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4 июля, 2023

How We Test SSDs | PCMag


(Credit: Zlata Ivleva)

Upgrading your desktop or laptop to a solid-state storage solution—whether that’s a traditional 2.5-inch drive or a cutting-edge M.2 one—is a quick, often inexpensive way of adding some much-needed performance to an aging system. By installing a solid-state drive (SSD) in your desktop or laptop, you can drastically reduce the amount of time files, applications, and even operating systems take to load, install, or copy versus older platter-based hard drives. As long as you have the slots, ports, or bays necessary, the amount of movies, photos, and games you can shuttle onto or off of one machine is almost limitless.

To make sure you always get the best bang for your storage buck, we here at PC Labs have developed an exhaustive testing suite. A mix of industry-standard tests, «trace-based» measures (more on what that means in a moment), and home-cooked trials, it runs each drive we review through a series of real-world and synthetic scenarios to help us determine which drives are the fastest, which are the slowest, and who falls in between.

Mind you, with SSDs, speed isn’t everything. We also evaluate drives on the basis of value for money and additional features, such as warranty, durability ratings, and supplementary software. But SSDs have become so good these days that sometimes it’s subtle things that separate an average drive from a winner.

The Testbeds: The Systems We Rely On

Depending on the bus architecture (PCI Express vs. SATA) and connection protocol (M.2 or 2.5-inch for internal SSDs; USB or Thunderbolt for external SSDs), we test any drive that comes through the labs on a certain single testbed, or pair of testbeds, among three testbed systems.

PCIe 3.0-Based M.2 Internal SSDs; Serial ATA 2.5-Inch or M.2 Drives

These drives are tested on our main Windows-based storage testbed. This is a resolutely high-end PC circa 2020. It is equipped with an Asus Prime X299 Deluxe motherboard with an Intel Core i9-10980XE processor clocked for a max boost frequency of 4.6GHz. We use 16GB of DDR4 Corsair Dominator RAM clocked to 3,600MHz, and the system is using an Nvidia GeForce RTX discrete graphics card to power video. This PC represents a state-of-the-art high-end desktop configuration, with an SSD boot drive as the primary drive and the drive being tested configured as supplemental storage.


(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

M.2 drives on this system are installed in a secondary M.2 slot below the video card and configured as secondary storage. (The X299 motherboard we use supports both PCI Express M.2 and SATA M.2 drives.) Traditional 2.5-inch SSDs are installed on the first SATA port powered by the motherboard’s main SATA controller, and installed in a 2.5-inch bay.

PCIe 4.0-Based Internal SSDs

PCI Express 4.0 M.2 SSDs offer higher potential sequential-throughput speeds than PCI Express 3.0 ones. PCI Express 4.0 support is generally available only on late model AMD-based systems from the X570/B550/TRX40 chipset period onward (using Ryzen 3000 series CPUs or later), and Intel systems with Z490 or more recent motherboards (using 11th Generation «Rocket Lake» CPUs or later). All PCIe 4.0 SSDs are M.2 drives. You can use a PCI Express 4.0 SSD in a 3.0-only motherboard, but it will bounce down to 3.0 speeds.


(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

As a result, to test the speed potential of these drives, we needed a different testbed from our X299 build. This more recent testbed uses an MSI Godlike X570 motherboard with an AMD Ryzen 9 3950X CPU installed. We use the same 16GB of DDR4 Corsair Dominator RAM clocked to 3,600MHz, and the system employs an Nvidia GeForce RTX discrete graphics card, too.

PCI Express 4.0 speedsters tend to generate a lot of heat. If a drive has its own heatsink, we test it with the sink in place. If it lacks a heatsink, or just has a basic heat spreader, we test it using the testbed motherboard’s own heat sink.

As of early 2023, companies are showing off their first consumer-level SSDs that support the latest standard, PCI Express 5.0—which offers maximum theoretical sequential read speeds in excess of 15,000MBps, about double the PCI Express 4. 0 max. We will be upgrading our testbed and protocols to support the testing of PCI Express 5.0 SSDs in the near future.

External SSDs

We use two testbeds here. The first is the same system as our PCI Express 3.0 testbed (Asus Prime X299 Deluxe motherboard, Intel Core i9-10980XE processor, 16GB of DDR4 Corsair RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX card). Depending on whether an external drive meets the near-ubiquitous USB 3.2 Gen 2 standard or supports the high-speed USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 version of USB, it is tested either attached to this motherboard’s sole USB 3.2 Gen 2 USB Type-C port (a 10Gbps port) or to the 20GBps USB-C port on a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 expansion card, made by Orico, that is attached to our main storage testbed.


