Like we have the tools to monitoring and diagnostics CPU-Z and GPU-Z for processor and graphics card respectively, there is also a tool called SSD-Z that does the same with our solid state drives. If you did not know of its existence, in this article we are going to show you how to download it and how to use it, including all its ins and outs and options.
For any hardware fan it is essential to be able to always have all the information related to their hardware at hand, and even more so when we talk about monitoring to be able to control all its parameters. This is especially interesting in an SSD since, as you well know, it has a limited number of write and erase cycles, so it is quite important to be able to know, even roughly, how much remaining life it has left and if its operation is adequate. .
How to download and install SSD-Z
SSD-Z is, like CPU-Z and GPU-Z (although they are all from different developers), a tool that is free to use as long as it is not used commercially. This means that any user can download it and use it in a completely freeTo do so, you simply have to access the author’s website and click on the corresponding button that will simply give you the option to download it in RAR or ZIP format.
SSD-Z does not require any installation, and in fact you can run it directly from the compressed file without having to decompress it on the hard disk (in fact, when doing so it will be stored in a temporary space as well), but as always, it is advisable to extract it and save it in some location on your storage drive to avoid problems.
How to use SSD-Z to monitor and diagnose your SSD
As you can see in the image above, the appearance of SSD-Z is extremely similar to that of CPU-Z or GPU-Z, and its operation is also. Thus, in the tab that is displayed as soon as the application (Device) is opened, what is shown is all the information of the device:
- Device Name: is the name of the device.
- Firmware: the version of your firmware.
- Serial Number: is the serial number of the unit you have installed. You have to press F9 to show it (they do this in order to take screenshots without having to show the exact serial number of our device).
- Launch Date– This is the SSD release date, which does not have to coincide with the purchase date.
- Technology and Cells: the first value shows us the lithography of the chips, while the second shows us the type (SLC, MLC, TLC …).
- Controller: is the name of the controller that the SSD uses.
- NAND: is the manufacturer and type of NAND Flash memory.
- Capabilities: is the list of technologies that the SSD supports, such as SMART, NCQ or DevSleep.
- Interface and Speed: is the interface the SSD is connected to and the current and maximum speed it is running at.
- TRIM and ATA Standard: the TRIM value simply tells us if it is enabled, while ATA Standard refers precisely to the SATA standard used.
- SMART and Temperature: It tells us if the SMART status is correct, and the second value the current temperature of the device.
- POH and Power Cycle Count: POH is the acronym for Power On Hours, and it tells us how long the device has been on. What Power Cycle Count tells us is the number of times the SSD has been turned on and off.
- Capacity and Over-Provision: capacity tells us the capacity, while Over-Provison tells us if it has over-provisioning activated and, if so, in what quantity.
- Bytes Writen and Sector Size: Bytes written is the number of bytes written to the device, and also SSD-Z indicates it to us in GB or TB so that we can get a very clear idea of the durability knowing the TBW of the SSD. Sector Size is the size of the sectors configured when the device was formatted.
- Volumes and Partitions: They indicate respectively the volumes and partitions created, indicating in the first case the drive letters and in the second the type.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that in the lower area we have a drop-down that shows us all the storage units installed on the PC, being able to select from which we want to see the information. On the left, there is a small button that serves to refresh the information and on the right the Quit button, which will close the SSD-Z.
The second tab is called SMART, and as you well know, it is the unit’s health auto-detection system. Here we can find relevant information about its status, and it is the same as any other monitoring software such as CrystalDiskInfo, so there is not much to add here.
The third tab is called Partitions, and as its name indicates it will show us information about the partitions created on the device.
In the Benchmark tab we can run a small and brief performance test, but it is still under development and for now it only shows the sequential read speed, the access time and the QD32 IOPS.
Here we also have a drop-down that initially shows Benchmark Overview and is the one you can see above, but it also shows us if we want a detail of the IOPS, a graph of transfer performance and access times, but they already warn us that this tab is in development and the results may not be entirely accurate.
In the Identify tab, the software will show us more intricate and specific information about the unit, including the number of cylinders if we even had a mechanical disk. However, this tab can be more useful for developers than ordinary users.
The Submit tab serves in case we want to send the data of our unit to the developer’s database, so that they can complete their database and show the information of the users’ SSDs more accurately. You can add the email address and add comments if you want.
Finally, we have the About tab that shows us some information about the developer, as well as the launch date of the application (do not worry because there it says September 2016 because that is the date of the initial version and not of the current one) and gives us the option to donate through PayPal if you want to encourage its development.
The post If you didn’t know about SSD-Z, we’ll show you how to get the most out of it appeared first on HardZone.
