• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Testing SSD's on Windows 10: best ways to do so?

Joined
Dec 12, 2020
Messages
1,755 (1.18/day)
I only have two ways to test my SSD's-HDD's (three ways for SSD's if you include Samsung Magician's built-in diagnostic):

1. speedfan can initiate either a short or long SMART self-test
2. chkdsk

Are either of these utilities a valid way to test the integrity of an SSD? Or should I be looking for something else?
 
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
9,340 (5.23/day)
Location
Louisiana
System Name Ghetto Rigs z490|x99|Acer 17 Nitro 7840hs/ 5600c40-2x16/ 4060/ 1tb acer stock m.2/ 4tb sn850x
Processor 10900k w/Optimus Foundation | 5930k w/Black Noctua D15
Motherboard z490 Maximus XII Apex | x99 Sabertooth
Cooling oCool D5 res-combo/280 GTX/ Optimus Foundation/ gpu water block | Blk D15
Memory Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb | Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s) Titan Xp-water | evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage 970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb | 860 pro 256gb | Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s) 1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case D450 | Cherry Entertainment center on Test bench
Audio Device(s) Built in Realtek x2 with 2-Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply EVGA 1000P2 with APC AX1500 | 850P2 with CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard G710+x3
Software Win-7 pro x3 and win-10 & 11pro x3
Benchmark Scores Are in the benchmark section
Hi,
Yeah I can't remember a couple of utilities one not free but has a trial period I used on three adata 8200 pro's couple years ago
I know which one not to use
as-ssd :laugh:
 
Joined
Jul 13, 2016
Messages
3,392 (1.09/day)
Processor Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard ASRock X670E Taichi
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 Chromax
Memory 32GB DDR5 6000 CL30
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 4090 Trio
Storage P5800X 1.6TB 4x 15.36TB Micron 9300 Pro 4x WD Black 8TB M.2
Display(s) Acer Predator XB3 27" 240 Hz
Case Thermaltake Core X9
Audio Device(s) JDS Element IV, DCA Aeon II
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Titanium 850w
Mouse PMM P-305
Keyboard Wooting HE60
VR HMD Valve Index
Software Win 10
chkdsk checks the integrity of the file system, not the SSD itself. Errors in the file system aren't necessarily indicative of an issue with the drive itself.

The best way to test device integrity is using manufacturer provided tools for the drive you are testing. Samsung Magician as you pointed out is one of them. Typically these programs can run a SMART / Self-diagnostic test. Different manufacturers use different SMART values or sometimes output some SMART data in a different format so it's important you use software that can correctly interpret that. CrystalDisk info is a utility that can be used to get smart and health data on all drives, just note that it may not interpret all SMART data from all manufacturers correctly.

In addition to those tests, you can run basic performance tests like Anvil and compare to review results to ensure you are getting advertised performance levels.

The last test I would optionally recommend is an extended copy test with a mix of small and large files (200GB+). This can sometimes find issues with the controller or NAND that would be missed on shorter tests. I recommend this optionally though as it puts a significant amount of writes on the drive and depending on the NAND type may be significant (like QLC for example). For HDDs I always do a full write then delete to ensure there are no bad sectors on the drive as number of writes is not much of a concern for HDDs.
 
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
9,340 (5.23/day)
Location
Louisiana
System Name Ghetto Rigs z490|x99|Acer 17 Nitro 7840hs/ 5600c40-2x16/ 4060/ 1tb acer stock m.2/ 4tb sn850x
Processor 10900k w/Optimus Foundation | 5930k w/Black Noctua D15
Motherboard z490 Maximus XII Apex | x99 Sabertooth
Cooling oCool D5 res-combo/280 GTX/ Optimus Foundation/ gpu water block | Blk D15
Memory Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb | Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s) Titan Xp-water | evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage 970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb | 860 pro 256gb | Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s) 1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case D450 | Cherry Entertainment center on Test bench
Audio Device(s) Built in Realtek x2 with 2-Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply EVGA 1000P2 with APC AX1500 | 850P2 with CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard G710+x3
Software Win-7 pro x3 and win-10 & 11pro x3
Benchmark Scores Are in the benchmark section
Hi,
Okay I remember ATTO disk benchmark is one.