(Credit: Molly Flores)

After we’ve run the tests defined below for external drives, we then format the drive to exFAT and run a couple of supplemental tests on a 2016 Apple MacBook Pro, testing over Thunderbolt 3 (if applicable) or USB Type-C. If the drive is a Thunderbolt 3-only drive, we run just the MacBook-based tests.

The Benchmarks: Internal SSDs

Here is a breakdown of the benchmark set we run on internal drives, whether M.2 «gumstick» drives or conventional 2.5-inch SATA internals. The drives are secure-erased between each run of the different tests.

PCMark 10 Storage

The main PCMark 10(Opens in a new window) Storage test from UL is an invaluable cutting-edge measure, providing a high-level view of how the drive will function under various everyday workloads, such as word processing and videoconferencing.


(Credit: UL)

For internal SSDs, we first run the drives through the PCMark 10 Full System Drive benchmark, which simulates 23 different «traces» (simulated tasks) in the course of the run. The traces flex the drive in ways that approximate launching Adobe-based creative programs, booting up Windows 10, copying files, launching popular games, and more.


(Credit: UL)

The overall score that PCMark 10 reports back represents how well a drive does throughout the entire PCMark 10 run. This score is the sanctioned score presented by UL’s software at the end of each run. This score reflects a weighted average of the various activities that the PCMark 10 storage test simulates, a general indicator of how consistently a drive can perform through the 23 different usage scenarios.

It’s a proprietary number, though, and is meaningful only when compared with scores of other, competing drives. That is where our reviews come in.

Getting Granular: Booting Windows 10 (PCMark 10 Trace)

We also dig into the more granular trace data that PCMark 10 presents. The first part of it we report is culled from the Windows 10 boot trace, which simulates a full operating-system startup procedure. The throughput number we report reflects how quickly the drive is able to feed the data required for that task set.


(Credit. Microsoft)

This and the following three PCMark 10-derived, trace-based tests represent a simulation of how quickly a drive is capable of feeding data when launching a particular program, copying files, or, in this case, booting Windows 10. PCMark 10 records how many megabytes per second the drive is reading what are known as «shallow-queue 4K random» blocks of data (i.e., of the kind in which most applications, games, or operating systems are stored). While UL recommends using the overall «read/write MBps bandwidth» metric in these tests, we dug a bit deeper to include only random 4K bandwidth in order to paint what we believe is a more specific picture of how well a drive can perform in these tasks.

Game Launching Tests (PCMark 10 Trace)

Next we report data from PCMark 10’s traces around game launching. This again reflects how quickly a drive can read shallow-depth small random 4K packages. Note that the «4K» we’re talking about here is file-block size(Opens in a new window), not file size; 4K is one of the more commonly used file-block sizes for game installations, though that composition does depend on the title you’re playing.


(Credit: Activision Publishing Inc.)

While the three games tested in PCMark 10 are stored primarily in small random 4K, tests from around the web have shown that MMORPGs can more often use the 16K block size, and some games in other genres may tend to employ larger block sizes, from 32K up to 128K. However, for the sake of these tests, 4K small random read is the most accurate block-size metric relevant to these three popular FPS titles: Battlefield 5, Overwatch, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. We again report the read throughput for this kind of file.

Adobe Launching Tests (PCMark 10 Trace)

Next is the set of results based on traces simulating Adobe-application launches. As anyone who works regularly in programs like Adobe Premiere or Photoshop can tell you, a constant pinch point is the time it takes for these programs to launch.


(Credit: Adobe)

Mind you, our results don’t tell the whole story of how a drive will perform for all creative applications. Depending on the complexity of your work and the number of elements in a scene, your software may have to load 3D models, sound files, physics elements, and more; in other words, more than just the program. Still, this is nonetheless interesting fodder for folks who live and breathe these Adobe apps.

Recommended by Our Editors

How We Test Everything We Review

The Best Internal SSDs for 2023

The Best External SSDs for 2023

Copy Tests (PCMark 10 Trace)

Finally in PCMark 10, we report on PCMark 10’s traces that simulate file-copy actions. While at first these numbers might look low compared to the straight sequential-throughput numbers achieved in benchmarks like Crystal DiskMark and AS-SSD (below), that’s due to the way this score is calculated and the nature of and differences between the source data. If you’re regularly moving files around on your drive from one folder to another, this test is a handy relative throughput measure.

Crystal DiskMark 6

Beyond PCMark 10, we also use the venerable Crystal DiskMark(Opens in a new window) utility for a second opinion on throughput. Crystal DiskMark’s sequential-read tests measure read/write activity with data written in a large contiguous block on the drive, which is similar to how manufacturers themselves test drives to advertise their peak performance. These tests represent a «best case,» straight-line scenario for file transfers.


