[SOLVED] SSD Endurance, PS5 ready, heatsink, m.2 form factor, pci, secondary storages, and storage suggestions?

[UKTone]

1. Should SSD Endurance be a factor for you when looking for an SSD?
2. PS5 ready ssds vs their regular version, which is better in a pc? Any difference than the heatsink? Is it harder to put it in a pc (m.2 just takes a screw)?
3. What is a heat sink for?
4. Does the m.2 form factor matter? Which is the latest?
5. What is pci e gen 4x4, and gen 4x1 (assuming gen 3x4 is essentially obsolete)? Which is better?
6. SSDs are becoming cheaper, should they now, i was thinking, maybe have an ssd for the os, second ssd for my most used programs/slow to open programs/games, and for third a fast hdd mainly for storage and try to make it so most things write to it rather than the ssds. How can i make it so most things write to the hdd instead of the ssd to try to make it last as long as possible? Is this a good idea?
7. What are some storage suggestions (preferably using best buy as the store)?

 

[USAFRet]

1. Not anymore. Any reasonable quality SSD will last years.

3. Some drives run pretty hot. A heat sink is to dissipate that.

5. PCIe 3.0 x 4 is NOT obsolete. Samsung 970 EVO comes to mind.

6. One drive for OS and applications, another for other things (games, personal data). Or, one large drive for everything.

7. This depends on the rest of the system, use, and budget.

 

[kanewolf]

1. Should SSD Endurance be a factor for you when looking for an SSD?
2. PS5 ready ssds vs their regular version, which is better in a pc? Any difference than the heatsink? Is it harder to put it in a pc (m.2 just takes a screw)?
3. What is a heat sink for?
4. Does the m.2 form factor matter? Which is the latest?
5. What is pci e gen 4x4, and gen 4x1 (assuming gen 3x4 is essentially obsolete)? Which is better?
6. SSDs are becoming cheaper, should they now, i was thinking, maybe have an ssd for the os, second ssd for my most used programs/slow to open programs/games, and for third a fast hdd mainly for storage and try to make it so most things write to it rather than the ssds. How can i make it so most things write to the hdd instead of the ssd to try to make it last as long as possible? Is this a good idea?
7. What are some storage suggestions (preferably using best buy as the store)?

#1 for 99.99% of users, no. A drive can fail at any time. You need to be prepared for that to happen with appropriate backups. Write endurance is a warranty feature. But 600TB written or 1000TB written will not happen in a typical 5 year warranty period. Write endurance is a non-issue, IMO.
#3 Most heatsinks are for looks and to make users "feel better" that they are lowering the temps. Again, a non-issue for most people.
#4 The M.2 form factor only matters to home users if there is a desire for an NVMe drive instead of SATA.
#5 Gen4 with four interface lanes, of Gen4 with one interface lane. Gen3 is not obsolete. You will see benchmark differences, but no real world differences between Gen3 and Gen4