Benchmark Buffet

Today we will again take a high-level look into the world of benchmarking: CPU and GPU benchmarks, benchmarking tools and much more. Specifically, we will be looking at thirteen point-scoring benchmarks listed at HWBOT.org as well as the more common utilities used for overclocking and submitting scores to their system. We also touch on system information and monitoring applications.

For those that have not heard of HWBOT, it is the premier online repository for submitting PC benchmarks and as a hardware specification resource. HWBOT is the “only non-stop overclocking competition platform known as the HWBoints rankings.” They serve over 67,100 overclockers from all over the world compete in well over twenty of the most popular benchmarks in thousands of hardware categories, resulting in over 550,000 benchmark results, a figure that is increasing by over 500 every day. The benchmark results generate points awarded to both the member’s profile, the team’s profile and the country of origin and based on those points members are ranking in the Overclockers League, Hardware Masters League, Teams League and many more sub-rankings.

Now you have a brief background on the most popular host for competitive benchmarking and where the world’s 7th ranked team (of over 1000!), the Overclockers.com Benchmark Team, hang their hats. Lets take a look at the benchmarks and utilities you will use to run them! Due to the recent additions in the benchmarks used at HWBOT.org as well as updates in the utilities used, we have again updated this article.

Utilities

Below is a list of the major applications used and a brief description. Their functions are anything from overclocking CPU’s and GPU’s to system status/monitoring applications needed to confirm and enter scores at HWBOT, to temperature monitoring tools and programs. Of course, you don’t need ALL of these, but can choose which you like the best to use for your tweaking needs. Please be sure to verify compatible programs with your specific hardware.

CPUz (Current version) – This utility shows information about your AMD or Intel CPU, Mainboard, Memory, and System. It will be used in all of the benchmarks listed so it’s a must-have when submitting any scores.

GPU-z (Current version) – GPU-z is a program that shows information about your AMD or NVIDIA GPU including but not limited to shader count, memory, core speed (both stock and overclocked), as well as temperature and voltage monitoring of the GPU. It will be used in 3D based screenshots and is also a must-have for submitting those scores.

AMD Catalyst Control Center (Current Version – comes with driver package) – CCC is for overclocking AMD video cards as well as tweaking settings and is usually downloaded from the AMD driver package. Like RivaTuner, this video card tweaking utility you are able to set Core/Memory speeds, fan settings, enable/disable AA/AF, raise and lower detail settings along with many other features.

Saphhire Trixx (Current version) – This is another application used for overclocking your video card. Like the other applications, it will allow you adjust the Core/Shader(NVIDIA)/Memory clocks and Fan speed as well as adjusting the voltage.

EVGA Precision X (Current version) – Precision is a small footprint, little frills video card overclocking program for NVIDIA cards. It will allow you to adjust the Core/Shader/Memory clocks and Fan speed. It has a nice graphing function on it to see temperature, core/shader/memory speed, GPU use as well. You are also able to save overclocking profiles. You do not have to have an EVGA-based card to use Precision.

MSI Afterburner (Current version ) – MSI afterburner is a nice utility for both NVIDIA and AMD video cards. Like the other video card tweak programs, Afterburner allows one to adjust the core/shader/memory clocks and fan speeds, monitors clock speed/temperatures (min/max), fan speeds and frame rates. You can also save five profiles.

ASUS GPU Tweak (Current Version)- ASUS GPU Tweak is another graphics card overclocking software released by ASUS which will work with NVIDIA and AMD video cards. The software has a fairly intuitive interface with many options available for tweaking such as GPU core clocks as well as voltages,power target, and memory clock. On ASUS high end cards such as the MATRIX there will be additional options available to get that little bit extra out of your overclock. GPU Tweak also comes with a detachable monitoring window, live bios updates and the ability to alter your 2D settings.

