Should You Defragment an SSD? What Windows Does and Why
Windows says Optimize, old advice says never defrag an SSD, and Microsoft's docs say it happens monthly. Here is how those fit together.
performance
7 articles.
Does an NVMe SSD Need a Heatsink? How Thermal Throttling Works
An NVMe drive slows itself when it gets hot, by design. What sets the limit, what a heatsink changes, and how to tell if yours has ever throttled.
Why a Full SSD Gets Slow, and Stays Slow
Filling an SSD does more than shrink its write cache. It makes garbage collection expensive, and that slowdown does not end when the copy does.
What the Symbols on a microSD Card Actually Guarantee
C10, U3, V30, A2 and a big number on the front. Three of those say the same thing, one is a ceiling rather than a floor, and one needs your device's permission.
TLC vs QLC: What Four Bits Per Cell Actually Costs
Two drives, same capacity, same headline write speed, different flash. What changes is sustained write, cold-read speed, and what the datasheet omits.
Why Your External Drive Transfers Slowly
A transfer runs at the speed of its slowest link. How to find which link is yours: the cable, the port, the other end, or the drive.
Why Your SSD Slows Down Copying Large Files
The write speed on the box is a cache speed, not a sustained one. Here's what determines how long it lasts, and why a fuller drive runs out sooner.