(Credit: Crystal Dew World)

We also use Crystal DiskMark’s 4K tests to measure random reads/writes, which reflect data activity in which the drive is fetching and writing scattered files and pieces of files across the drive. This is mostly just used as a reality check against the wealth of 4K read data culled from PCMark 10’s traces.

3DMark Storage Gaming Benchmark

Gamers have long relied on 3DMark testing to benchmark their CPUs and GPUs. 3DMark Storage, introduced in late 2021, takes SSDs through their paces in performing a variety of gaming-related functions. It produces an aggregate score, combining traces of tasks from some popular AAA games. These include loading Battlefield V, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and Overwatch; recording a 1080p gameplay video at 60fps while playing Overwatch; installing The Outer Worlds from the Epic Games Launcher; saving game progress in The Outer Worlds; and copying the Steam folder for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.


(Credit: UL)

The Benchmarks: External SSDs

As noted, in testing we attach external SSDs to the native USB 3.2 Gen 2 port on our main Windows 10 testbed, and afterward (if relevant) to a Thunderbolt 3/USB Type-C port on our test MacBook Pro. With the Windows machine, we’ll cite if a drive supports Gen 2×2 speeds and is attached instead to the expansion-card USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port.

PCMark 10 Data Drive Benchmark

We’re not done with PCMark 10 quite yet! The Data Drive Benchmark is a solid test to run on any drive you intend to use as a data archive or a backup drive, and typically takes between 10 and 30 minutes to run, depending on the drive type and its connection standard.


(Credit: UL)

Like the PCMark 10 Storage test, it runs through a host of trace-based activities to simulate typical daily drive activities for a secondary drive. The proprietary number it reports back is useful only when compared against other drives’ PCMark 10 results.

Crystal DiskMark 6

For external SSDs, we run the Crystal DiskMark 6 test under the same parameters as for internal drives above (sequential read/write, and 4K read/write).

Blackmagic Disk Speed Test

With this and our next test, we move the drive, if compatible, over to our Apple MacBook Pro tester platform and reformat it into exFAT. We use the macOS-only Blackmagic Disk Speed Test(Opens in a new window) app from professional media firm Blackmagic Design (the makers of DaVinci Resolve) to perform this test. It reports back a drive’s throughput in bits per second. This utility is typically used to discern whether a given drive has enough throughput to play back specific video formats smoothly. But it also returns some useful throughput measurements.


(Credit: Blackmagic Design)

Blackmagic offers both a read score and a write score, which we compare with those of other, similar drives. These scores are useful in discovering the theoretical maximum speed that a drive can achieve.

Folder Transfer Test

The final test for external drives is a drag-and-drop test, also performed on our MacBook Pro. It uses the macOS Finder to copy a 1.23GB test folder full of several different file types from the testbed’s internal drive to the external SSD being tested. We hand-time the scores (in seconds).

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6 Best SSD Benchmark Tool Recommend in 2023 – EaseUS

Updated by
Sherly on May 16, 2023

Written by
Cici

PAGE CONTENT:

Understand the Terminology of SSD Benchmark
6 Best SSD Benchmark Tool Recommend 

An SSD is one of the vital components of a computer and is responsible for storing your data, including operating systems, documents, applications, etc. The increasing demand for SSDs makes it more important to ensure quick performance and storage speed. 

If you are an SSD user, benchmark technology can help you to enhance its efficiency. SSD benchmarks consist of specified workloads that follow certain reporting rules and measurement methods, so they cannot be changed.

In this article, we help you learn the terminology of SSD benchmarking and review the top six SSD benchmark tools for Windows users.

Understand the Terminology of SSD Benchmark

Solid-state drive benchmarking is the process of testing the performance of your SSD under different situations and workloads. Users who want to understand and test SSD read/write speed, performance, and lifespan can use SSD benchmarking. That is why HDD benchmark tools have come into the limelight to provide relevant results for users.

Those Windows users who own an SSD in their system will need to understand the terminology of SSD benchmark or should be familiar with the basic idea of how SSD works. Therefore, the following terms are described below to help you comprehend the most common specifications of SSD benchmarking:

  • Throughput: It measures the data transfer rate for drives in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). It provides a concrete estimation of storage performance by showing how much data is processed.
  • IOPS: It stands for input/output operations per second. It calculates the high input and output performance of SSDs and SSDs. An SSD’s IOPS represents how quickly it can read and write data per second.
  • Latency: Show the processing time of I/O operations. It provides the results of SSD response time in microseconds or milliseconds. If the latency of your SSD is lower, the performance is better.
  • 4K: In SSD, 4K is the least read and write unit SSD. 4K measures how quickly your SSD writes multiple small files.
  • 64 thread: a queue depth of 64. Queue depth measures how many I/O requests can wait at one time on an SSD. The 64-thread write speed measures how fast a device can write random 4K data blocks at 64 queue depths and how many I/O requests can wait at once on a solid-state drive.