NVIDIA Inspector (Current Version )– NVIDIA Inspector can be used on any NVIDIA graphics cards. This lightweight utility isn’t installed to the system and is opened when needed. Like other utilities Inspector has the ability to adjust Core and Memory speeds as well as Voltages/Power Targets and Temperature limits. It also includes a fairly extensive driver tweaking section.

SetFSB (Current version) – SetFSB is a CPU overclocking utility that is used to raise the Front Side Bus (FSB) of Intel LGA775 (and more) chips. It is primarily used to get those last 100+Mhz out of your system as this adjusting is completed from within windows. You will have to locate the clock generator for your specific motherboard to properly use this Tool.

AMD Overdrive (Current version) – AMD:O is for overclocking AMD CPU’s. This utility allows for HTref adjustments (FSB/Bclk for you Intel folk!), voltage adjustments and in Windows memory tweaking. It also has built-in stability testing, as well as monitoring for volts and temps. Here is a link to the AM3 AM2 Performance Tuning Guide from AMD which gives a good outline of how to use AMD Overdrive and overclock your AMD CPU.

MemSet (Current version) – MemSet is a windows based memory tweaking utility that will work for Intel DDR2/DDR3 without an integrated memory controller (IMC). It shows the various common memory timings (and others) and allows for on-the-fly adjustments for your memory timings.

CPU-Tweaker (Current version) – CPU-Tweaker is a memory tweaking utility for the Intel i3/i5/i7 series. Like Memset, it shows the various common memory timings and a lot of others, as well as allowing you to adjust them on the fly. The application does not look any different.

RealTemp (Current Version) / Core Temp (Current version) / HWMonitor (Current version 1.26) – RealTemp is simply a temperature monitoring program for Intel chips. Core Temp, designed by an Overclockers.com member, is for AMD and Intel chips. You wouldn’t want to have these running while benchmarking, but they are needed when trying to find your highest clock speed on CPU and GPU.

A couple of things to note about some of these programs…

1. It is usually recommended to begin your overclocking adventure from the BIOS. The most common reason is for stability. You would generally want to use an application like SetFSB or motherboard specific programs like EasyTune6 to get the very last out of your overclock. Here are some local overclocking guides to get you started: C2D/C2Q, i3/i5/i7, AMD.

2. YOU DO NOT NEED TO USE ALL OF THESE APPLICATIONS. Do not be intimidated! Try them out and see which application you prefer to use!

2D Benchmarks

2D Benchmarks are programs that do not test the video card but test the CPU and subsystems.

CPUz (See above for DL link)

This benchmark program is simply used to capture a validation and screenshot of the clock speeds. In order for this score to be submitted to the ‘bot, you must validate the score and submit the link you received from your validation to HWBOT. Any online CPU-Z submission must comply to the following rules: use most recent CPU-Z version, have a valid canardpc validation link as verification, screenshots are no longer allowed since 19th May 2008. You can save your overclock and submit later if your bench rig is not connected to the internet. use the same nickname in the CPU-Z submission as your HWBOT name. Example CPU-Z verification link: http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=218928.

Tips/Tricks – The goal here is reach and validate the highest speed your CPU can go. There is no such thing as stable here. So long as you get the validation link saved and can submit it to the bot properly, that is all that matters.

Super Pi 1M/32M (HWBOT accepted version, 1.5 XS mod)

SuperPi is a program that calculates a specific number of digits of Pi. In this case we use 1 million and 32 million digits. It is commonly used by overclockers to test the stability and speed of an overclocked system. You must use the XtremeSystems version 1.5, having accuracy in milliseconds and checksum validation choose 1M/32M calculation, and have a valid screenshot (see example below): clearly show SuperPi time and “calculation done” popup, processor in CPUz, memory settings in another CPUz instance, and checksum. You may use all Windows based, except for Windows 8 based operating systems (W8, W8.1, and Server 2012) and Windows 10.

