Performance

To benchmark your SSD on Linux, use fio for full sequential and random I/O tests, hdparm for a quick sequential read check, and GNOME Disks for a visual one-click run. A healthy Gen5 NVMe drive (a Crucial T705, Samsung 990 EVO Plus Gen5, or WD Black SN8100) should hit 12,000-14,000 MB/s sequential reads and over 1,200,000 random 4K read IOPS. Gen4 drives top out near 7,000 MB/s sequential and 800,000-1,000,000 IOPS. If your numbers fall well short, there is usually a clear reason: heat throttling, a PCIe slot at the wrong generation, or a bad I/O scheduler setting.