diff --git a/bench/README.md b/bench/README.md
index 5c6b6ea1..ca07d87b 100644
--- a/bench/README.md
+++ b/bench/README.md
@@ -31,5 +31,63 @@ bash bench/db-bench-plot.sh master.csv wip.csv
 ```
 
 ## `write-random`
+
+Run the benchmark:
+
+```
+node bench/write-random.js
+```
+
+This writes results to `bench/write-random.csv` by default. To save results from multiple runs, add `--out <filename>`. For example, you could switch branches (assuming that both branches have the same benchmark code):
+
+```
+node bench/write-random.js --out master.csv
+
+git checkout wip
+node-gyp rebuild
+node bench/write-random.js --out wip.csv
+```
+
+Then plot both runs with `write-random-plot.sh <file, ..>` (the basenames of the files are used for the legend):
+
+```
+./bench/write-random-plot.sh *.csv
+```
+
+If you are on Windows, you can use git bash:
+
+```
+bash bench/write-random-plot.sh master.csv wip.csv
+```
+
 ## `write-sorted`
+
+Run the benchmark:
+
+```
+node bench/write-sorted.js
+```
+
+This writes results to `bench/write-sorted.csv` by default. To save results from multiple runs, add `--out <filename>`. For example, you could switch branches (assuming that both branches have the same benchmark code):
+
+```
+node bench/write-sorted.js --out master.csv
+
+git checkout wip
+node-gyp rebuild
+node bench/write-sorted.js --out wip.csv
+```
+
+Then plot both runs with `write-sorted-plot.sh <file, ..>` (the basenames of the files are used for the legend):
+
+```
+./bench/write-sorted-plot.sh *.csv
+```
+
+If you are on Windows, you can use git bash:
+
+```
+bash bench/write-sorted-plot.sh master.csv wip.csv
+```
+
 ## `memory`
diff --git a/bench/db-bench.js b/bench/db-bench.js
index cd1b5ccd..e969233e 100755
--- a/bench/db-bench.js
+++ b/bench/db-bench.js
@@ -4,11 +4,10 @@ const leveldown = require('../')
 const fs = require('fs')
 const du = require('du')
 const path = require('path')
+const rimraf = require('rimraf')
 const argv = require('optimist').argv
 
 const options = {
-  benchmark: argv.benchmark,
-  useExisting: argv.use_existing,
   db: argv.db || path.join(__dirname, 'db'),
   num: argv.num || 1000000,
   concurrency: argv.concurrency || 4,
@@ -21,9 +20,7 @@ const options = {
 const randomString = require('slump').string
 const keyTmpl = '0000000000000000'
 
-if (!options.useExisting) {
-  leveldown.destroy(options.db, function () {})
-}
+rimraf.sync(options.db)
 
 const db = leveldown(options.db)
 const timesStream = fs.createWriteStream(options.out, 'utf8')
@@ -56,6 +53,7 @@ function start () {
       if (err) throw err
       console.log('Database size:', Math.floor(size / 1024 / 1024) + 'M')
     })
+    console.log('Wrote times to ', options.out)
   }
 
   function write () {
diff --git a/bench/write-random-plot.sh b/bench/write-random-plot.sh
index f9294ae3..27a9d285 100755
--- a/bench/write-random-plot.sh
+++ b/bench/write-random-plot.sh
@@ -1,24 +1,38 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
+num_writes=10M
+num_files=$#
+platform=$(node -p process.platform)
+arch=$(node -p process.arch)
+node=$(node -p process.version)
+png_suffix=$(date '+%Y%m%d-%H.%M.%S')
+
 gnuplot <<EOF
   reset
-  set terminal png size 1920, 1080
-  set output "write_random_times.png"
+  set terminal pngcairo truecolor enhanced font "Ubuntu Mono,13" size 1920, 1080 background rgb "#1b1b1b"
+  set output "bench/write-random-$png_suffix.png"
   set datafile separator ','
 
-  #set yrange [0:0.6]
-  set logscale y
+  set autoscale y
 
-  set xlabel "Seconds"
-  set ylabel "Milliseconds per write"
+  set xlabel "Time (seconds)" tc rgb "#777777"
+  set ylabel "Milliseconds/write" tc rgb "#888888"
 
-  set title "1.3G / 10,000,000 writes"
-  set key below
+  set key outside tc rgb "#777777"
+  set border lc rgb "#777777"
   set grid
 
-  plot "write_random_times_g32.csv" using (\$1/1000):(\$2/1000000) title "Google LevelDB" lc rgb "red" lt 7 ps 0.3, \
-       "write_random_times_h32.csv" using (\$1/1000):(\$2/1000000) title "HyperDex LevelDB" lc rgb "green" lt 7 ps 0.3, \
