Question Would a gen4 ssd last longer than gen 3 in a gen 3 slot?

[geezer128]

Gen 4 SSDs are getting closer in price to gen 3s. I know gen 4 will work in a gen 3 slot(limited to gen 3 speed). But, since the SSD wouldn't be pushed to its limits, would it last longer than gen 3 which would be running at its max on my system?

 

[Nine Layer Nige]

SSD life really depends on total write TB's. If you are a heavy downloader or move a large amount of files around, then SSD lifespan will be lower than just "using" the SSD for normal PC work.
I have an old SSD bought in 2010 and is still reading 100% health and not even reached 50% of total write limit on a 160GB SSD that has 75TB total limit.
More modern SSDs tend to have higher total write TB's as they are larger and can provision better.
I would think that given the same max write TB, a gen 3 would last just as long as a gen 4 assuming the same memory type.

 

[SkyNetRising]

More modern SSDs tend to have higher total write TB's as they are larger and can provision better.

In fact - this is exactly opposite.
More modern SSDs will have lower write endurance (per capacity) than older models.
This comes from evolution of NAND chips used in SSDs.
Old SLC chips have the best endurance. Newer MLC, TLC have worse endurance. Newest QLC have it the worst.

 

[geofelt]

Not to worry about endurance.

The endurance of a ssd is related to the number and types of underlying nand chips.
With today's ssd capacities measured in terabytes, it is hard to imagine that a ssd in a desktop environment would ever run out of write capability.
Even if you did run out of writes, the read capability is still there, allowing you to copy the device to a fresh device.
It would take server level activity over 10 years to wear out a 1tb ssd.
By that time, the device would be obsolete.

 

[USAFRet]

But, since the SSD wouldn't be pushed to its limits, would it last longer than gen 3 which would be running at its max on my system?

No.
Has no relevance to lifespan of the SSD.

And really has no relevance to the lifespan of the singular device that YOU have.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Flash wear depends on the amount of data you write to it. It doesn't matter how fast that data is written.

But I guess if you wanted to be pedantic, sure, the SSD running over PCIe 3.0 would technically last longer if you wrote the maximum TBW at once.

 

[Viking2121]

At most it'll do is run cooler, won't have any impact on life what so ever, I guess the potential to last a little longer due to it running cooler but its mostly irrelevant.