How much wil NTFS decrease a lifespan of a USB flash drive?

Slobodan-888

Reputable
Jul 17, 2014
417
0
4,860
I need to copy files over 4 GB, so FAT32 is not suited for that. My drive is 16GB USB 2.0 Patriot (some older model, XT something).

So, if I use NTFS, how much more writes will it actually make on my drive compared to FAT32? I don't think it is a lot. What is a rough estimate, like 20% more?


Oh, and BTW, are there any USB 3.0 drives that are SSD-like? Meaning that they have controllers/firmware optimized for NTFS, that spread out the writes equally across all the memory cells.
 
Solution


Totally agree. I have Sandisk Extreme PRO and Corsair GTX - far from pocket money. Yes, USB 2.0 drives are cheaper now, but the hassle finding a good one (more or less fast and reliable) could be a headache, plus time to get to the store and etc.
I also have old Patriot 8GB USB 2.0, very reliable. I have no idea how GBs went through that drive, but it is working flawlessly for the past 5-7 years (or even...


It seems that you don't know what you are talking about.

NTFS has jurnaling, compared to FAT32, which means that it will write some data, before it actually starts to write a file. Also, when it reads, it will write some data too. This is what I know, but I don't know hom much more roughly does it write.
 


It was not that cheap when I bought it, it was the fastest write speed 16GB USB 2.0 drive at the time. It s a good drive.

I use Linux and Windows, and I need to move files between two computers with Linux and Windows. On Ubuntu exFAT is not directly supported.
 


Maybe it is pocket money for you, but not for everyone.
 


Totally agree. I have Sandisk Extreme PRO and Corsair GTX - far from pocket money. Yes, USB 2.0 drives are cheaper now, but the hassle finding a good one (more or less fast and reliable) could be a headache, plus time to get to the store and etc.
I also have old Patriot 8GB USB 2.0, very reliable. I have no idea how GBs went through that drive, but it is working flawlessly for the past 5-7 years (or even more), was formatted NTFS and ExFat.
Exfat a bit faster, but NTFS has more compatibility with certain TV attached USB playback devices.

The best solution to this thread is to have at least one more drive, just in case.
 
Solution