VM Disk speed test faster than host

[GeorgiosR]

Hi all,
I'm running a Windows 11 VM on my M1 Pro MBP 14" which is installed on an external SSD (Just a M.2 SSD in a 10 GBPS USB-C enclosure).
If I run a speed test via the BlackMagic tool I get about 980 MB's Read and Write respectively which is about the max supported by the enclosure. However, If I run a speed test from within the VM with CrystalDiskMark I get much higher speeds. Please see screens below.




One the other hand, I've got a Mac Mini M2 Pro, exactly the same setup; Win 11 VM on external SSD; just with a thunderbolt enclosure, which produces normal results, please see below.





Anyone can explain what's happening? How can the MBP VM disk be faster than the actual drive it's been installed on?

 

[Aries@PF]

My instinct is that you're Actually testing the speed of the system memory, but beyond that, IDK.

 

[GeorgiosR]

My instinct is that you're Actually testing the speed of the system memory, but beyond that, IDK.

Thanks for the reply, I was thinking the same, but why not on the Mac Mini? Both devices got 32GB of RAM.

 

[Aries@PF]

Thanks for the reply, I was thinking the same, but why not on the Mac Mini? Both devices got 32GB of RAM.

Slightly different tech I guess. Apple is weird with how they choose to design things.