Samsung 870 EVO 1 TB question

[zteph2000]

Hi guys !

I got a Samsung 870 EVO 1 TB SSD drive and have one question, do I have to activate "Over Provisioning" in Samsung Magician or not ?

What are the advantages of this function ?
Thanks for help

+ZtEpH2000

 

Edited January 22, 2023 by zteph2000

[Kalju]

You don't have to allocate this space, it's not mandatory, but you can.
Recommended for large drives and especially if you frequently store much a new content and remove at the same time much an older content.
What it gives?
Over-provisioning is a function that provides additional capacity specifically for data to be erased from an SSD, without interrupting system performance. The dedicated over-provisioning space may be adjusted to the user's preference, delivering benefits that include higher speed and longer SSD life.

Personally, I have not allowed it and do not use it, because I tested it and it did not justify itself in my case.

And I don't have only one of them (ie SSD-s), but many and different in every way. I have been used them for years and still without any kind of problems.

Remember, You have to make your own decision yourself and not ask from others! Also remember, that also the factory only recommends...

 

PS Make as few partitions as possible, never don't defragment and use the trim function regularly, also keep always at least 20%-25% free space on each partition. 

Don't wipe or shred files, use only simple delete and trim options.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Kalju

[zteph2000]

Any other experiences / opinions ?

[MasterFaster]

None of my SSDs has been configured with over provisioning.

 

What it is, though? For example, Samsung Magician resizes your partition, decreasing its size, and thus leaves a 10-20% unallocated space, which works as over provisioning space.

 

Solution:

1. Current SSDs already have (from the factory) a hidden space which they use for such purposes, (and this space you will never be able to see or use).

2. Always leave free space, about  a 10-20% of total real SSD space, for example a typical 1TB SSD has 930 GB real free space, thus you can always leave 93-100 GB of SSD space free and you will be more than fine.

 

Note: You can also use a partition manager tool, like AOMEI Partition Assistant and resize your partition, reduce it and leave about 10-20% unallocated space for over provisioning. In this case you can safely fill your main partition to its full capacity.

Edited January 24, 2023 by MasterFaster

[bigbrother]

I know it may not for for everyone, but I personally use Samsung Magician and always set the OP.

As Samsung claims it improves performance and extends the life of the drive.

 

More Info:

https://semiconductor.samsung.com/resources/others/Samsung_SSD_845DC_04_Over-provisioning.pdf

 

[cyberloner]

On 1/24/2023 at 7:25 AM, zteph2000 said:

Any other experiences / opinions ?

just simply use the drive until it dies......

[gandalf44]

On 1/23/2023 at 6:25 PM, zteph2000 said:

Any other experiences / opinions ?

I no longer over provision.  I just make sure that I have at least 5% free space on the drive

[MasterFaster]

As I already wrote above, my strategy is to always leave at least 10% free space (and not below 20GB).

[random]

On 1/24/2023 at 1:25 AM, zteph2000 said:

Any other experiences / opinions ?

It's not necessary. These SSDs already have some OP space by default, hidden from the user, to replace cells that might start dying.

However, if you want to prolong the life of the drive and to extract the most performance from it, either set the OP from Magician or just leave some GBs unpartitioned. SSDs work at top speed when they're not filled. Garbage collection also used unpartitioned space.

If you need the space simply extend the partition, and after you delete some game you finished, put back the OP, it takes like 10 secs.

It's likely that these modern SSD will last for decades and become unusable due to other reasons, not because the cells died, at least if your use case is "normal". If you write a LOT on them, like writing hundreds of GB of video every day, it's a different scenario. So if you want the OP set to extend lifetime, think about if you care the SSD will die in a decade or two.

[lurch234]

@zteph2000 

 

@random  Has the answer properly summarized. I already did my research on this. Something you should consider doing yourself when dealing with crucial components of your system.

Why not do it when it's recommended by Samsung anyways? But I have to agree that for normal use it's really not necessary. My first SSD after 2 yrs is at 96% of it's health with no OP.

But always with space to spare!

Like it was mentioned, SSDs work at top speed when not full. So using Samsung magician to set aside a hidden partition just for this is reason enough to do it.

[HotCakeX]

Maybe shrink the drive with disk management and leave ~20GB unallocated space so you will always have 20GB left.