Further Reading:

USB Benchmark Raspberry Pi SD Card Benchmark HDD Benchmark

If you are clear about the SSD benchmark, continue to read, and we will introduce more useful tools. Click the button below to share with other people in need.

 

6 Best SSD Benchmark Tool Recommend 

This section will introduce 6 SSD Benchmark tools to run multiple SSd speed tests on Windows computers.

  1. 1. EaseUS Partition Master
  2. 2. AS SSD
  3. 3. CrystalDiskMark
  4. 4. ATTO Disk Benchmark
  5. 5. Lometer
  6. 6. PCMark10

You can pick one from the list that suits you better.

1. EaseUS Partition Master

EaseUS Partition Master comes at the top of our list as it is compatible with all storage devices to test their performance. It is a valuable Disk Benchmark tool for every user who wants to apply it to test the workload of their SSD. You can use this tool for all Windows versions, and easy to use. Even if you are non-tech-savvy, it is the one you should not miss.

Download it, and you can enjoy the convenience it brings to you.

Features:

  • One-click to test SSD Speed.
  • Test read/write speed, test disk I/O speed, and delay speed.
  • Create a test result report for users to save.
  • Apply to test all types of SSD drive speeds.
  • Support SSD 4K Alignment.

It is also a reliable NVMe SSD benchmark software. For the detailed steps of using this powerful tool, click the link below to view more information!

How to Run SSD Performance Test (Step-by-Step Guides)

It’s necessary to check SSD performance regularly. In this part, we will introduce two different methods. Check the following table for a quick comparison of the two methods based on the following aspects.

This software can also support performing an SSD health check and checking SSD temperature to your SSD in good performance. Don’t hesitate to download it! 

2. AS SSD

This tool is specially designed to help users to measure SSD performance and read and write speed. AS SSD can provide detailed reports with a final score after analyzing the overall performance of the SSD. The copy benchmark feature of this tool is designed to perform hassle-free benchmarking of SSD drives. 

Click here to download and use this tool now: https://as-ssd-benchmark.en.softonic.com/

Features:

  • Carry out several specific tests.
  • Customization of settings.
  • Measure read/write speed according to data size.
  • Allow users to compare the results of different drives

3. CrystalDiskMark

CrystalDiskMark offers SSD benchmarking options to measure sequential, and random read/write speeds of Solid State Drives. It can also allow users to schedule the optimization of their SSD if needed. CrystalDisk has an easy-to-use interface and is a well-known hard drive and solid-state testing tool in the market.

Click here to download and use this tool now: https://crystalmark.info/en/download/#CrystalDiskMark

Features:

  • Runs both sequential and random read/write tests.
  • Displays quick and easy-to-understand results.
  • It can measure any drive, including incompressible and compressible data.
  • It can support a queue depth of up to 32.

4. ATTO Disk Benchmark

It is a popular benchmark tool available to test HDD and SSD read/write speeds for decades. ATTO Disk Benchmark allows straightforward read/write speed testing operating predefined block sizes up to 8MB. A beginner can also perform tests using its simple interface and get data results, which helps manage the best SSD performance. In addition, the file sizes for testing can lie between 64KB and 2GB with queue depths from 2 to 10. 

Click here to download and use this tool now: www. atto.com/disk-benchmark/

Features:

  • I/O comparisons with various test patterns.
  • It supports several line depths.
  • Its time mode enables users to continuous testing.
  • Non-destructive testing on formatted drives.
  • Support for overlapped I/O.

5. lometer

Iometer is one of the oldest storage testing tools, developed by Intel in 1998. It has rapidly become one of the most popular open-source SSD benchmarking software in the storage industry. Iometer has highly in-depth testing and reporting capabilities that enable users to run multiple tests and customize its functionality. However, its user interface is complicated compared to other listed tools.

Click here to download and use this tool now: https://sourceforge.net/projects/iometer/files/iometer-stable/1.1.0/iometer-1.1.0-win64.ia64-bin.zip/download

Features: 

  • Create multiple tests for I/O workloads.
  • Random read and write speeds.
  • Great bandwidth and latency capabilities.
  • Compare data using different patterns.
  • Supports mixed I/O.

6. PCMark10

Older versions of this tool focused on measuring traditional HHDs. But now, it has various test options, from standard SATA SSDs and hybrid drives to the latest PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage drives. Nowadays, PCMark10 advanced is famous for offering exciting new features. In addition, PCMark10 is an easy-to-install-and-run benchmarking tool with a free basic version for personal use. Users can run major benchmark tests for long, heavy workloads and reporting.

