Benchmarking, How do you use them, what good are they to you?

[Daniel ~]

With the new release of one of the PC world's standards; 3d Marks (available in AOA Files) more than a few questions have arisen as to how accurate benchmarks in the Video graphs area are.

But this is hardly the only area where benchmarking might be seen as somewhat to extremely suspect. AOA would like to hear your views on the whole subject of benchmarking. Which ones do you use? How do you use them? Do they guide you when making a purchase?

Do they tell you what you wanted to know, or just what you wanted others to know about your gear? ":O}

[cadaveca]

Iwanted to select 2 options, but didn't. "benchmarks", to me, are just another game to play, however they can also be useful in tweaking and stability testing, if used right. Of course, to do accurate stability testing, you need to delve into what the benchmark really does, and whether it truly tests what it is that you need to test. It's in these investigations of my own that i have turned them more into a game to play, rather than stability testing.

Real-world uses dictate a varied environment, one that no benchmark can accurately duplicate.

I use every benchmark out there, that does 3d testing, for 3dtesting, while for cpu's, i use a standard mix of memtest, prime95, superpi, and OCCT.

[Daniel ~]

I updated the poll Dave, no one should be confined to just one choice!":O}

[Pitch]

"It's just a game I play to amuse myself."

3DMark01, all night gaming session.

[Daniel ~]

All night? Easily amused I'd say, but Hey I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing! ":O}

[Pitch]

I can't get past the dragon level. -.-

[Daniel ~]

Did you try feeding it a barrel of fair maiden?

[MrSeanKon]

I voted the 5th option.
I run benchmarks only for improving my o/cs...

[chrisbard]

I chosed last two. Cause that's what I use bc's for ! Nice thread BTW

[Rondog]

I use it for stability testing, overclocking, and governing my purchase (cost VS performance).

[cadaveca]

I would have chosen the bottom 3.