Alignment is a multiplier, not a miracle
Performance hygiene
SSDs read and write in pages and blocks. Starting a partition at a friendly offset reduces read-modify-write amplification on some controllers.
Modern Windows installers usually align automatically; problems appear when imaging older disks onto new media verbatim.
Some tools report alignment in MiB boundaries—learn what your reporting tool means before 'fixing' anything.
Benchmarks fluctuate; combine alignment checks with SMART health and temperature headroom.
Cloning followed by small partition tweaks can accidentally shift offsets—verify after any manual drag operations.
NVMe exposes different queuing behavior than SATA; do not extrapolate tuning advice across bus types blindly.
If performance is fine and SMART is clean, avoid alignment edits purely for superstition.