Click here to download and use this tool now: benchmarks.ul.com/pcmark10#buy

Features:

  • Quick system drive benchmark for light workloads.
  • Relevant tests to fulfill trending storage needs.
  • You can evaluate and compare the latest SSDs.
  • Accurate and unbiased test result.
  • Provides extended and custom run option.

You May Also Like:

M.2 SSD Performance USB Speed Test Tool SSD Temperature Monitor Software

Conclusion

We hope this article helped you understand the importance of SSD benchmarking and how it works. It summarizes the six industry-leading SSD benchmark tools to fulfill all your needs.

If you want an advanced but easy-to-use tool, we recommend you use the EaseUS Partition Master tool. This software enables you to test SSD speed with a single click and provides multiple disk optimization features to improve SSD performance.

FAQs About SSD Benchmark Tool

If you have further questions about the SSD benchmark tool, please follow this FAS section.

1. How do I benchmark my SSD?

A third-party SSD benchmark tool is best to benchmark your SSD. To do so, you can use EaseUS Partition Master and follow the steps:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master and choose «DiskMark» in the «Discovery» section.

Step 2. Choose the target drive, set the test data, and click «Start.»

2. How to test SSD speed in Windows 10?

Open Task Manager from the Windows Search bar and click the Performance option. Next, select your Disk from the left column, and you can check the running read/write speed of your SSD.

3. What program tests SSD speed?

There are several third-party programs to test SSD speed. Here are some of the top listed programs:

  • EaseUS Partition Master
  • CrystalDiskMark 
  • AS SSD
  • ATTO Disk Benchmark

Programs for checking the SSD disk: testing speed and finding errors for free

Solid state drives (Solid State Drive, or SSD) are gradually replacing the usual hard drives and becoming the main storage of information in personal computers. They are not afraid of shocks and do not make noise, and most importantly, they significantly benefit in read / write speed. True, they still have a weak point. What it is, and how to check the SSD for errors — we will tell in this article.

The main vulnerability of solid state drives

A distinctive feature of SSDs is that they fail abruptly and immediately. This disadvantage of solid-state media is a direct consequence of their merits.

Solid State Drive General Design

SSDs for personal computers are based on chips similar to those used for flash drives. This is non-volatile flash memory, which, unlike RAM, is not cleared when the power is turned off.

SSD disk cells are combined into pages, and pages are combined into blocks. Features of this type of memory:

  • all cells that are part of the page are written (programmed) simultaneously;
  • pages are programmed strictly sequentially;
  • the page cannot be reprogrammed for individual cells, you must first erase all its contents;
  • the block is erased only as a whole, it is also impossible to clear only some pages.

This complex process is controlled by a controller. It has its own memory, which stores the addresses of blocks, pages and cells. In addition, the computer processor does not know how to work with flash memory directly, so the SSD controller converts flash memory addresses to those used by the hard drive.

Causes of data loss

The way SSD memory cells work can potentially lead to data loss: the more often you have to erase and rewrite blocks, the worse the transistors retain their charge and eventually stop holding it at all. This problem is mitigated with varying degrees of success by the use of more advanced controllers, but so far it is impossible or very expensive to completely solve it.

This is mainly responsible for the production technology of flash memory chips. Today, fast and cheap NAND technology is more often used, in which three types of chips stand out: SLC, MLC and TLS, in order of decreasing resource and final price of the drive.

As in the case of hard drives, SSD uses a data reservation mechanism and marks bad sectors, but most drives cannot reserve service information in the controller’s memory. When sections with it fail due to loss of charge, addressing is broken, and the disk stops working correctly.

As the temperature of the SSD rises, the electrons in the semiconductor move more actively, which also reduces the life of the cell. This doesn’t affect it so much that the SSD needs additional cooling, but you shouldn’t keep it near heat sources.

To prevent data loss, you need to know the lifespan of an SSD. Manufacturers measure it by the total amount of data that can be written to a disc. It is many times greater than the declared volume of the device, because its calculation takes into account many write cycles.

Some manufacturers of solid state drives indicate the resource and production technology in the description on the official website, but not all. Software developers come to the aid of the user, which monitors the status of the disk.

Standard Windows 10 tools

The Windows 10 operating system, like previous versions, includes standard tools for checking hard drives. With some reservations, they can also be used to assess the condition of the SSD.

First, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) includes a utility that checks the status of disk SMART information. It is run from the command line as an administrator with the wmic diskdrive get status command. As a result, the system will check all connected drives and display information about their status.

