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SLC/MLC/TLC/QLC refers to the number of bits that can be stored in a cell of memory. SLC could store 1 bit per cell (2 states), MLC could store 2 bits per cell (4 states), TLC could store 3 bits per cell (8 states), QLC can store 4 bits per cell (16 states). So as you can store more bits in a cell, the density of the SSD increases, and you can fit more data in the cells on a chip (or use fewer cells) to provide more storage.
The downside of the increased density of a QLC cell is that it generally has lower endurance ratings. The individual cell can only be written to/erased a certain number of times before the cells begin to fail. QLC typically fail "faster" than TLC, MLC, and SLC cells. The 450 TBW rating means that the drive should perform until ~ 450 TB of data has been written to the drive. (Or you've filled this 2 TB drive roughly 225 times over)
450 TBW endurance is the lowest I have ever seen on a 2TB drive. Probably good for game storage or video storage.
450 TBW / 5 year warranty (~1827 days) = 246 GB Writes per day, or 0.123 Drive Writes Per Day.
This is going to be fine for most storage solutions. People who are doing video editing with frequent write/erase cycles will choose a better drive.
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from SeriousShape6997
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Pardon my ignorance, what does this mean?
SLC/MLC/TLC/QLC refers to the number of bits that can be stored in a cell of memory. SLC could store 1 bit per cell (2 states), MLC could store 2 bits per cell (4 states), TLC could store 3 bits per cell (8 states), QLC can store 4 bits per cell (16 states). So as you can store more bits in a cell, the density of the SSD increases, and you can fit more data in the cells on a chip (or use fewer cells) to provide more storage.
The downside of the increased density of a QLC cell is that it generally has lower endurance ratings. The individual cell can only be written to/erased a certain number of times before the cells begin to fail. QLC typically fail "faster" than TLC, MLC, and SLC cells. The 450 TBW rating means that the drive should perform until ~ 450 TB of data has been written to the drive. (Or you've filled this 2 TB drive roughly 225 times over)
SLC/MLC/TLC/QLC refers to the number of bits that can be stored in a cell of memory. SLC could store 1 bit per cell (2 states), MLC could store 2 bits per cell (4 states), TLC could store 3 bits per cell (8 states), QLC can store 4 bits per cell (16 states). So as you can store more bits in a cell, the density of the SSD increases, and you can fit more data in the cells on a chip (or use fewer cells) to provide more storage.
The downside of the increased density of a QLC cell is that it generally has lower endurance ratings. The individual cell can only be written to/erased a certain number of times before the cells begin to fail. QLC typically fail "faster" than TLC, MLC, and SLC cells. The 450 TBW rating means that the drive should perform until ~ 450 TB of data has been written to the drive. (Or you've filled this 2 TB drive roughly 225 times over)
Tbw is just warranty,Samsung test well over spec.
And a ymtc tlc may last poorly against a qlc Samsung or micron
Last edited by megablank July 17, 2025 at 12:12 PM.
Would this be a good bet for a cache storage on a NAS device? I've got a 1tb Samsung one on the way, but wondering if this is a better deal
A cache drive will get far more writes than the storage drives. Depends on how much you are using the NAS and how often reads miss the cache. But if the NAS is just to host videos for a household it's a light workload, and if the cache drive dies you don't have any data loss so it's not the end of the world
SLC/MLC/TLC/QLC refers to the number of bits that can be stored in a cell of memory. SLC could store 1 bit per cell (2 states), MLC could store 2 bits per cell (4 states), TLC could store 3 bits per cell (8 states), QLC can store 4 bits per cell (16 states). So as you can store more bits in a cell, the density of the SSD increases, and you can fit more data in the cells on a chip (or use fewer cells) to provide more storage.
The downside of the increased density of a QLC cell is that it generally has lower endurance ratings. The individual cell can only be written to/erased a certain number of times before the cells begin to fail. QLC typically fail "faster" than TLC, MLC, and SLC cells. The 450 TBW rating means that the drive should perform until ~ 450 TB of data has been written to the drive. (Or you've filled this 2 TB drive roughly 225 times over)
What people don't mention, or don't know, is that there is no difference between QLC, TLC, or SLC if you just partition the drive to be the smaller size. Want an SLC drive? Buy a DRAMless QLC and partition it to be 25% of the rated size, and make sure TRIM is enabled, and it will use the entire drive as an SLC cache, with greatly improved speed and longevity.
