What the writer actually reported
Damnjanovic says he built his current PC in September 2020 and gave his old one to his partner. The machine handles web browsing, streaming and light Google Docs work. About a month after the handover, its original SATA SSD died. He thinks it was a 500GB Kingston.
He replaced it with the cheapest drive his local shop stocked, a 128GB Silicon Power A55 SATA SSD for a bit under $25. Windows went on in a few hours. The PC still runs the same Windows 10 installation, which his partner doesn't want to leave.
Six years on, his reported figures are:
- Free space: about 50GB remaining on the 128GB drive.
- Health: CrystalDiskInfo shows 92%.
- Reallocated sectors and bad blocks: both attributes still read 100, the best possible score.
- Total writes: about 8.4TB, which he says is small. His WD_BLACK SN850 boot drive has taken more than 50TB in roughly three and a half years.
- Endurance rating: 65TBW for this capacity.
The writer says he hasn't noticed errors or slowdowns. He also notes the A55 128GB still sells for a little over $30.
Why the 8.4TB figure matters most
The 65TBW rating is an endurance figure, not a countdown timer. Against it, 8.4TB of writes is a small fraction. That fits the writer's own explanation that his partner is "anything but a power user."
This is a light-write workload, and the drive probably wouldn't have fared as well in a machine doing constant downloads, video editing or heavy caching. Buyers should read the story as "light use is easy on a small SSD," not as "this model is bulletproof."
A 92% health reading and clean sector attributes are encouraging. They don't predict when a drive will fail. SSDs can fail suddenly, and the writer's own first drive died within a month of the handover. That is the best argument for keeping backups regardless of price.
What the manufacturer says
Silicon Power's product page lists the 2.5-inch A55 as a SATA III drive in a 7mm format. The 128GB model is rated at up to 460MB/s read and 360MB/s write. Those are maximums, and the company's own note says results vary with platform, software, interface and capacity.
Retailer-hosted product information is explicit that the A55 is a SATA III 2.5-inch SSD, not an NVMe drive. Check that your PC has a free 2.5-inch SATA bay and a spare SATA data and power connection before buying. Many laptops and desktops of the right age will, but newer thin-and-light machines often don't.
The drive carries a 3-year limited warranty. Silicon Power's wording says warranty coverage is based on either the TBW figure or the warranty period. A drive bought in 2020 is therefore well outside its warranty window. The writer's survivor is running on luck and light use, not coverage.
A caution on sustained writes
The related review is for the M.2 SATA version of the A55 128GB, so it isn't a measurement of the 2.5-inch drive in this story. ServeTheHome's 2020 review found sequential speeds under 500MB/s read and under 400MB/s write in AS SSD. It also found that a 64GB CrystalDiskMark test pushed writes well past the NAND buffer and dropped them to a very low range, under 70MB/s. ServeTheHome concluded the drive made sense as a boot or read-cache device at a low price, not as primary storage.
The same logic applies to the 2.5-inch model. Boot and light-use workloads rarely hit sustained writes. Large file copies, game installs and video work will be noticeably slower once the fast cache fills. The article's CrystalDiskMark claim of a "capable performer" is plausible for ordinary tasks, but the writer's benchmark figures weren't available in the material I reviewed.
The Windows 10 angle
The story takes it for granted that the PC still runs Windows 10. That deserves a flag. Microsoft's guidance says Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025. Per Microsoft's support page, PCs keep working, but technical assistance, feature updates and security updates stop. The consumer Extended Security Updates program runs through October 12, 2027 for eligible users. Otherwise Microsoft recommends upgrading to Windows 11 where the hardware qualifies, or replacing the device.
A cheap SSD can extend the useful life of old hardware. It does nothing for the security of an unsupported OS. If you revive an old PC with one of these drives, check whether it can run Windows 11, enroll in ESU if eligible, or consider a lightweight Linux distribution. The writer's own dual-boot suggestion is a reasonable route for older hardware.
Where a 128GB SATA drive makes sense
The writer suggests several uses. These are his suggestions, not tested outcomes:
- A boot drive for a home server or NAS built on a used business PC.
- A replacement for a hard drive in an older laptop or desktop.
- A retro gaming PC.
- A cheap Windows and Linux dual-boot setup.
- An external drive in a USB enclosure, for portable tools and Windows installers.
They are plausible for a small SATA drive, provided the OS, apps and data fit comfortably. Windows 10 plus a few apps can leave only about 50GB free on a 128GB drive. For an external rescue drive, make sure the enclosure supports 2.5-inch SATA and keep copies of anything important.
A quick buying checklist
- Match the connector. Confirm the PC takes 2.5-inch SATA, not M.2 NVMe. The 7mm height fits most laptop bays.
- Be honest about capacity. 128GB suits browsing and streaming. It is tight for modern games or large photo libraries.
- Expect cache-limited writes. Fine for booting, poor for big sustained copies.
- Back up. Don't treat a SMART health score as protection.
- Check the date. Windows 10 is out of support, so plan the OS path as well as the drive.
- Check current prices. Listings change, and the article's "a tad over $30" is only a snapshot.
What the story doesn't establish
Several claims need independent confirmation before anyone treats them as fact. These include the global memory shortage, SSD prices having "shot up to the stratosphere," and 600TBW being typical for 1TB drives. I didn't verify any of them here, and the writer's single drive says nothing about them.
The remark that Silicon Power "isn't the most trustworthy brand" is the writer's opinion. A single healthy sample doesn't prove the brand reliable either. The honest takeaway is narrower: for a small, low-write job, a cheap 128GB SATA drive can be a sensible stopgap that happens to last.
Bottom line
The story shows that the cheapest SSD can serve a light-use PC for years. It doesn't show that cheap SSDs are generally reliable. Use a small SATA drive for the right job, keep backups, and don't let a fast boot drive distract from an unsupported operating system.