Crystal disk mark this one can be confirmed with hwinfo64 speed reads to
 
Joined
Jan 24, 2019
Messages
276 (0.13/day)
Location
60th parallel N.
System Name sleeper Compaq
Processor Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard MSI B550M Pro-VDH WiFi
Cooling ARCTIC Freezer 7 X, Nexus D12SL-12
Memory PNY XLR8 Gaming 2x8GB 3200Mhz
Video Card(s) Asus GTX750Ti GDDR5 2GB
Storage XPG SX6000 Lite 128 M.2 NVMe, Seagate 500GB
Display(s) Sony 32" bravia
Case Compaq SR5700 series
Audio Device(s) Samsung Pleomax S2-500B 2.1. Sennheiser hp.
Power Supply SilverStone 500W Strider Essential ST50F-ES230 V2.0
Mouse Logitech G1
Keyboard Logitech 350
Software Win11 Home
@ OP, then there is AIDA64, not sure if it covers what you are looking for.
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 57642

Guest
The best way to test device integrity is using manufacturer provided tools for the drive you are testing. Samsung Magician as you pointed out is one of them. Typically these programs can run a SMART / Self-diagnostic test. Different manufacturers use different SMART values or sometimes output some SMART data in a different format so it's important you use software that can correctly interpret that.

Unfortunately, Samsung and its Samsung Magician is heavily biased in this regard... when it comes to SSDs designated for OEM (like Samsung PM981 - which comes with a multitude of laptops) and their end user commercial products (EVO & PRO). As in...

2023-03-10_022744.png
2023-03-10_022823.png
2023-03-10_022910.png


SSD made by Samsung but you get exactly the same support as if using an SSD from OCZ,WD, etc.:banghead:
 
Joined
Jul 13, 2016
Messages
3,392 (1.09/day)
Processor Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard ASRock X670E Taichi
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 Chromax
Memory 32GB DDR5 6000 CL30
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 4090 Trio
Storage P5800X 1.6TB 4x 15.36TB Micron 9300 Pro 4x WD Black 8TB M.2
Display(s) Acer Predator XB3 27" 240 Hz
Case Thermaltake Core X9
Audio Device(s) JDS Element IV, DCA Aeon II
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Titanium 850w
Mouse PMM P-305
Keyboard Wooting HE60
VR HMD Valve Index
Software Win 10
Unfortunately, Samsung and its Samsung Magician is heavily biased in this regard... when it comes to SSDs designated for OEM (like Samsung PM981 - which comes with a multitude of laptops) and their end user commercial products (EVO & PRO). As in...

View attachment 287182View attachment 287183View attachment 287184

SSD made by Samsung but you get exactly the same support as if using an SSD from OCZ,WD, etc.:banghead:

Samsung magician does not support OEM drives but it does support retail models including the EVO and Pro products. If you are not seeing SMART info or features are disabled for drives it should support, there is something wrong with the interface you have them connected with. I have had this issue when connecting a 870 Evo to my PC via a SATA to usb adapter and it was resolved by directly connecting the SSD to a sata port on the motherboard.
 
D

Deleted member 57642

Guest
Samsung magician does not support OEM drives but it does support retail models including the EVO and Pro products. If you are not seeing SMART info or features are disabled for drives it should support, there is something wrong with the interface you have them connected with. I have had this issue when connecting a 870 Evo to my PC via a SATA to usb adapter and it was resolved by directly connecting the SSD to a sata port on the motherboard.

That's just it - Samsung whitelisted only the EVO & Pro line for Samsung Magician - depriving the SSDs they make for OEMs - even of the most basic appraisal. Thus, if the OEM which puts together your product (be it Laptop or PC) - is lazy or incapable of making a tool that can properly asses the functionality of your SSD (that's basically most of OEMs) -3rd party tools are your only remaining option.