Tips/Tricks – This application (like most benchmarks) is best run with nothing else going on in your system. This includes eliminating any unneeded active services as well as active processes. 32M times are influenced by memory timings and FSB/uncore/HyperTransport speed more so than 1M. XP is the OS of choice for this bench.

WPrime 32M/1024M (HWBOT accepted version 1.55)

WPrime is a multi-threaded benchmark application that can quickly test your processor performance. It does so by calculating square roots with a recursive call of Newton’s method for estimating functions. In contrast with most other simple benchmark applications, wPrime is written to take full benefit of processors with multiple cores. In order to submit a valid score, you must use the wPrime 1.55 version, choose 32M/1024M calculation, and have a valid screenshot (see example below): clearly show wPrime time, processor in CPUz and memory settings in another CPUz instance. You may use all Windows based, except for Windows 8 based operating systems (W8, W8.1, and Server 2012) and Windows 10.

Tips/Tricks – This application of course likes nothing else running with it on your rig again eliminating any unneeded active services you can as well as active processes. Windows XP 32bit / Vista 32 bit are the better OSes to complete this benchmark. Be sure you click on “advanced settings” and change that value to use all your cores and threads!

Hexus PiFast (HWBOT accepted version 4.1)

PiFast is used to compute pi with a very large number of digits. It is a single threaded benchmark. Any online PiFast submission must comply to the following rules: use Hexus PiFast version (4.1) and have a valid screenshot (see example below): clearly show time, DOS box, processor and memory tabs in CPUz. You may use all Windows based, except for Windows 8 based operating systems (W8, W8.1, and Server 2012) and Windows 10.

Tips/Tricks – Again like all other benches, trimming your un-needed services and active processes will help in getting the best score.

Intel Xtreme Tuning Utility

Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility is supplied by Intel and will only work on newer Intel processors. Intel Management Engine and Intel Chipset INF must be installed to run XTU. The utility itself has a lot of functions which will enable you to tune your CPU and IGP in a Windows environment as well as test it for stability. That brings us to the fun part, XTU also has a benchmark which can be submitted to HWBot for points and comparisons to other similar systems. Running the XTU benchmark can be harder than it seems. This bench requires a very stable system to complete. There really aren’t a lot of tweaks for this bench aside from CPU speed and memory performance. Submission is pretty straight forward with this benchmark. When the benchmark has finished just hit the Submit Online button.

Tips/Tricks – Again like all other benches, trimming your un-needed services and active processes will help in getting the best score.

HWBot Prime

HWBot Prime is a multi-platform CPU benchmark and will run on Windows, iOS, Linux and Android. You may use all Windows based, except for Windows 8 based operating systems (W8, W8.1, and Server 2012) and Windows 10. It is a fairly easy benchmark to run on your system. It runs quickly and isn’t overly demanding. You should be able to run it on your maximum overclock with all cores. One note, prior to running you will need the current JRE (Java Runtime Enviroment) which is downloadable here: JRE 8.0. Just select your appropriate Operating System version, download and install. After that, the HWBot Prime executable will run when double clicked. In the HWBot Prime GUI, click on “Quick Benchmark” to initiate the program. Once you have a result whether you choose to save or submit to HWBot make sure that you have the required CPUz processor and memory tabs visible on the screen prior to clicking the save/submit button. Valid submission must clearly show HWBot Prime GUI, CPUz processor and memory tabs. (Example Below)

Tips/Tricks – Again like all other benches, trimming your un-needed services and active processes will help and this is a multi-threaded benchmark so all cores and HT if applicable to get the best score.

Cinebench R15 and Cinebench R11.5

Both Cinebench benchmarks test you CPUs ability to render 3D images. This benchmark will require relative stability to complete, it pushes the CPU and Memory quite hard and it’s those two parts that play a key role in the scores. CPU speed is king here with Memory pulling a close second. You should be able to run this benchmark faster than your “stable” clocks, but pay attention to the processor’s temperature. You will find that Cinebench R11.5 is a bit easier to run so you can likely run it a bit faster than R15. Valid submission screen shots must show the Cinebench GUI with version and score visible, CPUz processor and memory tabs. (Example Below) You may use all Windows based, except for Windows 8 based operating systems (W8, W8.1, and Server 2012) and Windows 10.