-       "write_random_times_b32.csv" using (\$1/1000):(\$2/1000000) title "Basho LevelDB" lc rgb "blue" lt 7 ps 0.3, \
-       "write_random_times.csv" using (\$1/1000):(\$2/1000000) title "LMDB" lc rgb "black" lt 7 ps 0.3
+  # To plot more than 5 files, add more line styles
+  set style line 1 lt 7 ps 0.8 lc rgb "#00FFFF"
+  set style line 2 lt 7 ps 0.8 lc rgb "#D84797"
+  set style line 3 lt 7 ps 0.8 lc rgb "#23CE6B"
+  set style line 4 lt 7 ps 0.8 lc rgb "#F5B700"
+  set style line 5 lt 7 ps 0.8 lc rgb "#731DD8"
+
+  set title "leveldown write-random, $num_writes writes, $platform $arch, node $node" tc rgb "#cccccc"
+
+  filename(n) = word("$@", n)
+  basename(n) = substr(word("$@", n), 0, strstrt(word("$@", n), ".csv") - 1)
 
+  plot for [i=1:$num_files] filename(i) using (\$1/1000):(\$2/1000000) title basename(i) ls i axes x1y1
 EOF
diff --git a/bench/write-random.js b/bench/write-random.js
index 423b3a7c..7508f91d 100644
--- a/bench/write-random.js
+++ b/bench/write-random.js
@@ -3,24 +3,35 @@ const crypto = require('crypto')
 const fs = require('fs')
 const du = require('du')
 const uuid = require('uuid')
+const path = require('path')
+const rimraf = require('rimraf')
+const argv = require('optimist').argv
+
+const options = {
+  db: argv.db || path.join(__dirname, 'db'),
+  num: argv.num || 10000000,
+  concurrency: argv.concurrency || 10,
+  cacheSize: argv.cacheSize || 8,
+  writeBufferSize: argv.writeBufferSize || 4,
+  valueSize: argv.valueSize || 100,
+  out: argv.out || path.join(__dirname, 'write-random.csv')
+}
 
-const entryCount = 10000000
-const concurrency = 10
-const timesFile = './write_random_times.csv'
-const dbDir = './write_random.db'
 const data = crypto.randomBytes(256) // buffer
 
-const db = leveldown(dbDir)
-const timesStream = fs.createWriteStream(timesFile, 'utf8')
+rimraf.sync(options.db)
+
+const db = leveldown(options.db)
+const timesStream = fs.createWriteStream(options.out, 'utf8')
 
 function report (ms) {
-  console.log('Wrote', entryCount, 'in', Math.floor(ms / 1000) + 's')
+  console.log('Wrote', options.num, 'in', Math.floor(ms / 1000) + 's')
   timesStream.end()
-  du(dbDir, function (err, size) {
+  du(options.db, function (err, size) {
     if (err) throw err
     console.log('Database size:', Math.floor(size / 1024 / 1024) + 'M')
   })
-  console.log('Wrote times to ', timesFile)
+  console.log('Wrote times to ', options.out)
 }
 
 db.open(function (err) {
@@ -39,15 +50,18 @@ db.open(function (err) {
       writeBuf = ''
     }
 
-    if (totalWrites++ === entryCount) return report(Date.now() - startTime)
-    if (inProgress >= concurrency || totalWrites > entryCount) return
+    if (totalWrites++ === options.num) return report(Date.now() - startTime)
+    if (inProgress >= options.concurrency || totalWrites > options.num) return
 
-    var time = process.hrtime()
+    var start = process.hrtime()
     inProgress++
 
     db.put(uuid.v4(), data, function (err) {
       if (err) throw err
-      writeBuf += (Date.now() - startTime) + ',' + process.hrtime(time)[1] + '\n'
+      var duration = process.hrtime(start)
+      var nano = (duration[0] * 1e9) + duration[1]
+
+      writeBuf += (Date.now() - startTime) + ',' + nano + '\n'
       inProgress--
       process.nextTick(write)
     })
diff --git a/bench/write-sorted-plot.sh b/bench/write-sorted-plot.sh
index 24ee173a..4d15d874 100755
--- a/bench/write-sorted-plot.sh
+++ b/bench/write-sorted-plot.sh
@@ -1,22 +1,39 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
+num_writes=10M
+num_files=$#
+platform=$(node -p process.platform)
+arch=$(node -p process.arch)
+node=$(node -p process.version)
+png_suffix=$(date '+%Y%m%d-%H.%M.%S')
+
 gnuplot <<EOF
   reset
-  set terminal png size 1920, 1080
-  set output "write_sorted_times.png"
+  set terminal pngcairo truecolor enhanced font "Ubuntu Mono,13" size 1920, 1080 background rgb "#1b1b1b"
+  set output "bench/write-sorted-$png_suffix.png"
   set datafile separator ','
 
