Most people think that Macs are faster than PCs, but it’s hard to say without actual numbers. In case you’re looking to improve your site’s speed, then this post should help you out. What is fast for me, might not be fast for another. How do you compare the speed between two computers or operating systems? The answer to this problem is benchmarking. Benchmarking means using different applications to benchmark your devices’ performances. It specifically measures the performance of the individual components of your computer. So if you want to check if your computer’s CPU, GPU, and/or hard drive are in good running condition, read on below.
- Passmark Hard Drive Benchmarks
- Mac Hard Drive Benchmark Software Windows 7
- How To Benchmark Hard Drive
- Mac Hard Drive Benchmark Software Reviews
Why Should You Conduct a Mac Speed Test?
Performance is hard to quantify since it is a very subjective matter. Benchmarking provides you with the numbers which you can compare with other devices or machines. This way, you’ll be able to see whether your device is lagging behind the other device’s performance.
In other words, benchmarking is a method of evaluating the performance of your device. The Mac performance test will help you decide whether you need to buy a laptop or upgrade your computer’s hardware. It will also help you understand how the various pieces of hardware are performing and how you can enhance the individual pieces.
General Mac Performance Test
2019 Top 3 Free Hard Drive/SSD Speed Test Tools for Mac #1 NovaBench. Novabench is a free computer benchmarking utility for macOS. You can not only use it to measure disk read. #2 Blackmagic Disk Speed Test. Stylish free disk speed test software for macOS. You can use it to test how fast your.
There are apps available in the market that are mainly used for Mac speed test. However, the easiest to use and the most widely recommended is the Geekbench 4 or GB4 by Primate Labs. Aside from Mac, you can also use it to benchmark iPhones and iPads. It also works across different platforms such as Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS. Geekbench is a paid app but you use the Tryout version for general benchmarking. You need an active Internet connection for the Mac speed test because GB4 will automatically upload the benchmarking results to its website in order for you to compare with others. The main advantage of using the GB4 is that it is very easy to use and you don’t need technical knowledge to run the app. To run a computer speed test for Mac:
- Close all the other apps you are currently using and open the GB4.
- Click ‘Run CPU benchmark’. GB4 will then evaluate your CPU’s performance when doing “everyday tasks designed to simulate real-world applications”. The benchmarking takes around 20 minutes to complete, depending on the speed of your CPU.
- Once the speed test is done, your results will be loaded on your chosen browser. The numbers might be confusing and intimidating, especially if it’s your first time running the app. However, you only need to look at two numbers at the top – single-core score and multi-core score.
- The single-core score shows how fast your Mac is performing when a single core is taking care of everything.
- The multi-core score, on the other hand, measures your Mac’s performance when it’s using multiple cores to handle the processes.
- Once you have your scores, you can compare it with the other users and have an idea how your device fares with the other Macs or PCs. All you have to do is go the Geekbench Browser to organize and share your GB4 results with others around the world.
Here’s a tip – you can improve your CPU’s speed and performance by regularly cleaning up your computer using third party cleaning tools like Tweakbit MacRepair. The app not only deletes all your trash and unwanted files, it also optimizes your RAM boosting your Mac’s speed as a result.
Hard Drive and SSD Benchmarking
Hard drive benchmarking allows you to evaluate how fast you can read and write on your hard drive or SSD. For this test, you can use the free version of BlackMagic Disk Speed Test. The app was designed for video editors to help them check whether their hard drives are capable of handling large files, but you can also use it to check your hard drive’s read/write speeds. To use BlackMagic Disk Speed Test:
- Download and open the app, then select your target hard drive.
- If you have more than one drive, click the gear cog icon to select which drive you want to test.
- Click Start. Make sure no other apps are running for more accurate results.
Once the test is done, don’t get overwhelmed by the information on the ‘Will it Work?’ and ‘How Fast?’ charts. You only need to check out the big gauges at the top. The left gauge will show you the write speed and this will give you an idea of how fast data will be written on the drive. The right gauge, on the other hand, shows the read speed, which tells you how fast it will take for apps and files to load on your computer.
GPU Benchmarking
Another aspect you have to test on your computer is the performance of your graphics card. You can use the Maxon’s Cinebench because of how easy it is to use. Cinebench also measures the speed of your CPU, like what Geekbench does, but it doesn’t have the ability to share results so you can’t compare your results with others. However, one of its useful features is its ability to measure graphics card performance. To run the text:
- Just open the app
- Click Run next to the OpenGL test in the top left corner of the app. The test uses 3D cars running in a poorly lighted street to see how your GPU handles special effects.
- Once the test is done, you will see your final score next to the Run button.
Older versions of Mac score around 40-50fps while newer versions can hit speeds between 70-80fps. And unlike other computers, Mac graphics card can’t be upgraded on most Macs. So if you think you need a better graphics card for your computer, you’ll probably need to buy a new Mac.
These tests are important, not only because it shows how your Mac is performing, but it also shows you whether you need to upgrade the components of your Mac or worse, you need to buy a new one.