Tips/Tricks – Again like all other benches, trimming your un-needed services and active processes will help and this is a multi-threaded benchmark so all cores and HT if applicable to get the best score.

GPUPI 100M and 1B

GPUPI calculates the mathematical constant Pi in parallel so the more cores the better. This will run on CPU and GPU and has specific benchmaks for both that are uploadable to HWBot.org. Sometimes this bench can be a bit tricky to get running on your system and if you’re having difficulties go here to the home site for assistance. Running in 64bit gives the best results and as I said follow the instruction on the site. You will need to install the 32 AND 64 bit Visual C++ Redistributable packages for windows, links are available on the home site. Once installed and running, try different combinations of batch and reduction sizes to see which gives the best score. This scores on pure CPU speed and is quite light on resources so run it as fast as you can. Valid screenshot (see example below): clearly show GPUPi time and “calculation done” popup, processor in CPUz, memory settings in another CPUz instance.

Tips/Tricks – Again like all other benches, trimming your un-needed services and active processes will help and this is a multi-threaded benchmark so all cores and HT if applicable to get the best score.

GeekBench Multicore

Geekbench is a multi-platform CPU benchmark and will run on Windows, iOS, Linux and Android. You may use all Windows based, except for Windows 8 based operating systems (W8, W8.1, and Server 2012) and Windows 10. Both the multi-core and single core results are produced from the same test but they have to be submitted to hwbot.org separately. The same screen shot is sufficient for both. This is a fairly demanding benchmark and your system needs to be quite stable to get a valid result.There aren’t a lot of tweaks to this one,CPU and memory speed will give best results. There is a 64bit version that is available, but requires a paid license, this will also allow you to run without an internet connection. Valid screenshot (see example below): clearly show Geekbench score and webpage address, Geekbench GUI, processor in CPUz and memory settings in another CPUz instance.

Tips/Tricks – Again like all other benches, trimming your unneeded services and active processes will help and this is a multi-threaded benchmark so all cores and HT if applicable to get the best score.

3D Benchmarks

3D benchmarks are programs that are supposed to test the GPU. However, many of them are becoming a pure CPU race these days because graphics cards have become so powerful.

Aquamark

Is one of those 3D benchmarks that rely heavily on CPU speed. This bench comes in a “wrapper” from HWBot and can be run on all Windows based OS, except for Windows 8 based operating systems (W8, W8.1, and Server 2012) and Windows 10. A valid screen shot requires processor in CPUz and memory settings in another CPUz instance plus CPUz motherboard tab if using onboard graphics/IGP solution. It also requires GPU-z in screenshot, drop-down must be visible if you run in SLI so all video cards are identified. (See example below.) The newest Aquamark wrapper has a submission and save button. Either is acceptable but all CPUz/GPUz tabs must be open first. The GUI will take it’s own screenshot and submit to HWBot.org or save to file.

Tips/Tweaks: Aquamark relies heavily on CPU speed and is very light so run the CPU as fast as you can. Disabling HT can allow for higher clocks so a higher score. The same applies for the GPU, since the benchmark is so light you will be able to clock the GPU higher than you normally wold for everyday use. As is typical with 3D benching, make sure your card’s settings are at performance and not high quality. AA , AF and Tessellation should be application controlled or off. Windows XP/Vista 32bit may also give an advantage depending on the platform, and driver choice will play a role in scores as well so it doesn’t hurt to experiment.

