonstop, or it was the Amazon people.

This is the SMART data?

Since I always have uTorrent and eMule open, does uploading use hard my SSD? That could be the reason? I have no clue on how many GB or TB I have shared with other users. Could be millions. (But I don't do anything bad or ilegal or professional, just normal use at home, I always have those programs open and don't notice what the others download from me).