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How do I test my hard drive speed? What is a good hard drive speed? How do I check my SSD speed Windows 10? This post provides an easy, fast and free way to help you measure hard drive and SSD performance in Windows 10/8/7. Some top free disk benchmark software and solutions to increase hard drive speed in Windows 10/8/7 are also attached.
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To boost the overall performance of a computer, aside from a good CPU and memory chip, hard drive also plays an important role.
If your computer hard drive is becoming slow, you may want to test its read and write speed to see if you need to change for a new one. Moreover, when you buy a new hard drive, you can also utilize top free hard drive/SSD speed test software to measure its performance to see if it’s just as the vendor said.
This post will start with a detailed guide on how to easily test hard drive, SSD, external hard drive read/write speed with the best free HDD/SSD speed test software – MiniTool Partition Wizard. You can check the 4 steps below.
How to Do Hard Drive/SSD Speed Test with MiniTool Partition Wizard Free
MiniTool Partition Wizard is a 100% clean and free hard drive speed test tool which is compatible with Windows 10/8/7. You can use it to test read and write performance of almost all storage devices, including computer internal hard drives, external hard disk drives, SSDs, USB drives, and more.
Passmark Hard Drive Benchmarks
This software has free version, pro version, and several higher versions. To perform the disk benchmark, you can only use its free version.
Click the button below to download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard free version on your Windows 10/8/7 PC. And follow the simple operations to test hard drive/SSD speed.
1. Run HDD/SDD Speed Test Software
Open the hard disk/SSD test software for Windows 10/8/7 - MiniTool Partition Wizard. Click Disk Benchmark button on the tool bar of the main interface.
2. Set HD/SSD Disk Test Parameters
Next you can select a partition on the hard drive to test its read and write speed, and then freely set the test parameters in the Disk Benchmark window.
Namely, you can set the data transfer size from 1KB to 2048KB at one time; the total amount of transferred data from 100MB to 4096MB; set Queue Number to queue up several read and write tasks on the drive; set Thread Number to use how many threads to do the hard drive speed test.
And choose a disk Test Mode like Sequential, Random, and Sequential & Random.
3. Start to Test Hard Drive Speed
Click Start to begin testing the hard drive or SSD read and write speed with the hard disk/SSD speed test software for Windows 10/8/7. Different test settings may take different time. After the hard disk/SSD speed test process is finished, it will show you an intuitive graphical table.
4. Check and Analyze the Speed Test Result
You can check the hard drive speed test result now, and compare it with standard read/write speed of hard drive to see if they differ too much.
Normally a modern 7200 RPM HDD connected with SATA delivers about 80-160 MB/s, while an SSD can read and write sequential data at about 500MB/s.
Knowledge base:
Seq refers to sequential read and write speeds, while 4K means random read and write speeds.
Sequential reading and writing: it is mainly for measuring hard drive speed when transferring large files like copying movie videos. A high sequential read speed can also lower the loading time of large files or programs like games. It is more important for mass storage drives like external hard drives.
4K random reading and Writing: this matters more in testing hard drive speed in reading and writing random small files. It is more important for computer system drive since high 4K random read/write speed can deal with multiple tasks efficiently like smoothly running more background programs on computer.
How to Increase Hard Drive Speed in Windows (10)?
Mac Hard Drive Benchmark Software Windows 7
If you find your (external) hard drive runs very slow after the hard drive speed test, you may try these ways to improve your hard drive speed.
1. Scan bad sectors
If there are bad sectors on hard disk, then it will slow down the hard drive transfer speed. You can easily check whether your hard drive has bad sectors for free with MiniTool Partition Wizard disk surface test function.
Step 1. Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard and right-click the target disk. Choose Surface Test option.
Step 2. In the Surface Test window, you can just click Start Now and this program will scan the hard drive immediately.
Step 3. After the disk testing, it will show if your hard drive has some bad sectors. If so, it will be marked red, if not, it will be marked green.
If your hard drive has some bad sectors, you can use some professional software to bypass bad sectors, or send it to professional disk repair stores. If nothing helps, you can change a new drive.
Recommended reading: How to recover lost data from a broken hard drive
2. Delete unnecessary files
The hard drive is very slow after doing the hard drive or SSD speed test in Windows (10).
In case the hard drive is filled up, you may clean up some unnecessary files to free up some storage space. Check how to easily check which files occupy large amount of space on your hard drive and choose to delete them with MiniTool Partition Wizard space analyzer function below.
Step 1. Double-click MiniTool Partition Wizard software icon on screen to enter into its main interface. Click Space Analyzer function. Then choose a drive and click Scan.
Step 2. When the disk scanning is completed, MiniTool Partition Wizard provides you three ways to check the files: Tree View, File View, and Folder View.
Step 3. The folders are listed in descending order. Check which folders/files occupy large storage space. You can right-click specific folder/file to open, explore it, copy its path, delete it to recycle bin, delete permanently or check its property.
