Benchmarking gives you a well-defined overview of the internals on your PC. It’s quite important to know everything about your PC: hard drive performance, RAM size, processor speed, GPU performance etc. Whether you’re overclocking your computer or comparing it to another computer, benchmarking can help you translate your computer’s performance into numbers.
There is a wide array of benchmarking applications for the Windows ecosystem of which most are free. Before using any of the benchmarking software listed in this article, make sure nothing else is running on your computer. Running user applications and processes can slow down the benchmark and change the results. In this article, we’ll look at a few benchmarking softwares you can use to test the performance of your WIndows PC.
Method 1: Using Performance Monitor
Every Windows distribution has this handy built-in diagnostics tool. You can use Performance Monitor to view performance either either in real time or from a log file. You can also configure how the results are outputted so you can analyze the results.
- Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard and type “perfmon /report”. A window will open and being collecting data for the next 60 seconds.
Under the Diagnostic Results tab, you’ll find the following subsections:
Warning: This section comes up if there are any warnings of issues the computer is facing. It provides related links to more information about the situation and how to solve it.
Informational: Provides some more information about the processor, network cards, etc,
Basic System Checks: Shows you the provides information of the OS, Disks, Security Center related information, System Services, Hardware and Drivers.
Resource Overview: This section will give you an overview of the major parts of your system including the CPU, Disk, Memory and Network. It uses red, amber or green lights to indicate the severity of the issues and provides details on the current status of the system.
There are several other reports available from the Performance Monitor providing advanced information. You can take time to read them but if you can’t, the diagnostics results will provide you with just the information you need.
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Method 2: Using Prime95
Prime95 is a popular tool among overclockers for CPU stress testing and benchmarking. It features torture test and benchmark modules.
- Download Prime95, decompress the zip file and then launch Prime95.exe
- Click on “Just Stress Testing” button to skip creating an account.
- On the next screen if click on “Cancel” to leave the Torture Test Mode.
- Go to the “Options” menu and click “Benchmark” to perform a benchmark
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To interpret the benchmark results, note that the lower values are faster, and therefore better. You can also compare your benchmark results with other computers on the Prime95 website.
Method 3: Using SiSoftware Sandra
SiSoftware Sandra is a common system profiling tool which includes benchmarking utilities. Though it is a paid software, the free version contains benchmarks you’ll need. You’ll find individual tests from parameters such as memory to an overall benchmark score.
- Download and run a copy of the software from here.
- Click on Overall Score, which benchmarks your CPU, GPU, memory bandwidth, and file system performance. To begin benchmarking, click OK at the bottom of the windows.
- After the benchmark is completed, you’ll see detailed graphs that compare the results with reference computers.
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Method 4: Using NovaBench
NovaBench is one of the most popular and efficient benchmarking suites for Windows with provision for CPU, GPU, RAM and disk speed. NovaBench is completely free – no trial or paid version with additional features.
- Get a copy of NovaBench from here and open it.
- Click on “Start Benchmark Tests”. It usually takes less than a minute to complete a benchmark using NovaBench.
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NovaBench will display an overall score and then show the results of each individual benchmark – higher is better. You can also view and compare bench results from other computers on the NovaBench website.
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