[Intel 530] SMART Power Cycle Count: Meaning of Normalized/Worst Value?

[TYan3]

I understand that the raw value of the Power Cycle Count attribute in SMART data is used to record the number of power cycles. However, I can see the normalized and worst value is both 98, instead of the usual value 100 used when it's meaningless or to indicate things are still "perfect". So does it mean anything? For example, does it indicate that I have "consumed" 2% of estimated maximum power cycle allowed? Or is it just fixed to 98 for no reason?

ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAMEFLAGVALUEWORSTTHRESHTYPEUPDATEDWHEN_FAILEDRAW_VALUE5Reallocated_Sector_Ct0x00321001000Old_ageAlways-09Power_On_Hours_and_Msec0x00321001000Old_ageAlways-3935h+17m+43.170s12Power_Cycle_Count0x003298980Old_ageAlways-3012170Available_Reservd_Space0x003310010010Pre-failAlways-0171Program_Fail_Count0x00321001000Old_ageAlways-0172Erase_Fail_Count0x00321001000Old_ageAlways-0174Unexpect_Power_Loss_Ct0x00321001000Old_ageAlways-101183SATA_Downshift_Count0x00321001000Old_ageAlways-11184End-to-End_Error0x003310010090Pre-failAlways-0187Uncorrectable_Error_Cnt0x00321001000Old_ageAlways-0190Airflow_Temperature_Cel0x003226560Old_ageAlways-26 (Min/Max 15/56)192Power-Off_Retract_Count0x00321001000Old_ageAlways-101199UDMA_CRC_Error_Count0x00321001000Old_ageAlways-0225Host_Writes_32MiB0x00321001000Old_age<...

[jbenavides]

Hello Tom Yan,

For the SMART Attribute "Power Cycle Count" the main indicator is the raw value, since it reports the cumulative number of power cycle events over the life of the device.

As you suggested, the Normalized value may not be relevant, however, here are some aspects to consider about this:

- The description and details for the SMART values of the Intel® SSD 530 Series can be found in the Product Specifications document:

http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-specifications/ssd-530-sata-spec... http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-specifications/ssd-530-sata-spec...

- Keep in mind that Smartmontools (Smartctl) is a 3rd party software and the information may be displayed differently in other tools. For example, in the Intel® SSD Toolbox for Windows*, the values shown would be the following:

'ID' 'Description' 'Raw' 'Normalized' 'Threshold' 'Action'0C Power Cycle Count6751000 Ready for use.

[TYan3]

Since you insist, I attached screenshots of the toolbox. As expected, it shows the same values at smartctl does.

As you can see, all the normalized value (except the documented one for temperature) is 100, only power cycle count has a value of 98.

I've already checked the spec pdf before I ask here. The normalized value of Power Cycle Count is not documented.

[TYan3]

Apparently it's not fixed. Since it has dropped to 97 now.

[jbenavides]

Hello Tom Yan,

We are checking about your inquiry and will let you know as soon as we have more information.

Please let us know how often is the SSD power cycled (ie: X times per day), and how much has the raw value increased since the last log you provided.