Futuremark Releases PCMark05
Futuremark launched PCMark 05, an updated version of its popular PC benchmark software. PCMark05 features advanced workloads, including HD video transcoding, digital music encoding, advanced threading and trace-based hard disk performance tests.
PCMark05 enables performance comparisons between the latest PC platforms and
architectures and supports all the latest technologies. PCMark05 also features tests
with advanced threading which enable accurate benchmarking of the latest PCs with
multi-core and hyper-threaded CPUs.
PCMark05 was produced in close cooperation with Futuremark's Benchmark Development Program (BDP). Companies participating in PCMark BDP during PCMark05 development were: AMD, Dell, Intel, Microsoft and NVIDIA.
PCMark05 supports the complete benchmark cycle ? starting from benchmarking a PC, viewing the resulting benchmark details, comparing the results to those of others and finally providing means for analyzing how to improve the PC's performance. An integrated Online ResultBrowser allows instant results comparison against more than 12 million benchmark results in Futuremark's ever increasing performance database.
PCMark05 features tools for both system and component level benchmarking. System level benchmarking produces a measure of the PC's overall performance. It is a single number that is easily comparable to that of other PCs. However, advanced users and professional testers may want to further explore the performance of individual components such as the CPU, the memory, the graphics subsystem, and the hard disk. Component level benchmarking helps them to isolate the performance of individual components, exposing their strengths and weaknesses. PCMark05 even includes the ability to create custom benchmarks by putting together tests tailored to specific needs.
Key User Benefits of PCMark05:
- Easy to Use: Easy to use for both novice users, benchmarking professionals, industry vendors and press labs; - Complete Benchmarking Cycle: Benchmark a PC, view the resulting benchmark details, compare the results to those of others, and finally analyze how to improve the PC's performance;
- System and Component Performance: Expose both overall system performance as well as isolate performance of individual PC components;
- Integrated Online ResultBrowser: Instantly compare results to the world's largest database of performance data with global validation.
PCMark05 Test Suites:
- System Test Suite: Extensive collection of application-based tests that are relevant in typical home use of a PC; tasks include hard disk drive access, video encoding, audio compression, 2D user interface tasks, 2D graphics memory access, web page rendering, file decryption and encryption, memory access and text editing.
- CPU Test Suite: Includes tests that isolate the performance of the CPU; tasks include file compression and decompression, file encryption and decryption, audio compression and decompression and image decompression;
- Memory Performance Testing: Tests measure the performance of the memory subsystem; these tasks include reading, writing and copying access to data blocks in the L1 cache, L2 cache, and main memory as well as latency tests;
- Graphics Test Suite: Tests measure both 2D and 3D graphics performance of the PC. 2D tasks measure moving and transparent 2D dialog performance, graphics memory performance and video playback performance. 3D tasks exercise pixel shader, vertex shader, fill rate and polygon throughput capabilities for the graphics subsystem; Hard Disk Drive Test Suite: Uses disk activity traces from real-life tasks; these tests isolate the performance of the hard disk drive. Disk activities measured include Windows XP startup, application loading, file writing, virus scanning and general disk usage.
Pricing and Availability
PCMark05 is immediately available in three versions. For private home usage there are two versions: PCMark05 Basic, a freeware version with limited functionality and PCMark05 Advanced ($19.95) with extended functionality. For professional and business usage, PCMark05 Professional ($199.95) provides full functionality and additional features enabling test automation. The software are available from http://www.futuremark.com/products/pcmark05/.
PCMark05 was produced in close cooperation with Futuremark's Benchmark Development Program (BDP). Companies participating in PCMark BDP during PCMark05 development were: AMD, Dell, Intel, Microsoft and NVIDIA.
PCMark05 supports the complete benchmark cycle ? starting from benchmarking a PC, viewing the resulting benchmark details, comparing the results to those of others and finally providing means for analyzing how to improve the PC's performance. An integrated Online ResultBrowser allows instant results comparison against more than 12 million benchmark results in Futuremark's ever increasing performance database.
PCMark05 features tools for both system and component level benchmarking. System level benchmarking produces a measure of the PC's overall performance. It is a single number that is easily comparable to that of other PCs. However, advanced users and professional testers may want to further explore the performance of individual components such as the CPU, the memory, the graphics subsystem, and the hard disk. Component level benchmarking helps them to isolate the performance of individual components, exposing their strengths and weaknesses. PCMark05 even includes the ability to create custom benchmarks by putting together tests tailored to specific needs.
Key User Benefits of PCMark05:
- Easy to Use: Easy to use for both novice users, benchmarking professionals, industry vendors and press labs; - Complete Benchmarking Cycle: Benchmark a PC, view the resulting benchmark details, compare the results to those of others, and finally analyze how to improve the PC's performance;
- System and Component Performance: Expose both overall system performance as well as isolate performance of individual PC components;
- Integrated Online ResultBrowser: Instantly compare results to the world's largest database of performance data with global validation.
PCMark05 Test Suites:
- System Test Suite: Extensive collection of application-based tests that are relevant in typical home use of a PC; tasks include hard disk drive access, video encoding, audio compression, 2D user interface tasks, 2D graphics memory access, web page rendering, file decryption and encryption, memory access and text editing.
- CPU Test Suite: Includes tests that isolate the performance of the CPU; tasks include file compression and decompression, file encryption and decryption, audio compression and decompression and image decompression;
- Memory Performance Testing: Tests measure the performance of the memory subsystem; these tasks include reading, writing and copying access to data blocks in the L1 cache, L2 cache, and main memory as well as latency tests;
- Graphics Test Suite: Tests measure both 2D and 3D graphics performance of the PC. 2D tasks measure moving and transparent 2D dialog performance, graphics memory performance and video playback performance. 3D tasks exercise pixel shader, vertex shader, fill rate and polygon throughput capabilities for the graphics subsystem; Hard Disk Drive Test Suite: Uses disk activity traces from real-life tasks; these tests isolate the performance of the hard disk drive. Disk activities measured include Windows XP startup, application loading, file writing, virus scanning and general disk usage.
Pricing and Availability
PCMark05 is immediately available in three versions. For private home usage there are two versions: PCMark05 Basic, a freeware version with limited functionality and PCMark05 Advanced ($19.95) with extended functionality. For professional and business usage, PCMark05 Professional ($199.95) provides full functionality and additional features enabling test automation. The software are available from http://www.futuremark.com/products/pcmark05/.