Second, with some reservations, you can use the standard CHKDSK utility. It also runs on the command line as administrator chkdsk «drive letter:» /f. The /r switch, which is often used when checking HDDs to recover bad sectors, does not need to be specified: «bad» sectors are automatically corrected by the SSD controller.

Unfortunately, the information provided by these utilities is rather sparse. Either the system will say that everything is fine with the disks and sectors so far, or it will report that the disk is already failing. To learn in advance about emerging problems and assess the degree of wear, you need to use other programs.

Manufacturer Utilities

Many relatively small SSD manufacturers buy chips from market leaders. There are few companies that have their own production of chips for solid state devices. These include Samsung, Intel/Micron, SanDisk (who also supplies products to Toshiba), Hynix and Cruicial.

They not only publish information about the technical characteristics of their media, but also provide users with their own software for diagnosing SSDs. Important advantages of such software are the ability to update the flash drive controller firmware and tools for optimizing its operation. All programs have a more or less similar interface and feature set.

Samsung is a leader in the microelectronics manufacturing market. SSD is no exception. The Samsung Magician utility has been developed to check disks from the South Korean giant. It analyzes SMART data, provides information about the remaining life of the SSD, allows you to manually change drive attributes, update firmware, and fine-tune the drive.

IMFT Joint Venture combines products from the Intel and Micron brands. The Intel SSD Toolbox is designed to check these drives. The capabilities of this solution, as in the case of the program from SanDisk — SanDisk SSD Dashboard — are similar to those that Samsung provides for its users.

SanDisk also provides its chips for Toshiba. Toshiba / OCZ SSD Utility is developed for drives of this brand. It works only with «native» disks, the functionality is also similar to similar solutions.

The American company Micron, which produces solid state drives under the Cruicial brand, has also developed software for verification — Crucial Storage Executive. It differs in that it can be used to assess the condition of any SSD media, and not just “branded” ones. But additional features — firmware and update — are available only for the company’s own products.

Similar third-party utilities include ADATA SSD Toolbox, WD SSD Dashboard, and Kingston SSD Manager.

Third-party programs for detailed diagnostics

If you assemble the computer yourself, you know the manufacturer of the SSD. In the case of, for example, a laptop, it is far from always known which disk it uses. This is where diagnostic programs come to the rescue. Among them there are both specialized — for solid-state drives, and universal — for all types of fixed drives.

Flash ID

Before you can check the SSD for problems, you need to know not only the manufacturer of the drive, but also the manufacturer of the controller it uses. A small number of companies also produce controllers, and not all manufacturers indicate information about this chip.

A set of Flash ID utilities, which is run from the command line as an administrator, helps to recognize them. To work, you need a disk number available in the standard Windows Disk Management feature.

CrystalDisk

One of the most popular systems for diagnosing solid state drives. Using the first program, CrystalDiskInfo, you can check the remaining life of the SSD, the current mode of operation of the disk, the firmware version, and estimate wear. The second program, CrystalDiskMark, is a set of tests to check the speed of the SSD and analyze it for problems.

TxBench

An alternative to CrystalDisk with a simple, compact interface. If the information in the «brief» mode is not enough, then you can switch to the tabs with technical data and grouped tests. With TxBench, you can also view the current disk temperature and start its optimization.

Benchmarks: AS SSD Benchmark, ATTO Disk Benchmark, AIDA64

The health of a drive can often be judged by its performance. Its assessment is given by benchmarks.

True to its name, AS SSD Benchmark is designed to test the speed of SSDs. It looks similar to CrystalDiskMark, but has additional features: you can vary the size of SSD read / write blocks and their compression algorithms. The test results are grouped so that you can compare the status of different drives.

ATTO Disk Benchmark is a set of tests for all types of drives. It is especially good for comparative analysis due to the function of exporting test results, including in JPEG format.

AIDA64 is a family of multifunctional diagnostic «check tools», which also includes SSD benchmarking tools. The complex can monitor the status of disks in real time and conduct a variety of tests. The disadvantage is that the tests are not grouped, you will have to search for the right one in different menus.

HWiNFO

Next on the list are programs that can evaluate the health of both solid state and hard drives.

Opens it with HWiNFO, a “check tool” class product, a simple and visual assistant for monitoring the current state of media.

It collects SMART data and displays information about the disk: media temperature, activity, data transfer speed, and for SSD — also the remaining resource.

The current values ​​can be compared with the minimum and maximum values, information about which was received during the total time the utility was running.

Multifunctional utilities for media benchmarking: Victoria HDD/SSD, HD Tune Pro and 3DMark Storage Benchmark

Well-known to hard drive users, Victoria’s multifunctional disk check program for problems is also used for SSD drives.