3DMark 2001 SE (Current version 3.3.0)

3DMark 2001 is an old 3D benchmark application that measures video card performance in DX7 and DX8. It has little to no relevance for current game performance. However, it is a lot of professional benchers’ ‘favorite game’ to play. You may use all Windows based, except for Windows 8 based operating systems (W8, W8.1, and Server 2012) and Windows 10. In order to submit a valid score, one must have a valid screenshot (see example below): clearly show 3DMark score, 3DMark subtest scores, 3DMark settings, processor in CPUz, video card in GPU-z, unless you provide a Futuremark orb link. GPU-z in screenshot, drop-down must be visible if you run in SLI so all video cards are identified. Rivatuner may be used if GPU-z fails to identify video card properly (as of 8 oct 2007). You must have a valid FuturemarkFuturemark orb link as verification for scores in the top 20.

Tips/Tricks – This application, being so old and run on a low resolution, loves CPU speed along with a video card overclock. So, be sure to push that as far as you can for best results. As is typical with 3D benching, make sure your card’s settings are at performance and not high quality. AA, AF and Tessellation should be application controlled or off. You are also able to run the individual tests that make up the benchmark in any order and as many times as you want. This is beneficial as some tests are harder on the GPU than others so you can get away with higher overclocks for some of the tests yielding a better score. The best OS for this is XP. Driver choice will play a role in scores as well.

3DMark 2003 (Current version 3.6.0 1901)

3DMark 2003 is another older video card benchmarking application. It measure performance in DX8 and DX9. Any online 3DMark03 submission must comply to the following rules: use default 3DMark settings, have a valid screenshot (see example below): clearly show 3DMark score, 3DMark subtest scores, 3DMark settings, processor in CPUz, video card in GPU-z, unless if you provide a Futuremark orb link. GPU-z in screenshot, drop-down must be visible if you run in SLI so all video cards are identified. Rivatuner may be used if GPU-z fails to identify video card properly (as of 8 oct 2007). You will need to have a valid Futuremark orb link as verification for scores in the top 20. You may use all Windows based, except for Windows 8 based operating systems (W8, W8.1, and Server 2012) and Windows 10.

Tips/Tricks – Another 3D bench that really gets a boost from faster clock speeds. As is typical with 3D benching, make sure your card’s settings are at performance and not high quality. AA, AF and Tessellation should be application controlled or off. The best OS for 3DMark 2003 is Windows 7 32bit (vary by card brand). Driver choice will play a role in scores as well.

3DMark 2005 (Current version 1.3.0 1901)

3DMark 2005 is a slightly older 3D benchmark that uses DX9. Being a DX9 benchmark some older cards that do not support that API cannot be used in this bench. 3DMark05 also shows significant improvements with CPU clock speed as well as overclocking the video card. Any online 3DMark05 submission must comply to the following rules: use default 3DMark settings, have a valid screenshot (see example below): clearly show 3DMark score, 3DMark subtest scores, 3DMark settings, processor in CPUz, video card in GPU-z, unless if you provide a Futuremark orb link. GPU-z in screenshot, drop-down must be visible if you run in SLI so all video cards are identified. Rivatuner may be used if GPU-z fails to identify video card properly (as of 8 oct 2007). You must have a valid Futuremark orb link as verification for scores in the top 20. Windows 8/8.1 and Server 2012 and Win10 may be used ONLY in combination with System Info 4.20 (and above), a verification link, and no “Timer is off” message

Tips/Tricks – Another 3D bench that really gets a boost from faster CPU clock speeds. As is typical with 3D benching, make sure your card’s settings are at performance and not high quality. AA, AF and Tessellation should be application controlled or off. A good OS for 3DMark 2005 is Windows Vista 32 (vary by card brand). Driver choice and will play a role in scores as well. This benchmark will only use a thread or two so HT is not needed.

