A professional tool to diagnose computer problems
A free utility program, AS SSD Benchmark determines the performance of solid state drives in a computer or smart device. The tool contains no less than six separate synthetic tests and three copy tests. These work out just how well, or not, your solid state drive is working and allows you to work out any remedial action that might be necessary, as a result.
An overview of AS SSD Benchmark
The synthetic tests in the software determine both the sequential and read/write performance of any solid state drive they detect. Crucially, these tests are conducted without using the operating system's caches so a true picture is possible to come into light. For example, in the 'Seq Test' the software measures how long it takes to write a file that is exactly 1GB in size and then to read it. There again, in the '4K Test', the read and write performance is measured when randomly selected 4 kilobyte blocks of memory are chosen. Another test measures the way 4KBs of data are read and written but when operations are distributed to 64 threads. These tests should represent the Native Command Queuing (NCQ) of a solid state drive, among other things, such as the differences between the IDE mode - where NCQ is not supported - and operation in AHCI mode. A technical piece of software which is of use to hardware professionals, AS SSD Benchmark essentially generates a score. This allows you to turn a lot of the processes and tests into something that can be more easily understood to compare one drive with another. At the end of the series of tests, three values for the read and write performance of the solid state drive being measured are outputted. Handily, the results of the compression tests are output in a graphical format which makes them easier to take in. For instance, in the graphs the x axis indicates the compressibility of data, making for some easy reading. In the copying test, which is accessed from the Tool Menu copying benchmark, a number of test result folders are created. The computer's cache remains switched on for this test so that a true reading may be obtained. Multiple test runs should show the performance of device's drive with simultaneous read and write operations in a number of conditions. Another good test is the compression one which shows the performance of a solid state drive expressed as a function of compressibility of the data it is being given. A notable drawback is that the user interface is only available in German which may put off some users. Having said that, it is reasonably easy to work out all the various functions without being an expert linguist and the various screens are laid out in a sensible way which allows you to figure out exactly what is going on.
Summing Up
This is a technical utility which is only really useful for computer engineers who are trying to diagnose computer problems. For example, it will help to work out if a solid state drive is responsible for slow running or whether the issue lies with another component of a PC.
