What is Benchmarking?
Posted : 1320 Hrs, 27 July 2008
Whilst
it is usually possible to get a rough idea of how well a computer
will operate by simply looking at the system specification sheet,
this doesn't always give a true reflection of the machines
performance. For that reason, those that want to get an accurate
idea of the speed of their computer will often run a piece of
benchmarking software.
Benchmark programs work by testing performance characteristics of
individual sections of your computer; for example the number of
calculations per second of your processor, the access time of your
memory and the number of polygons per second that your graphics card
can draw. The results can then be used to produce an individual
score for each component along with an overall score for the entire
system; such results can be helpful for those who want to identify
weak spots in their computer and work on improving them. Fortunately
this week I learned of a piece of software called PC Wizard which
allows you to do just that.
The
software itself can be downloaded free of charge from http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php
- Fortunately it is only a couple of megabytes in size and so should
only take a few minutes to download an install. The program is
classified as freeware so isn't in any way restricted and they don't
generate any revenue by exposing you to advertising.
The primary function
of PC Wizard is simply to identify system components - this is
surprisingly useful if you're looking to update a particular driver
or gain support for a particular building block within your
computer. On a conventional PC the only truly accurate other way has
been simply to take the side off and have a look however this
technique falls flat on its face when we are dealing with laptops.
Whilst Windows Device manager will give me a limited amount of
information regarding the hardware inside my laptop I'd much prefers
a piece of software rather than a screwdriver to find out specifics.
Our main
interest with this software is the benchmark section so if you click
on this icon you will be given the options to test every conceivable
area of your system including the processor, main memory, hard drive
and video card. By comparing these readings against the benchmark
systems already provided by the software you should be able to get a
good idea of what areas of your system are letting you down.
For your
own peace of mind, if you are considering a system upgrade then try
running a test like this before and after the upgrade takes place so
that you can see how much of a difference you've made. Likewise, if
you want to experiment with playing around with things like BIOS
settings and your Operating System then run these tests at all
stages so you can see whether your alterations have had a positive
or detrimental effect. I have in the past talked about removing
software nastiness from your computer such as wasteful applications
that stay resident in memory and for your own interest it would have
been appropriate to use PC Wizard before and after to ensure that my
tips had indeed been beneficial.
Any of
the data you collect can be easily exported to a universal file
format so should ever need the support of a PC helpdesk then sending
the file along to them will provide an immediate and accurate
impression of your machine without you having to do any legwork.
For
those that need it, PC Wizard is a small, free and easy to use piece
of software which can be extremely beneficial. Of course, not all
software I recommend in Click is useful to everybody so if you have
no intentions of tweaking your machine or performing any upgrades
you're probably best skipping this particular recommendation.
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