Real experiences from users who benchmarked their drives: NVMe vs SATA, HDD upgrades, and tips.
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Home user
I used CrystalDiskMark before and after swapping my 1 TB HDD for a 500 GB NVMe. The HDD showed about 120 MB/s sequential and 1-2 MB/s random 4K. After upgrade: 3,400 MB/s sequential and about 80 MB/s random 4K. Boot and game load times improved a lot. One-click All test made comparison easy.
Tech reviewer
I run CrystalDiskMark on every SSD we install. Default 1 GiB and All button. If sequential and 4K random are in expected range we ship. Quick and reliable. I save result as image and attach to the order.
Office user
We had several USB 3.0 sticks. I set test size to 64 MiB and ran All on each. Some under 20 MB/s read, others over 100 MB/s. We use the fast ones for large files now.
System builder
I tried a few disk benchmark tools. CrystalDiskMark was the one I kept: simple UI, ZIP version no install, results that match real use. I use NVMe SSD profile for NVMe and default for SATA. Copy to clipboard and paste into our build sheet.
IT admin
I needed to benchmark a NAS. CrystalDiskMark did not show the mapped drive until I ran it without Administrator. After clicking No on UAC and starting as normal user the network drive appeared.
Second-hand buyer
I bought a used NVMe from a friend. He ran CrystalDiskMark and sent me a screenshot before shipping. Sequential and 4K random were in the expected range for that model, so I was confident the drive was healthy. I always ask for a quick benchmark when buying used storage now.
Power user
My laptop SSD had dropped from about 480 MB/s to 420 MB/s sequential read after a year. I ran a clean Windows reinstall and TRIM; CrystalDiskMark showed it back at 470+ MB/s. Good way to see if the drive is still performing and not too fragmented.
Enthusiast
Peak gives highest numbers for hardware comparison. Real World uses a more typical workload so numbers are lower but closer to everyday use. I run both when reviewing a drive.
Home user
I ran CrystalDiskMark on my laptop SSD before and after a clean Windows install. Before: around 480 MB/s read. After a few months of use it had dropped to about 420 MB/s. After the reinstall and trim it went back to 470+. Good way to see if the drive is still healthy and not too fragmented.
Power user
I wanted to see if my NAS could saturate 10 Gbit. I ran CrystalDiskMark as a normal user (so the mapped drive showed up), set 1 GiB test, and ran All. I got about 1.1 GB/s sequential read, so the link was fully used. Very useful for checking network storage performance.
Builder
I had two NVMe drives and needed to pick one as the main OS drive. I used the NVMe SSD profile, same test size (1 GiB), and ran each three times. I compared both sequential and 4K random. One had better 4K which matters for boot and apps, so I chose that one. CrystalDiskMark made the decision easy.
Student
My laptop was very slow. I ran CrystalDiskMark and the HDD showed about 80 MB/s sequential and 0.5 MB/s random 4K. I replaced it with a SATA SSD and got 520 MB/s and 40 MB/s. The difference in daily use was huge. I used the saved benchmark image to show my parents why the upgrade was worth it.
Buyer
I bought a used NVMe SSD from a friend. He ran CrystalDiskMark and sent me the result image before shipping. Sequential and random were in the expected range for that model, so I was confident the drive was working. Always a good idea to benchmark used storage.
For problems and fixes see Troubleshooting.