What Information Is Shown in SSD Tester's Benchmark Results?

SSD Tester (ssd-tester.com) publishes benchmark tables for four drive categories, and each row gives you the same core fields: product name, image, capacity, sequential read speed, sequential write speed, price in USD, and a numeric score. You can use these fields to compare drives within a category, but the score is only meaningful against other drives tested on the same site — it is not a cross-site standard.

The four benchmark categories

The site splits its testing by interface and form factor, and each category has its own practical speed ceiling that explains why the numbers look so different between tables.

Because the ceilings differ, a 550 MB/s SATA result and a 7,400 MB/s M.2 result are both "fast" within their own table. Compare within a category, not across categories.

What each field tells you

Product name, image, capacity

The name identifies the exact model, and capacity is listed both in marketing terms and in actual GB — for example, "1TB" alongside "1024 GB," or "1.87TB" alongside "1920 GB." Watch this column: the same model line often appears at several capacities with different scores, so a score belongs to a specific capacity, not to the product family.

Read and write speed (MB/s)

These are sequential read and write figures in MB/s. They are the headline numbers most buyers scan first, and they map directly onto the interface ceiling for that category. A SATA drive showing 550 MB/s read is at the practical limit; an M.2 drive showing 7,229 MB/s read is a Gen4-class result.

Price (USD) and score

Price is shown in US dollars with a "$" marker. Some rows show "n/a" instead of a price — that means no price was recorded for that entry, not that the drive is free. The score is a single number that rises with performance; in the M.2 table, for instance, entries range from 7,364 up to 15,048, while SATA entries sit in the 1,224–1,368 range. Treat the score as a within-category ranking aid.

"Show all" links

Each category table shows a handful of rows followed by a link to the full list — "Show all M.2 SSD tests," "Show all SATA SSD tests," "Show all portable SSD/HDD tests." Use these when the drive you are considering is not in the preview rows.

How to read a results table in practice

1. Pick the category that matches the drive you are buying (M.2, SATA, external, or USB flash).
2. Scan read and write speeds first, but check them against the category ceiling so you know whether a number is near the limit or mid-range.
3. Check the capacity column — confirm the score and price you are looking at belong to the capacity you want.
4. Compare scores only among rows in the same table.
5. Follow the "Show all" link if your candidate model is missing from the preview.

Worked example

Suppose you are choosing between two 1TB M.2 drives. One row shows 7,229 MB/s read, 6,208 MB/s write, a price of 170 $, and a score of 12,755. Another shows 7,423 MB/s read, 6,715 MB/s write, no listed price, and a score of 13,510. The second is faster and scores higher, but with price marked "n/a" you cannot judge value from this table alone — you would need the price from another source before deciding.

Common points of confusion

• "n/a" price is not zero. It means the field was not populated for that row.
• Score is site-specific. It reflects SSD Tester's own testing and weighting, so do not compare it to scores from other review sites.
• Capacity changes the result. A 2TB entry and a 1TB entry from the same product line can carry different speeds and scores.
• USB 2.0 drives are not covered. If your drive is USB 2.0, it will not appear in the flash drive table.

The site also notes that new models are tested regularly and that shop prices are updated daily, so a table you read today may gain rows or change prices later.