There are many tests, their results are displayed as a graph. A handy feature: after installing a new media, you can quickly test it, and then compare the results of subsequent tests with benchmarks.

Its constant competitor is HD Tune Pro. It also presents the results in a graph. The advantage of this program is the ability to define test scripts using a custom file size.

A powerful 3DMark tool often used by gaming PC owners, Advanced version and above has a built-in Storage Benchmark. It evaluates the performance and condition of the SSD in terms of the needs of the gamer.

AJA Video System Test: for those who work with video

Video editing and video coding programs are not inferior to games in terms of how they load the computer. A special tool AJA Video System Test helps to evaluate this load for a solid state drive and conduct a full-fledged stress test.

Taking care of SSD health

So we have many ways to get data about an SSD and check it. What to do with all this information? Here is an example algorithm.

  • When choosing a disc, focus on trusted manufacturers, study the information on the official website and evaluate the resource
  • If you bought a solid state drive or a computer with a preinstalled drive, install a program that can provide information about the drive. Compare its output with the manufacturer’s data.
  • Install a disk check utility, give preference to those that have the ability to store previous indicators.
  • Check and compare against baseline from time to time, but don’t be overzealous, as frequent tests will reduce disk life. Evaluate the state of the disk in dynamics.
  • As soon as the indicators approach the limit, make a backup (it’s best to get into the habit of doing it all the time) and start choosing a new drive.

Why HYPERPC gaming computers are equipped with high-speed SSDs

Modern projects are demanding on hardware and assume that the user has an SSD installed, therefore, for a comfortable passage, for example, video games with open worlds, the speed of hard drives is often not enough.

They will work, but if you want all textures and small objects to load on time, saves open quickly, and FPS is stable, you need the principle of operation that is implemented in solid state drives.

How to check an SSD for errors, drive status and SMART attributes

Checking an SSD for errors is not the same as similar tests for regular hard drives and many of the tools you are familiar with here for the most part will not work due to the peculiarities of how SSDs work.

This manual details how to check the SSD for errors, find out its status using the S.M.A.R.T. You may also be interested in: How to check the speed of an SSD, Programs for SSD drives.

  • Built-in Windows Drive Checkers applicable to SSD
  • Programs for checking SSDs and analyzing their condition
  • Using CrystalDiskInfo

Windows 10, 8.1 and Windows 7 built-in disk checkers

Let’s start with those Windows disk checkers and diagnostics that apply to SSDs. First of all, we will talk about CHKDSK. Many people use this utility to check regular hard drives, but how applicable is it to SSDs?

In some cases, when it comes to possible problems with the file system: strange behavior when working with folders and files, a RAW “file system” instead of a previously working SSD partition, it is quite possible to use chkdsk and this can be effective. The path, for those who are not familiar with the utility, will be as follows:

  1. Run a command prompt as an administrator.
  2. Type chkdsk C: /f and press Enter.
  3. In the command above, the drive letter (C in the example) can be changed to another one.
  4. After checking, you will receive a report on found and fixed file system errors.

What is the difference between testing SSD and HDD? In that the search for bad sectors using an additional parameter, as in the command chkdsk C: / f / r is not necessary and pointless to produce: the SSD controller does this, it also reassigns the sectors. Similarly, you should not «find and fix bad blocks on SSD» using utilities like Victoria HDD.

Windows also provides a simple tool to check the status of a disk (including SSD) based on SMART self-diagnostics: open a command prompt and type wmic diskdrive get status

As a result of its execution, you will receive a message about the status of all connected drives. If according to Windows (which it generates based on SMART data) everything is in order, each disk will indicate “OK”.

Programs for checking SSD disks for errors and analyzing their status

Checking errors and status of SSD drives is based on S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology, the technology originally appeared for HDD, where it is still used). The bottom line is that the disk controller itself records data on the status, errors that have occurred, and other service information that can be used to check the SSD.

There are many free SMART attribute readers, but a novice user may encounter some problems trying to figure out what each of the attributes means, as well as some others:

  1. Different manufacturers may use different SMART attributes. Some of which are simply not defined for SSDs from other manufacturers.
  2. Although you can see the list and explanations of the «basic» S.M.A.R.T. in various sources, for example on Wikipedia: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T, however, these attributes are written differently and interpreted differently by different manufacturers: for one, a large number of errors in a particular section may mean problems with An SSD, for another, is just a feature of what kind of data is written there.
  3. The consequence of the previous point is that some «universal» programs for analyzing the state of disks, especially those that have not been updated for a long time or designed primarily for HDDs, may incorrectly notify you of the state of the SSD. For example, it’s very easy to get warnings about problems that don’t exist in programs like Acronis Drive Monitor or HDDScan.