It's a nVme SSD - even the primary drive (which hosts the OS) - and fortunately, it does work properly & can even check the SMART info - while using a 3rd party tool:

op.png


No Firmware updates support - is one thing (which particularly affects MSI products users - since MSI is as lazy or incapable as an No-Name Brand in this regard, as in: only company that doesn't offer a firmware update - so you're stuck with the one made by Samsung in the factory - yet, others like Lenovo and Dell - released 2 or 3 firmwares since then - last one last year) - but not even a basic support (as much as 3rd party tool) - for SSDs made by Samsung.... :shadedshu:

BTW: https://www.pugetsystems.com/support/guides/critical-samsung-ssd-firmware-update/
 
Joined
Feb 1, 2019
Messages
3,692 (1.70/day)
Location
UK, Midlands
System Name Main PC
Processor 13700k
Motherboard Asrock Z690 Steel Legend D4 - Bios 13.02
Cooling Noctua NH-D15S
Memory 32 Gig 3200CL14
Video Card(s) 4080 RTX SUPER FE 16G
Storage 1TB 980 PRO, 2TB SN850X, 2TB DC P4600, 1TB 860 EVO, 2x 3TB WD Red, 2x 4TB WD Red
Display(s) LG 27GL850
Case Fractal Define R4
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster AE-9
Power Supply Antec HCG 750 Gold
Software Windows 10 21H2 LTSC
Its harder with NVME devices.

For SMART tests, I havent found a way to do it in windows without using OEM software.

For SATA devices linux and BSD can do it easily via smartmontools.

For NVME those tools cant seem to be able to do it, the only way I have found is using OEM tools such as samsung magician. Even then they lock it behind certian SKU's e.g. my 970 EVO doesnt support all the tests in magician but my 980 PRO does.
 
Joined
Feb 22, 2022
Messages
631 (0.60/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard Asus Crosshair VIII Dark Hero
Cooling Custom Watercooling
Memory G.Skill Trident Z Royal 2x16GB
Video Card(s) MSi RTX 3080ti Suprim X
Storage 2TB Corsair MP600 PRO Hydro X
Display(s) Samsung G7 27" x2
Audio Device(s) Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1500W
Mouse Logitech G903
Keyboard Steelseries Apex Pro
What are you trying to achieve? Use CrystalDiskInfo to read the S.M.A.R.T. data stored in your drive. Self tests are performed by the drive while your computer is powered on, so performing a manual test is very rarely required. Any potential issues should show up in the stored data.

Even so, check the uefi on your motherboard. I have worked on several modern motherboards that have the option to run short and long tests directly in the NVMe section.

And if you really, really want to manually run tests and do not have that option in the uefi. You can make an Ubuntu live boot usb. Make sure smartmontools is installed. And use smartctl to run all the tests you want to. Just make sure you start with smartctl -h and rtfm. You have to do sudo smartctl to actually run any tests. Just be very, very aware that smartctl (and hdparm) are god mode for your drive. You can brick it if you do the wrong command.
 
Joined
Jul 13, 2016
Messages
3,392 (1.09/day)
Processor Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard ASRock X670E Taichi
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 Chromax
Memory 32GB DDR5 6000 CL30
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 4090 Trio
Storage P5800X 1.6TB 4x 15.36TB Micron 9300 Pro 4x WD Black 8TB M.2
Display(s) Acer Predator XB3 27" 240 Hz
Case Thermaltake Core X9
Audio Device(s) JDS Element IV, DCA Aeon II
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Titanium 850w
Mouse PMM P-305
Keyboard Wooting HE60
VR HMD Valve Index
Software Win 10
That's just it - Samsung whitelisted only the EVO & Pro line for Samsung Magician - depriving the SSDs they make for OEMs - even of the most basic appraisal. Thus, if the OEM which puts together your product (be it Laptop or PC) - is lazy or incapable of making a tool that can properly asses the functionality of your SSD (that's basically most of OEMs) -3rd party tools are your only remaining option.