3DMark 2006 (Current version 1.2.1)

3DMark 2006 is the 2nd newest version of Futuremark’s 3D benching applications. This version uses DX9 and Shader Model 2.0 as well as 3.0. Any cards without DX9 and SM3 support will not work with this benchmark. It consists of two SM2.0 graphics tests, using DirectX 9 SM2.0 features extensively, two HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, using DirectX 9 SM3.0 features and floating point extensively, and finally, two multiprocessor CPU tests focusing on CPU intensive tasks in 3D games. At the end of the benchmark it will give a score for each test and a total. Any online 3DMark06 submission must comply to the following rules: use default 3DMark settings, have a valid screenshot (see example below): clearly show 3DMark score, 3DMark subtest scores, 3DMark settings, processor in CPUz, video card in GPU-z, unless if you provide a Futuremark orb link. GPU-z in screenshot, drop-down must be visible if you run in SLI so all video cards are identified. Rivatuner may be used if GPU-z fails to identify video card properly (as of 8 Oct 2007). You must have a valid Futuremark orb link as verification for scores in the top 20. Windows 8/8.1 and Server 2012 and Win10 may be used ONLY in combination with System Info 4.20 (and above), a verification link, and no “Timer is off” message

Tips/Tricks – Another 3D bench that really gets a boost from faster CPU clock speeds AND the number of cores used. The more cores used, the higher your CPU score. Sometimes however, that extra 200 MHz or so one may get with HT off, will outweigh the use of HT, so play around!. As is typical with 3D benching, make sure your card’s settings are at performance and not high quality. AA, AF and Tessellation should be application controlled or off. A good OS for 3DMark 2006 is Windows Vista 32 (vary by card brand). Driver choice will play a role in scores as well.

3DMark Vantage (Current version 1.0.2)

3DMark Vantage uses DX10 and Shader Model 3.0. Since it uses DX10, it will require a video card that supports it as well as an OS (Vista or Windows 7) that supports it as well. There are a couple settings on here and the standard at HWBOT is the Performance bench. If you run an NVIDIA GPU you must disable PhysX for a valid score. Any online 3DMark Vantage – Performance submission must comply to the following rules: use Performance settings, have a valid screenshot (or valid Futuremark orb link): clearly show 3DMark score, 3DMark subtest scores, 3DMark settings, processor in CPUz, video card in GPU-z, unless if you provide a Futuremark orb link, GPU-z in screenshot, drop-down must be visible if you run in SLI so all video cards are identified. Rivatuner may be used if GPU-z fails to identify video card properly (as of 8 oct 2007). You must have a valid Futuremark orb link as verification for scores in the top 20. Windows 8/8.1 and Server 2012 and Win10 may be used ONLY in combination with System Info 4.20 (and above), a verification link, and no “Timer is off” message.

Tips/Tricks – While pouring on the CPU clock speed and cores has its advantages here as well, its not as pronounced as the others especially when you get into the higher presets. As is typical with 3D benching, make sure your card’s settings are at performance and not high quality. AA and AF should be application controlled or off. A good OS for 3DMark Vantage is Windows Vista 32bit (vary by card brand). Driver choice will play a role in scores as well.

3DMark11 (Current version 1.2)

3DMark11 is designed for testing DirectX 11 hardware running on Windows 7 and Windows Vista. This is one benchmark that will bring your GPU to its knees. Submission must comply to the following rules: use Performance settings, have a valid screenshot (or valid Futuremark orb link): clearly show 3DMark score, 3DMark subtest scores, 3DMark settings, processor in CPUz, video card in GPU-z, unless if you provide a Futuremark orb link, GPU-z in screenshot, drop-down must be visible if you run in SLI so all video cards are identified. Rivatuner may be used if GPU-z fails to identify video card properly (as of 8 oct 2007). You must have a valid Futuremark orb link as verification for scores in the top 20. Windows 8/8.1 and Server 2012 and Win10 may be used ONLY in combination with System Info 4.20 (and above), a verification link, and no “Timer is off” message

Tips/Tricks – CPU and GPU clock speed and plenty of cores rule this roost. Can only run under Windows 7 being DX11.