3. Perform a hard drive defragmentation
A fragmented hard drive may also be slow. Huge amount of fragmented files will slow down the hard drive read and transfer speed a lot. To defragment hard drive in Windows (10) can pull the scattered pieces of a file into single data block. Therefore, it can reduce the data access time on a hard drive.
Click Start -> Control Panel -> System and Security -> Defragment Your Hard Drive -> Click Analyze Disk (if the drive has more than 10% fragmentation, it needs to be defragmented) -> Click Defragment Disk button after the disk analysis -> Click Close button after the disk defragmentation is completed.
4. Extend C drive on computer
Hard drive speed largely influences computer’s performance. You can also extend the operating system partition on the hard drive to boost the computer speed.
Does High RPM Hard Drive Mean Fast Hard Drive Speed?
When choosing a hard drive, RPM is an important factor. RPM is short for revolutions per minute. This parameter of hard drive indicates the rotational speeds of hard disk platters. When other parameters of hard disk are the same, the faster the RPM is, the faster the hard drive read/write speed will be. You can follow the guide above to test hard drive or SSD speed with different RPMs to verify.
Most desktop computer hard drives equip 7200 RPM. The fastest hard drive RPM can reach to 15000 RPM which can be found in enterprise drives.
2019 Top 10 Free HD/SSD Speed Test Software for Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP
#1 MiniTool Partition Wizard
It is the first recommended free hard drive speed test software. As for how to use it to test hard drive/SSD speed, the step-by-step guide is included at the beginning of this tutorial.
Aside from allowing you to do hard disk speed test and SSD speed test in Windows (10), you can also use it to manage hard drive partition/dynamic disk, clone disk, convert disk like FAT to NTFS, recover data/files/partitions from hard drive/SSD/SD card/USB, and more.
Get this all-in-one partition manager & data recovery software for Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP.
#2 CrystalDiskMark
This free and open-source hard disk benchmark software is commonly used for testing SSD speed. It outputs sequential and random read/write speeds based on various queues and threads. This program is compatible with Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP.
#4 ATTO Disk Benchmark
This disk benchmark freeware allows you to measure performance of hard drives, SSD drives, RAID, etc. It is compatible with Windows 10/8/7.
#5 AS SSD Benchmark
You can use this tool to test Solid State Drives speed. You can use it to carry out several specific tests to test sequential or random read and write speed of the SSD.
It is compatible with Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP.
#6 HD Tach
HD Tach is free disk benchmark software for Windows. You can use it to test the sequential read, random access speed of the connected storage devices. It supports CSI, IDE/ATA, IEEE 1394, USB, SATA and RAID drive technologies.
This software only supports Windows XP or 2000, and it is discontinued.
#6 HD Tune
A hard disk/SSD tool lets you test hard drive’s speed, scan for errors, securely erase all data, etc. Its free trial version can perform low-level benchmark to test drive’s read speed. It is compatible with Windows XP-10.
#7 Anvil’s Storage Utilities
This tool is specially designed for testing read and write speeds of SSD or HDD. It can give a comprehensive SSD benchmark result.
#8 Roadkil’s Disk Speed
It offers disk speed test and shows details about the disk transfer speed. It supports up to Windows 8, and doesn’t support Windows 10.
#9 Parkdale
You can use this tool to test sequential and random read & write speed of hard disks. You can select several drives and they will be tested one after another, and the result will be written into a log file. Then you can check and compare which drive has the best performance.
How To Benchmark Hard Drive
#10 DiskMark
It enables you to benchmark hard drive performance by configuring test parameters.
2019 Top 3 Free Hard Drive/SSD Speed Test Tools for Mac
#1 NovaBench
Novabench is a free computer benchmarking utility for macOS. You can not only use it to measure disk read and write speed, but also test memory transfer speed, CPU, GPU speed, etc.
It is also compatible with Windows, Linux.
#2 Blackmagic Disk Speed Test
Stylish free disk speed test software for macOS. You can use it to test how fast your Mac’s drive is. It is simple-to-use and fast.
#3 Geekbench
Also a cross-platform benchmark tool allows you to measure your computer and mobile performance. Geekbench 4 supports macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android.
HDD vs SSD Speed
Normally SSD is faster than HDD. A standard SSD can read data at about 550 MBps and write data at about 520 MBps. A fast HDD may read and write sequential data at about 130 MBps.
Related: How to Get Best Performance from SSD
Final Thoughts
This post mainly introduces how to test hard drive/SSD speed with MiniTool Partition Wizard, how to increase hard drive speed, as well as lists some top free hard drive speed test software for Windows (10) and Mac. Hope you can easily measure your hard drive, SSD, external hard drive read/write speed with ease now.
Mac Hard Drive Benchmark Software Reviews
MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro Ultimate – User’s first choice to manage hard drive and various storage devices, and recover lost/deleted data from hard drives. Compatible with Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP. Windows Server editions are also provided.
Still have problems about how to test hard drive/SSD speed? Please contact [email protected].