-  #set yrange [0:0.6]
+  set autoscale y
 
-  set xlabel "Seconds"
-  set ylabel "Milliseconds per write"
+  set xlabel "Time (seconds)" tc rgb "#777777"
+  set ylabel "Milliseconds/write" tc rgb "#888888"
 
-  set title "1.3G / 10,000,000 writes"
-  set key below
+  set key outside tc rgb "#777777"
+  set border lc rgb "#777777"
   set grid
 
-  plot "write_sorted_times_g.csv" using (\$1/1000):(\$2/1000000) title "Google LevelDB" lc rgb "red" lt 7 ps 0.3, \
-       "write_sorted_times_h.csv" using (\$1/1000):(\$2/1000000) title "HyperDex LevelDB" lc rgb "green" lt 7 ps 0.3, \
-       "write_sorted_times_b.csv" using (\$1/1000):(\$2/1000000) title "Basho LevelDB" lc rgb "blue" lt 7 ps 0.3
+  # To plot more than 5 files, add more line styles
+  set style line 1 lt 7 ps 0.8 lc rgb "#00FFFF"
+  set style line 2 lt 7 ps 0.8 lc rgb "#D84797"
+  set style line 3 lt 7 ps 0.8 lc rgb "#23CE6B"
+  set style line 4 lt 7 ps 0.8 lc rgb "#F5B700"
+  set style line 5 lt 7 ps 0.8 lc rgb "#731DD8"
+
+  set title "leveldown write-sorted, $num_writes writes, $platform $arch, node $node" tc rgb "#cccccc"
+
+  filename(n) = word("$@", n)
+  basename(n) = substr(word("$@", n), 0, strstrt(word("$@", n), ".csv") - 1)
+
+  plot for [i=1:$num_files] filename(i) using (\$1/1000):(\$2/1000000) title basename(i) ls i axes x1y1
 
-EOF
\ No newline at end of file
+EOF
diff --git a/bench/write-sorted.js b/bench/write-sorted.js
index c00e0fc7..65f8c73b 100644
--- a/bench/write-sorted.js
+++ b/bench/write-sorted.js
@@ -3,27 +3,38 @@ const timestamp = require('monotonic-timestamp')
 const crypto = require('crypto')
 const fs = require('fs')
 const du = require('du')
+const path = require('path')
+const rimraf = require('rimraf')
+const argv = require('optimist').argv
+
+const options = {
+  db: argv.db || path.join(__dirname, 'db'),
+  num: argv.num || 10000000,
+  concurrency: argv.concurrency || 10,
+  cacheSize: argv.cacheSize || 8,
+  writeBufferSize: argv.writeBufferSize || 4,
+  valueSize: argv.valueSize || 100,
+  out: argv.out || path.join(__dirname, 'write-sorted.csv')
+}
 
-const entryCount = 10000000
-const concurrency = 10
-const timesFile = './write_sorted_times.csv'
-const dbDir = './write_sorted.db'
 const data = crypto.randomBytes(256) // buffer
 
-const db = leveldown(dbDir)
-const timesStream = fs.createWriteStream(timesFile, 'utf8')
+rimraf.sync(options.db)
+
+const db = leveldown(options.db)
+const timesStream = fs.createWriteStream(options.out, 'utf8')
 
 function report (ms) {
-  console.log('Wrote', entryCount, 'in', Math.floor(ms / 1000) + 's')
+  console.log('Wrote', options.num, 'in', Math.floor(ms / 1000) + 's')
   timesStream.end()
-  du(dbDir, function (err, size) {
+  du(options.db, function (err, size) {
     if (err) throw err
     console.log('Database size:', Math.floor(size / 1024 / 1024) + 'M')
   })
-  console.log('Wrote times to ', timesFile)
+  console.log('Wrote times to ', options.out)
 }
 
-db.open({ errorIfExists: true, createIfMissing: true }, function (err) {
+db.open(function (err) {
   if (err) throw err
 
   let inProgress = 0
@@ -39,15 +50,18 @@ db.open({ errorIfExists: true, createIfMissing: true }, function (err) {
       writeBuf = ''
     }
 
-    if (totalWrites++ === entryCount) return report(Date.now() - startTime)
-    if (inProgress >= concurrency || totalWrites > entryCount) return
+    if (totalWrites++ === options.num) return report(Date.now() - startTime)
+    if (inProgress >= options.concurrency || totalWrites > options.num) return
 
-    var time = process.hrtime()
+    var start = process.hrtime()
     inProgress++
 
     db.put(timestamp(), data, function (err) {
       if (err) throw err
-      writeBuf += (Date.now() - startTime) + ',' + process.hrtime(time)[1] + '\n'
+      var duration = process.hrtime(start)
+      var nano = (duration[0] * 1e9) + duration[1]
+
+      writeBuf += (Date.now() - startTime) + ',' + nano + '\n'
       inProgress--
       process.nextTick(write)
     })