Speedmark is Macworld Lab ’s stock test tool for benchmarking raw and upgrade systems . It use real - populace applications and everyday tasks . It is a ecumenical - role entourage that includes tasks that everyone from a power user to a Mac cub perform every day .
Each time major update to the Mac operating system introduces changes that require us to update our testing . Along with updating the OS version , we also update the case-by-case coating to their latest shipping interpretation and tweak and supply tests to assist make a good snapshot of a Mac ’s overall performance .
Here ’s a few of the changes we ’ve made this time around :
• We supply Create Archive and Unarchive tasks to the cortege . We take a 1 GB pamphlet and utilize OSX ’s built - in zip utility to create a nada file . We then restart the system and unzip the file we just created . This test tasks both the drive and C.P.U. and supervene upon our former StuffIt mental testing .
• We removed our CD Ripping to AAC via iTunes test due to inconsistencies we found when guide the test , peculiarly with the time slot - freight drives found in laptops . This test also would penalize systems with DVD burner , which often had slower read speeds than CD - RW drives .
• We upgraded from Unreal Tournament 2003 to Unreal Tournament 2004 and now use the SantaDuck received judiciary utility to test each system ’s artwork card and each processors ’ ability to operate challenging 3 - five hundred secret plan .
With all of these changes , it ’s unimaginable to compare results from previous versions of Speedmark with results from Speedmark 4 . So we ’ve been meddling here in the laboratory not only with tests of the latest Power Mac G5s , but with retests for a bunch of system incorporating the unexampled version of Speedmark .
Here ’s a large bench mark chart that we hope will give you a good theme of the performance of currently available Macs under Speedmark 4 .
Power Mac G5 Benchmarks
Best termination in bold face . organization in italics are no longer in the product line . Included only for reference work .
Speedmark 4 scores are proportional to those of a 1.25GHz Mac mini which is assigned a grade of 100 . Photoshop , Cinema 4D , iMovie , and iTunes scores are in minutes : seconds . All systems were fly the coop Mac OS X 10.4 , had 512 megabyte random-access memory , with Processor Performance go down to Highest in the Energy Saver acid in System Preferences . We commute 45 minute of AAC audio Indian file to MP3 using iTune ’s High Quality preferences . We used Unreal Tournament ’s Antalus Botmatch Average Frames Per 2nd score tested at a resolving of 1,024 - by-768 pixels at highest setting . The Photoshop Suite examination is a stage set of 14 scripted tasks using a 50 MB file . Photoshop ’s retentiveness was gear up to 70 pct and chronicle was set to Minimum . Go here for more info on Speedmark 4.—Macworld research laboratory testing by James Galbraith and Jerry Jung .
For more on Speedmark — including a consummate task lean — visit our Speedmark page . And while Speedmark return an splendid indication of real - world performance , it is n’t our only bench mark . We will carry on to develop and let in tests in a kind of app appropriate for the computer hardware we review . If you have suggestions for examination that you‘d like to see run by Macworld Lab , permit us make out .