What people don't mention, or don't know, is that there is no difference between QLC, TLC, or SLC if you just partition the drive to be the smaller size. Want an SLC drive? Buy a DRAMless QLC and partition it to be 25% of the rated size, and make sure TRIM is enabled, and it will use the entire drive as an SLC cache, with greatly improved speed and longevity.
That's because only a very small number of drives actually behave in a way close to what you describe. Most drives empty their pSLC cache as soon as they have some idle time. However, there are a few that won't start to empty it until it reaches a certain fill level. On the drives I've seen behave this way, it's somewhere around 4/5 full (at least when the drive didn't already contain any data).
Basically, you can come close to the behavior you described on such a drive, assuming it uses the largest possible dynamic or hybrid pSLC cache. The only drives I've seen act like this are some of the lowest end DRAM-less SMI 2259XT-based SATA drives (which are ones I generally suggest avoiding). Even on those drives, you wouldn't be able to fill it more than 25% for ones with TLC NAND or 20% for those with QLC. This hardly seems worthwhile.
Considering this is such an uncommon behavior and provides such limited benefit, I don't think it's usually worth mentioning. The drive in this deal uses a Phison controller and almost certainly will not act this way. Most of the Phison-powered drives I've seen use a small, static pSLC cache. On this one, I wouldn't expect it to be much more than 30-50GB.
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I still remember being 13yo and shoplifting a 512mb flash drive that was retailing at $100. It's amazing how far we've come — including myself, an adult that hasn't shoplifted since I snagged that flash drive because I was afraid the police would show up at my house to arrest me for WEEKS 😂
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The downside of the increased density of a QLC cell is that it generally has lower endurance ratings. The individual cell can only be written to/erased a certain number of times before the cells begin to fail. QLC typically fail "faster" than TLC, MLC, and SLC cells. The 450 TBW rating means that the drive should perform until ~ 450 TB of data has been written to the drive. (Or you've filled this 2 TB drive roughly 225 times over)
QLC
No DRAM
And it has been in the low $80s in the past.
I really wish people would include the stats in these "deals."
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This is going to be fine for most storage solutions. People who are doing video editing with frequent write/erase cycles will choose a better drive.
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The downside of the increased density of a QLC cell is that it generally has lower endurance ratings. The individual cell can only be written to/erased a certain number of times before the cells begin to fail. QLC typically fail "faster" than TLC, MLC, and SLC cells. The 450 TBW rating means that the drive should perform until ~ 450 TB of data has been written to the drive. (Or you've filled this 2 TB drive roughly 225 times over)
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The downside of the increased density of a QLC cell is that it generally has lower endurance ratings. The individual cell can only be written to/erased a certain number of times before the cells begin to fail. QLC typically fail "faster" than TLC, MLC, and SLC cells. The 450 TBW rating means that the drive should perform until ~ 450 TB of data has been written to the drive. (Or you've filled this 2 TB drive roughly 225 times over)
And a ymtc tlc may last poorly against a qlc Samsung or micron
And a ymtc tlc may last poorly against a qlc Samsung or micron
The downside of the increased density of a QLC cell is that it generally has lower endurance ratings. The individual cell can only be written to/erased a certain number of times before the cells begin to fail. QLC typically fail "faster" than TLC, MLC, and SLC cells. The 450 TBW rating means that the drive should perform until ~ 450 TB of data has been written to the drive. (Or you've filled this 2 TB drive roughly 225 times over)
Basically, you can come close to the behavior you described on such a drive, assuming it uses the largest possible dynamic or hybrid pSLC cache. The only drives I've seen act like this are some of the lowest end DRAM-less SMI 2259XT-based SATA drives (which are ones I generally suggest avoiding). Even on those drives, you wouldn't be able to fill it more than 25% for ones with TLC NAND or 20% for those with QLC. This hardly seems worthwhile.
Considering this is such an uncommon behavior and provides such limited benefit, I don't think it's usually worth mentioning. The drive in this deal uses a Phison controller and almost certainly will not act this way. Most of the Phison-powered drives I've seen use a small, static pSLC cache. On this one, I wouldn't expect it to be much more than 30-50GB.
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