Using the same memory chip, but why is the RAM “immortal” and the SSD always predicting the “glacial” date?

We invite you to solve the mystery of why RAM and SSD use the same memory chip, but SSD has a long life and RAM is almost “immortal”.

At a glance, SSD and RAM are quite similar. They are both equipped with memory chips used to store data on the board (PCB), and they are both “solid” because both have no moving parts. So why does data storage on SSDs wear out over the years, while RAM never hears a story about longevity? We invite you to find out why in this article.

First, let’s see what the inside of the SSD actually looks like. SSDs use transistors called “floating gates” to store each bit (value 0 or 1). In simple terms, inside this transistor there will be an insulating layer that the circuit in the SSD will have to push electrons through. This separator traps the electrons and creates an electric charge. The number of trapped electrons determines whether the transistor is displaying a value of 0 or 1.

To change the bit and switch the transistor to the other state, the electron will be ejected from the separator. Overall, this is a very useful design, because the way electrons are stored inside the transistor will help the SSD store the data it is holding even when the power is turned off; Not that all data in your computer will be lost every time the power is turned off.

However, its disadvantage is that forcing electrons to flow through the separator with high voltage will cause the transistor to wear out over time. Over time, it will wear out to the point of electron leakage, and data will be lost. However, before this happens, the SSD’s controller will revert the hard drive to read-only state; This means you won’t be able to write more data to the SSD, but you can still get data out of it.

RAM is a different story guys. RAM doesn’t wear out in the same way an SSD does. The reason here is that instead of using a “floating gate” transistor, RAM will essentially use a capacitor. Their job is to keep or not hold an internal charge, equivalent to a value of 0 or 1. In short, these capacitors will be tiny versions of the cylindrical capacitors you see in power supplies or on the motherboard. This means that they will need to be continuously powered to function, and if the power goes out, these capacitors will no longer be able to hold a charge. This is why RAM is called volatile memory, and when the computer is turned off, the data on RAM will be wiped clean.

The advantage of volatile memory is that because they have no separator inside the capacitor, there is almost no wear and tear here, thereby helping RAM to last much longer than SSDs. This also explains why many RAM kits come with a lifetime warranty, while SSDs probably never have.

You do not need to worry too much about the life of the SSD memory chip

However, it should be noted that while SSDs have a certain lifespan, you don’t necessarily have to worry about the SSD memory chip you’re using wears out. Most SSDs these days are designed to withstand very large reads/writes, not to mention they are also equipped with a feature called “wear leveling”.

This feature allows the SSD controller to distribute read/write data evenly to all “cells” in the SSD memory chip, instead of focusing only on reading/writing to certain “cells” from year to year. month and make them fail faster than the rest of the “cells”. Chances are, you’ll build a new PC or replace the SSD with a larger capacity or faster speed before the SSD you’re using dies.

RAM can still be damaged for other reasons

As for RAM, although the data storage modules will be less worn through read / write, they still have the ability to “sleep” rather than be immortal. Other than that, the cause of RAM failure will stem from other reasons, such as overheating, short-circuiting, etc.

Hope the above information will help you discover new things about the world of technology. If you have any suggestions or additions, please share them with us in the comments section below. Thank you for your interest in this article.

Source Techquickie compiled GVN360