HD tune results interpretation

[AlexMaxP]

Hello,

Can someone help me understand my HDD HD tune results ? I have a SATA 2 Western Digital 1TB.
So, I understand that transfer speed refers to sequence read speed .
I don't know what access time refers to, neither burst rate.
And what do the yellow dots represent ? does it matter how they are scattered around the background ?
And I know that random reading refers to stuff like reading when the computer boots, but I don't know any sequence reading examples. And which is more often/important happening on a HDD ?
Are the HD tune results normal for my HDD ?

I hope somebody can help me with my questions. I don't want any detailed astronomical explanation. Just some basic explanation for understanding these terms/processes.

Thank you very much.

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipN-EzbaKt5S0Q6w3a1s2OU-h7I3HtoJb-UEs2NI

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there AlexMaxP,

For some reason, I can't really open the link. Could you upload the screen to another image hosting platform and post the link? Also, I believe it would be a good idea to take a screenshot of the Health tab as well. The SMART report would show the overall health status of the drive.
Is the drive a primary or a secondary one? In case it is an OS drive, the benchmark results could be skewed.
How old is the drive? If you are facing some issues with it, it may be a good idea to back up the data stored on it.

I believe it will not hurt to test the drive with WD's DLG tool (both short and extended tools as well): http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=2Bzzwl

Let me know how this goes,
D_Know_WD

 

[AlexMaxP]

Hello,

I don't know why the link doesn't work, google failed a this.
Here is a new link : http://pictub.club/image/LnFGZ
The health tab OK. Temperature is OK. The hard drive doesn't present any issues.
I just want to learn to benchmark PC components. I started with the drive.
The drive is an OS drive, I know the benchmark can be skewed, but that is shown in the blue spikes of the graph, and either way, if the HDD was damaged in a serious way, you would notice a huge abnormality in the graph.
The drive wasn't running any major processes while the benchmark was taken.
Can you please answer the questions from my previous post ?
Thanks.

Alex.

 

[James Mason]

for the threads info, It's a WD Green 5400RPM drive: http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/SpecSheet/ENG/2879-701229.pdf

 

[D_Know_WD]

As James Mason suggested, WD Green may not be the best pick for an OS drive, due to it's power efficient characteristics.
Also, I would advice you to run the benchmark test once again but when your system is in safe mode, without network activity.

Apart from that:
- Burst rate is the maximum speed that the drive can reach when transferring data to the pc.
- Access time is the time it takes before the drive can actually transfer data. There are some yellow dots that are really high in the graph. This could be affected by cables. So, you can attach the drive with different SATA and power cables to another port. I believe it will not hurt to update your MOBO drivers as well.
- Sequential read example: video footage let's say.

To sum it up, the graph should really look that way. You can google some graphs and see how they should look like.

Possible reasons:
- cables/port/drivers
- power efficient HDD.
- OS interfering.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[AlexMaxP]

Here is a snapshot from Safe Mode : http://pictub.club/image/Lt33r
Most of the background computing is gone, but there are still some drops in the blue graph.
The yellow dots look the same. What do you think ?
And what do you mean by power efficient HDD ? isn't that good ?

Cheers,

Alex.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Yeah, I believe the access time should be better.
The drive is designed to be used as a secondary storage one, that runs cool and quiet. Of course, if you get a 7200 RPM, performance oriented drive, you should most probably get better benchmark results.

Anyway, I still think that it may be a good idea to attach the drive with different cables to another port.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[AlexMaxP]

Well said.
Can you help me troubleshoot an Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB ? I use this hard drive at my workplace. Here are the details :

I tried to run HD tune benchmark, but receive " Read Error ! Test aborted " : http://imgur.com/gb6WzOH
I receive this error message every time I run it, in the same spot.
I ran HD tune full error scan, and got 2 error blocks.
When I ran HD tune PRO benchmark, I receive the same error .
HD tune does not display S.M.A.R.T details and temperature.
HD tune PRO displays S.M.A.R.T details and temperature as being OK.
CrystalDiskInfo displays S.M.A.R.T as being OK
I ran Intel Solid-State Drive Toolbox quick diagnostic and full diagnostic scan -- > both OK
ParkDale display the following results : http://imgur.com/9xc9FRb
ASS SSD displays the following results with the following error : " Could not open device \\\PHYSICALDRIVE0 : http://imgur.com/a/FwiQH
SSD is running on AHCI mode, TRIM optimized, all partitions alligned, Intel SSD toolbox optimization also used.
Is the SSD OK ? why I cannot run HD tune benchmark and ASS SSD without error ?
Thanks kindly for the feedback.

Alex.