Sysmark 2004
Sysmark 2004 is a system productivity benchmark, designed to reflect system performance when running the most popular application software in real-world scenarios with real-world workloads.

Sysmark 2004 uses 15 full applications, plus anti-virus and compression software, divided into two categories: Office Productivity and Internet Content Creation. It runs through predefined scripts that include concurrent running of applications to test multitasking capabilities.

Scores are calculated for each category based on the scores for various sub-tasks. Individual tasks are scored based on ‘response time’ ­ the time the system takes to complete a task initiated by the user. Responsiveness to the user is scored more highly than the total time taken to complete a number of tasks.

These scores are based on a comparison between the test system and a Bapco reference PC with a 2GHz Pentium 4 processor, an Intel D845GBV-based motherboard, 512MB of DDR266 CL2.5 Ram, a 64MB ATI Radeon 9700 Pro graphics card, an 80GB IBM 2MB cache, 7,200rpm hard drive formatted with the NTFS file system and Windows XP SP1. A score of 100 indicates that the system has a performance equal to the reference PC, 200 indicates twice the performance and so on. We run the benchmark at a resolution of 1,024 x 768 in 16bit colour. It is run three times, rebooting between each category.When testing PCs and notebooks, we first configure them automatically with standard desktop settings. This includes removing all startup programs, automatic updates, desktop wallpaper, screensavers and proprietary system tray utilities. This is done in order to ensure the repeatability of tests.

The applications within each category of Sysmark 2004 are as follows:

Office Productivity
Adobe Acrobat 5.0.5, Microsoft Access 2002 SP2, Microsoft Excel 2002 SP2, Microsoft Outlook 2002 SP2, Microsoft Powerpoint 2002 SP2, Microsoft Word 2002 SP2, Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 SP1, Scansoft Dragon Naturally Speaking 6 Preferred, Network Associates McAfee Virus Scan 7, Winzip Computing Winzip 8.1

Internet Content Creation
Adobe After Effects 5.5, Adobe Photoshop 7.01, Adobe Premiere 6.5, Discreet 3ds Max, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, Macromedia Flash MX, Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9 Series, Network Associates McAfee Virus Scan 7, Winzip Computing Winzip 8.1

See www.bapco.com for pricing information and full details of testing strategies and methodologies.

3DMark03
3Dmark03 consists of four tests. The first examines DirectX 7 performance; the following two are DirectX 8 and the final test is DirectX 9.

The result is calculated by taking an average of the frame rates from the first three tests. The results from the fourth test are included, but have a lesser bearing on the final score.

This version will only run fully on DirectX 9 compliant cards. 3Dmark03 is suitable for modern cards in the budget to mid-price ranges. For the latest cards, we use 3Dmark05. 3Dmark 2001 has now been officially retired by VNU Labs.

3Dmark05
3Dmark05 is a demanding test designed to stress the latest generation of DirectX 9-compliant cards and will only work with models that support Pixel Shaders 2 and have DirectX 9c installed.

Using the same interface as 3Dmark03, the main benchmark consists of three simulated game tests. These are designed to load the graphics subsystem as much as possible, although the CPU and other components can have an effect on the overall score, which is why 128MB of video Ram and a 2GHz CPU are part of the minimum system requirements for running the tests. For systems using older graphics cards that don’t meet the 3Dmark05 requirements, we will use 3Dmark03.

Far Cry
We use the Far Cry game from Ubisoft for testing DirectX 9 gaming performance. The default demo we use is timedemo on the ‘Fort’ level. Far Cry’s game engine is very graphics-intensive, so it presents a real challenge to modern graphics cards. For PC and notebook testing we test at 1,024 x 768 pixels, 32bit colour, 75Hz refresh and default settings for both anti-aliasing (AA) and anisotropic filtering (AF).

When it comes to testing graphics cards, in addition to the standard test, the card is also tested at 1,024 x 768 with 4x AA and 4x AF; 1,600 x 1,200 with 4x AA and 4x AF and 1,600 x 1,200 with maximum quality settings.

PCmark04
Part-way between application-based and entirely synthetic benchmarks, PCmark04 uses a hybrid technology, employing portions of real applications to produce realistic performance results without the overhead of installing complete software packages.

It has four main suites of tests for measuring memory, processor, graphics and hard drive performance, as well as that of the overall system. For more information on PCmark and 3Dmark, visit www.futuremark.com.

Battery test
To get a feeling for the minimum length of time a notebook battery will last, we run a specific test. Based on a looping Excel Visual Basic application, the test opens worksheets, generates random numbers and pivot tables, then zooms, and adjusts the brightness and contrast of an image. The running time is recorded to disk every 30 seconds until the battery power diminishes.

CineBench
CINEBENCH 2003 is the free benchmarking tool for Windows and Mac OS based on the powerful 3D software CINEMA 4D R8. The tool is set to deliver accurate benchmarks by testing not only a computer's raw processing speed but also all other areas that affect system performance such as OpenGL, multithreading, multiprocessors and Intel's new HT Technology.

What is Passmark
Passmark PerformanceTest is an award winning PC hardware benchmark utility that allows everybody to quickly assess the performance of their computer and compare it to a number of standard 'baseline' computer systems. Find out if your PC is performing at its best, compare the performance of your machine to similar machines and make objective independent measurements on which to base your purchasing decision.

Test beds

When testing components and peripherals, we use several standard Intel and AMD-based test rigs. These are as follows:

• CPUs and memory: 3.4GHz Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, AMD Athlon 64 4000+, AMD Athlon 64 3400+

• Memory: 1GB of Crucial PC5300 DDR2 Ram (Intel) or PC3200 (DDR1-400) (AMD)

• Motherboards: Asus P5AD2-E Premium (Intel); ECS KN-1 (AMD)

• Hard drive: 120GB Western Digital EIDE model with an 8MB buffer

• Graphics card: ATI Radeon X850XT PCI Express

• Operating system: Windows XP SP2

For hard drive testing, we use a dedicated Intel P4 3.4GHz system with 512MB of Buffalo PC5300 DDR2 Ram, an Nvidia Geforce 6800 PCI Express graphics card and an Intel D925XECV2 motherboard.