Self reading S.M.A.R.T attributes. without knowledge of the manufacturer’s specifications, it can rarely allow the average user to form a correct picture of the state of his SSD, and therefore third-party programs are used here, which can be divided into two simple categories:

  • CrystalDiskInfo is the most popular universal utility that is constantly updated and adequately interprets the SMART attributes of most popular SSDs, taking into account information from manufacturers.
  • SSD software from manufacturers — by definition, they know all the nuances of the contents of the SMART attributes of a specific manufacturer’s solid state drive and are able to correctly report the status of the disk.

If you are an ordinary user who just needs to get information about what SSD resource is left, whether it is in good condition, and, if necessary, automatically optimize its operation, I recommend paying attention to manufacturers’ utilities, which you can always download for free from their official sites (usually the first result in a search for a query with the name of the utility).

  • Samsung Magician — for Samsung SSD, shows the disk status based on SMART data, the amount of TBW data written, allows you to view the attributes directly, perform disk and system settings, update its firmware.
  • Intel SSD Toolbox — Allows you to diagnose an Intel SSD, view status data, and perform optimization. The SMART attribute display is also available for drives from other manufacturers.
  • Kingston SSD Manager — information about the technical condition of the SSD, the remaining resource for various parameters as a percentage.
  • Crucial Storage Executive — Evaluates condition for both Crucial and non-Crucial SSDs. Additional features are available only for branded drives.
  • Toshiba / OCZ SSD Utility — Check status, setup and maintenance. Displays branded drives only.
  • ADATA SSD Toolbox — Displays all disks, but accurate status information, including remaining life, amount of data written, check disk, optimize system for SSD.
  • WD SSD Dashboard — for Western Digital drives.
  • SanDisk SSD Dashboard — a similar utility for drives

In most cases, these utilities are sufficient, however, if your manufacturer has not bothered to create an SSD verification utility or if you want to manually deal with the SMART attributes, CrystalDiskInfo is your choice. However, there are also simpler utilities that allow, for example, to obtain information about the expected life of an SSD drive, such as SSDLife.

How to use CrystalDiskInfo

You can download CrystalDiskInfo from the developer’s official website https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/ — despite the fact that the installer is in English (a portable version is also available in a ZIP archive), the program itself will in Russian (if it does not turn on by itself, change the language to Russian in the Language menu item). In the same menu, you can enable the display of SMART attribute names in English (as they are indicated in most sources), leaving the program interface in Russian.

What’s next? Next, you can get acquainted with how the program evaluates the state of your SSD (if there are several, switch in the top panel of CrystalDiskInfo) and read the SMART attributes, each of which, in addition to the name, has three columns with data:

  • Current (Current ) — the current value of the SMART attribute on the SSD, usually indicated as a percentage of the remaining resource, but not for all parameters (for example, the temperature is indicated differently, the situation is the same with ECC error attributes — by the way, do not panic if some program does not like that something related to ECC, often due to misinterpretation of the data).
  • Worst (Worst) is the worst value recorded for the selected SSD by the current parameter. Usually the same as the current one.
  • Threshold — threshold in decimal notation, upon reaching which the state of the disk should begin to cause doubts. A value of 0 usually indicates that there is no such threshold.
  • RAW values ​​(RAW values) — data accumulated by the selected attribute is displayed in hexadecimal by default, but you can turn on decimal in the «Tools» — «Advanced» — «RAW values» menu. Based on them and the manufacturer’s specifications (everyone can write this data differently), the values ​​\u200b\u200bof the columns «Current» and «Worst» are calculated.

But the interpretation of each of the parameters can be different for different SSDs, among the main ones that are available on different drives and are easy to read as a percentage (but in RAW values ​​they can have different data) we can distinguish:

  • Reallocated Sector Count — the number of reassigned blocks, the same «bad blocks» that were discussed at the beginning of the article.
  • Power-on Hours — SSD running time in hours (in RAW values ​​reduced to decimal format, hours are usually indicated, but not necessarily).
  • Used Reserved Block Count — the number of used reserved blocks for reassignment.
  • Wear Leveling Count — the percentage of wear of memory cells, usually calculated based on the number of write cycles, but not for all brands of SSD.
  • Total LBAs Written , Lifetime Writes — the amount of data written (in RAW values ​​can be LBA blocks, bytes, gigabytes).
  • CRC Error Count — I will highlight this item among others, because with zeros in other attributes for counting different types of errors, this one may contain any values. Usually, everything is in order: these errors can accumulate during sudden power outages and OS crashes. However, if the number goes up on its own, check that your SSD is well connected (no oxidized contacts, tight connection, good cable).