Endurance (TBW)
Total Bytes Written — the cumulative write volume an SSD is rated to survive under warranty. A 1 TB consumer drive typically rates 600–1,200 TBW.
SSDs wear with writes. Each NAND cell can be programmed/erased only so many times before it fails. TBW is the manufacturer's published total — past this number, the drive is out of warranty even if still functional.
Reading the number
- TLC 1 TB consumer: 600–1,200 TBW.
- QLC 1 TB consumer: 200–400 TBW.
- Enterprise / data-center SSDs: 3,000+ TBW per TB.
How fast do drives consume it?
A typical desktop user writes 5–20 GB per day — under 7 TB per year, less than 1% of a 600 TBW budget. Heavy users (video editors, developers compiling daily) may hit 50+ GB per day but still take 30+ years to wear out a 600 TBW drive.
In comparisons
TBW matters more for buyers running databases, surveillance, or constant video capture. For typical use, both TLC and QLC drives last well beyond the 5-year warranty window. Always check whether the warranty terminates on years OR TBW, whichever comes first.