CrystalDiskMark

Just like a car test drive, disk benchmarking can show how well your storage works for tasks like loading apps, games, or files. If your storage is slow, benchmarking can reveal problems that might need fixing.

CrystalDiskMark is a handy tool that can give you a clear picture of how fast your storage can read and write data.

The interface is a small window that displays the available tests. Before you get started, you should take a quick look over the top menu and select the correct parameters, including the drive you want to test, speed, block size, and number of reads. To start the test, simply click on one of the names of the available tests.

The app has different ways to test your storage. You can see how it performs in its best conditions, how it works in everyday tasks, or even try it out in a simulated test. Imagine you're a gamer excited to install a new game on your computer. You're eager to see how quickly your storage can handle it, so you are likely picking the Peak mode to find out how fast your SSD actually is, but also the Real World mode so get relevant results with other apps running in the background.

The idea behind the tool is to check how fast your storage device can read and write data when it's doing things in order (sequential) or jumping around (random). You can compare your storage's speed with other similar devices.

For example, if you're thinking of buying a new SSD, you can use the app to compare its performance with your current one. If the new one shows better results, it might be worth the upgrade.

Whether you're a casual user wanting to check your hard drive's speed or a power user looking to optimize your SSD, CrystalDiskMark offers an intuitive interface and comprehensive benchmarks to help you understand and improve your storage performance.