Unigine Heaven (Current version 1.0.3)

Any online HWBOT Unigine Heaven submission must comply to the following rules: Use latest stable build V1.0.3, Use standard benchmark settings, Verification file is mandatory for submitting results, have a valid screenshot: clearly show benchmark score, processor and memory information in CPU-Z, video card in GPU-Z, gpu-z in screenshot, drop down must be visible if you run in SLI so all video cards are identified. Rivatuner may be used if GPU-Z fails to identify video card properly (as of 8 oct 2007). You may use all Windows based, except for Windows 8 based operating systems (W8, W8.1, and Server 2012) and Windows 10.

Tips/Tricks – Plenty of GPU clocks and high memory speeds help this bench out.

3DMark

3DMark is a suite of tests all of which count for hardware points, but Fire Strike and Fire Strike Extreme are the ones to concentrate on since they also carry World record and Global points. All the tests must be run at default settings, have a valid screenshot (or valid Futuremark orb link): clearly show 3DMark score, 3DMark subtest scores, 3DMark settings, processor in CPUz, video card in GPU-z, unless if you provide a Futuremark orb link, GPU-z in screenshot, drop-down must be visible if you run in SLI so all video cards are identified. Rivatuner may be used if GPU-z fails to identify video card properly (as of 8 oct 2007). You must have a valid FuturemarkFuturemark orb link as verification for scores in the top 20. Windows 8/8.1 and Server 2012 and Win10 may be used ONLY in combination with System Info 4.20 (and above), a verification link, and no “Timer is off” message

Tips/Tricks- GPU core and memory speed. CPU speed and more cores the better.

Catzilla

Touted as the “gamer” benchmark. This software tests the CPU, GPU, and overall system speed to some extent. Running with an SSD will yield a better score. Catzilla has four options with 720p and 1440p yielding the most points for HWBot.org. For a valid screen shot (example below) you must include Benchmark GUI with your score, sub-test scores and version clearly visible. Processor and memory information in CPU-z, GPU-z in screenshot, drop-down must be visible if you run in SLI so all video cards are identified. Rivatuner may be used if GPU-z fails to identify video card properly (as of 8 oct 2007). All versions of Windows, except for Windows 8 based operating systems (W8, W8.1, and Server 2012) and Windows 10

Tips/Tricks: Windows 7 64bit, CPU and GPU speed and as always trimming your unneeded services and active processes will help

2D/3D

A combination bench such as PCMark 2005 and PCMark Vantage have an assortment of tests from the CPU and subsystem to video card performance.

PCMark 2005 (Current Version 1.2.0)

PCMark 2005 is a dated, but still relevant release of a complete system benchmark. This tests CPU, GPU, Memory, Web page rendering, and Hard Drives. Having all these items tweaked are going to yield the best results. Any online PCMark05 submission must comply to the following rules: use default PCMark settings, have a valid screenshot (see example below): clearly show PCMark score, PCMark settings, processor in CPUz, GPU-z, Subtest Scores (XP startup speed!), unless you have a valid Futuremark ORB url. You must have a valid Futuremark orb link as verification for scores in the top 20. XP Startup cannot exceed 220 MB/s.

Tips/Tricks – Since this is a complete system benchmark and all relevant items (CPU/GPU/Memory) need to be overclocked and tweaked where applicable in order to achieve the highest score. Obviously drives in RAID 0 will score higher than a single drive of the same make/model as well as SSD’s generally scoring higher than most 2/3 drive RAID 0 setups. The faster the memory runs and tighter the timings, the better score you will get also. This is a HIGHLY tweakable benchmark.

Now that you have seen all the benchmarks, and have all the tools you need to be successful at it, it’s time to get down and chilly and get overclocking! Also note that there are a lot more tricks the benchmarking team have up their sleeves with years of combined experience that will help boost those scores up! Join the fray by heading into the forums to the Overclockers.com Benchmarking Team’s sign up thread and completing 10 of the 12 benchmarks above .

–EarthDog, Johan45