It's a nVme SSD - even the primary drive (which hosts the OS) - and fortunately, it does work properly & can even check the SMART info - while using a 3rd party tool:

View attachment 287240

No Firmware updates support - is one thing (which particularly affects MSI products users - since MSI is as lazy or incapable as an No-Name Brand in this regard, as in: only company that doesn't offer a firmware update - so you're stuck with the one made by Samsung in the factory - yet, others like Lenovo and Dell - released 2 or 3 firmwares since then - last one last year) - but not even a basic support (as much as 3rd party tool) - for SSDs made by Samsung.... :shadedshu:

BTW: https://www.pugetsystems.com/support/guides/critical-samsung-ssd-firmware-update/

I'm not sure if you are aware but OEM SSDs are typically not supported by the original manufacturer. If they do receive software support it will be through the system manufacturer. Intel, Solidigm, Samsung, WD, SK Hynix, Micron, and more do not support OEM products in their retail software.

This is down to the fact that OEM software often has custom firmware for that OEM so it's not logical to expect them to support every variant out there.

The moral of the story is that you should buy your product from a reputable vendor or build yourself.

Now you can still get SMART data for those drives and run tests on them (file copies, Anvil, ect)

For SMART tests, I havent found a way to do it in windows without using OEM software.

CrystalDiskInfo is able to display SMART data for NVMe drives or any drive connected via PCIe. I have SATA, M.2, and U.2 drives all displaying SMART info in CDI.
 
Joined
Feb 1, 2019
Messages
3,692 (1.70/day)
Location
UK, Midlands
System Name Main PC
Processor 13700k
Motherboard Asrock Z690 Steel Legend D4 - Bios 13.02
Cooling Noctua NH-D15S
Memory 32 Gig 3200CL14
Video Card(s) 4080 RTX SUPER FE 16G
Storage 1TB 980 PRO, 2TB SN850X, 2TB DC P4600, 1TB 860 EVO, 2x 3TB WD Red, 2x 4TB WD Red
Display(s) LG 27GL850
Case Fractal Define R4
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster AE-9
Power Supply Antec HCG 750 Gold
Software Windows 10 21H2 LTSC
I'm not sure if you are aware but OEM SSDs are typically not supported by the original manufacturer. If they do receive software support it will be through the system manufacturer. Intel, Solidigm, Samsung, WD, SK Hynix, Micron, and more do not support OEM products in their retail software.

This is down to the fact that OEM software often has custom firmware for that OEM so it's not logical to expect them to support every variant out there.

The moral of the story is that you should buy your product from a reputable vendor or build yourself.

Now you can still get SMART data for those drives and run tests on them (file copies, Anvil, ect)



CrystalDiskInfo is able to display SMART data for NVMe drives or any drive connected via PCIe. I have SATA, M.2, and U.2 drives all displaying SMART info in CDI.
Thats just showing the SMART counters, SMART itself has tests you can actually run on the drives which crystal diskinfo doesnt have as a feature.


Samsung magician if I remember right supports short and long tests but not conveyance.
 
Joined
Feb 22, 2022
Messages
631 (0.60/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard Asus Crosshair VIII Dark Hero
Cooling Custom Watercooling
Memory G.Skill Trident Z Royal 2x16GB
Video Card(s) MSi RTX 3080ti Suprim X
Storage 2TB Corsair MP600 PRO Hydro X
Display(s) Samsung G7 27" x2
Audio Device(s) Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1500W
Mouse Logitech G903
Keyboard Steelseries Apex Pro
Thats just showing the SMART counters, SMART itself has tests you can actually run on the drives which crystal diskinfo doesnt have as a feature.
The drive will run these tests periodically, while powered on. The results will be reflected in the SMART data. There is no point running SMART tests manually, unless you are diagnosing a problem. If the SSD is reporting that everything is fine, it is almost guaranteed fine.

HDDs can be a different story, but there are Windows utilities that can perform SMART tests on those anyway. I have used HDDScan for that successfully, for example.
 
Top