Understanding 3DMark storage outcomes
Understanding 3DMark storage outcomes
I've begun exploring SSD testing lately, just a personal interest. As the go-to tech expert among my friends, someone asked me to evaluate an SSD and write a quick review for them, so I'm diving headfirst into the testing process. I'm getting familiar with different benchmark tools, but I'm still struggling to understand something specific—3DMark Storage data.
In particular, I'm analyzing the game loading speed. On my 980 Pro, loading Battlefield V comes in around 858 MB/s, while my external Crucial X6 manages about 212 MB/s. The other titles in the 3DMark results seem to line up more closely with that figure.
I don't own the games used in those tests, but I know the 980 Pro doesn't actually speed up game loading by a factor of four. Perhaps just a few percent? So, what do these "load" scores really represent? Why does a game labeled as loading 4x faster not actually load four times quicker? What value do these numbers hold for real-world performance?
I checked the 3DMark documentation, but it didn’t really help me grasp the concept. I just want to make sure I'm picking up the right information without coming across as too confused. : D
The issue is that "loading" isn't merely transferring data from storage to RAM, the system must also prepare the program so it's usable. To illustrate, moving bread, jam, and peanut butter to a counter is similar to transferring data; however, simply placing the items there doesn't create a sandwich—you still need to process them. Eventually, the CPU becomes the main obstacle during the loading phase.