Wanna Benchmark?

[kenja]

Scattered through these forums are occasional references to benchmarks.

Here is a nice listing of downloadable shareware and freeware: http://www.tweakfiles.com/benchmark/

I love using Sisoft's Sandra (with the understanding that they are synthetic benchmarks; real-world results may differ). It is listed here: http://www.tweakfiles.com/allinone/

[mjc]

But aren't they all?

If you and I run the same program and get the same results if we compare them then we can have some sort of discussion about how are systems perform, but if we expect those results to show something about how our systems will actually perform a certain task then I think we are asking too much. If you run a Quake benchmark it will show how your machine will perform playing Quake or Quake based games but what about other apps? If you start with a reasonably fast machine you can customize your machine to perform best in the areas that seem most important to you.

I use Sandra to keep tabs on the effect of the changes I make to my system. Same system, same program so I can be pretty sure that any differences are actually occurring and whether they have any impact on my system.

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mjc
On the sixth day of Christmas...

[kenja]

I agree with every point you make,mjc. It's just a matter of semantics,I guess.

Here is what I'd consider a real-world benchmark that is meaningful to my situation: How long it takes a disk-imaging program to save multiple gigabytes, using the highest level of compression. The trouble with benchmarks (synthetic or otherwise): Making sure apples are being compared to the same variety of apples (let alone oranges).

Happy New Year! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

[kenja]

[P.S.] The title of my post was not meant as a challenge, except maybe to an Underclockers Contest. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif