The laptop was set to run at full performance by setting the power scheme set to ‘Balanced’ with the AC plugged in, meaning that the CPU will not underclock while running the tests. For the battery performance test, the power scheme was set to ‘Power Saver’. Each battery performance test was repeated 3 times to ensure accuracy. Before each test was run, the laptop was rebooted and its hard drive defragmented.
System Performance Testing
PCMark 05 Advanced Build 1.2.0* is the latest update to Futuremark’s popular overall system benchmarking program. The 2005 version adds multithreading, DirectX 9, Windows Media Player 10, virus scanning, High Definition video playback (WMVHD), and a vast number of other tests to its suite. Testing your computer’s CPU, RAM, hard drive and graphics card, PCMark05 drives your computer to the max to determine its strengths and weaknesses.
*Test results are only available for systems running Windows XP. PCMark will not run properly on Windows Vista.
PC World WorldBench 6 is the sixth revision of PC World’s well regarded full-system benchmarking suite. Worldbench runs a slew of benchmarking tests designed to simulate many common programs used by today’s typical user. Programs benchmarked are Adobe Photoshop CS2, Autodesk 3ds max 8.0, Firefox 2, Microsoft Office 2003 SP1, Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9.0, Nero 7 Ultra Edition, Roxio VideoWave Movie Creator 1.5, and WinZip 10.0. WorldBench 6 scores are baselined against a test system consisting of a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, 2GB DDR2 RAM, nVIDIA GeForce 7900GS graphics card, and 2 x 320GB Western Digital hard drives in RAID-0, with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium installed as the OS. After each test has been run, the system clears temp files and reboots.
• Adobe Photoshop CS2: A small, non-complex image opens and the software applies and undoes each set of artistic filter enhancements (11 sets in all). After this has completed, a much larger and complex image is loaded and the same filters are applied, at a much slower rate as the image takes longer to manipulate due to its size. After these tasks have been completed, the benchmark ends.
• 3ds max 8.0: A file is opened showing a wireframe of an underwater scene, which is rendered by the software, with a cartoon-looking lizard appearing in a second window in the background towards the very end. As soon as this rendering is complete, a three-dimensional mouse bearing more than a close resemblance to Stuart Little is quickly rendered, and as this completes, a dragon in its environment is rendered. Once these are all finished, the benchmark concludes.
• Microsoft Office 2003 SP1: A new word document is opened, and an existing Access database is converted to Access ’97 format. After the conversion occurs, the tables are examined. An Excel spreadsheet showing multiple pages of financial information is opened and the data is manipulated by changing formulas and functions. The new Word document opened at the onset is then accessed, and converts an RTF document into Word format. Once the conversion has finished, a spell check is initiated on the 180-page document, and the benchmark ends after that has concluded.
• Firefox / Windows Media Encoder 9.0 Multitasking: Windows Media Encoder is opened and a new project is started. As the project encodes, the PC World website opens and the benchmark begins navigating to numerous articles/links on the site. Once the encoding process completes, the benchmark concludes.
• Roxio VideoWave Movie Creator 1.5: A new storyline is opened to make a video of a user’s vacation he recently filmed. Several clips are imported into the program and each one is rendered individually. After the fourth clip renders successfully, the benchmark ends.
• Nero 7 Ultra Edition: This benchmark simulates writing a DVD data disc and saving as an NRG image file. The test is repeated three times before the benchmark is finished.
• WinZip 10.0: The system takes a group of files and compresses them within WinZip. Once this has been performed, the benchmark concludes.
3D Performance Testing
3DMark06 build 1.1.0 uses advanced real-time 3D game workloads to measure PC performance using a suite of DirectX 9 3D graphics tests, CPU tests, and 3D feature tests, including HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, advanced SM2.0 graphics tests, AI and physics-driven single and multiple core CPU tests.
Gaming Performance Testing
Each game benchmarked at Laptop Logic will be tested twice: first, at 800x600 resolution with default settings, and then at 1024x768 resolution with default settings.
Games will be played for 15 minutes at each resolution in predetermined in-game locales to best simulate a gaming experience, while running Fraps (http://www.fraps.com) in the background to measure the frames-per-second performance. At the end of the 15 minute period, minimum, maximum, and average frames-per-second (FPS) will be noted and displayed in a line graph.
F.E.A.R. is one of the most popular First Person Shooters in recent memory. A paramilitary force infiltrates a multibillion dollar aerospace compound taking hostages, but issuing no demands. With U.S. Special Forces in over their heads, the Commander in Chief turns to his final option: you. You've been trained to handle the inexplicable, armed with experimental high tech weaponry, and given full executive authority to end the crisis by any means necessary.
An advanced Special FX system showers you in sparks, smoke, and debris, making combat as intense and exhilarating as an action movie. The latest in DirectX 9.0 rendering technology uses real-time per pixel lighting, shadow volumes, normal mapping, and advanced shaders to create a world so convincing you'll forget you're playing a game. Employing Havok 2 Game Dynamics, unleashing hell on your enemies is visceral and satisfying. Bodies recoil and collapse accurately and objects react to being shot, pushed, or blown up.
Battlefield 2142 is the latest iteration of EA Games’ award-winning “Battlefield” series. The year is 2142 and the dawn of a new Ice Age has thrown the world into a panic. Players choose to fight for one of two military superpowers, the European Union or the newly formed Pan Asian Coalition, in an epic battle for survival. Highlights include three different game modes, loads of futuristic weaponry and technology, as well as online gameplay for up to 64 players.
Large maps with tons of opponents ensure that players are always treated to a fast paced gaming experience that is never short on action.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the sequel to the best-selling, award-winning Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Oblivion is a single player game that takes place in Tamriel's capital province, Cyrodiil. You are given the task of finding the hidden heir to a throne that sits empty, the previous emperor having been killed by an unknown assassin. With no true Emperor, the gates to Oblivion (the equivalent of hell in the world of Tamriel) open, and demons begin to invade Cyrodiil and attack its people and towns. It's up to you to find the lost heir to the throne and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel.
Oblivion is a leap forward in role-playing with its combination of freeform gameplay and cutting-edge graphics, and features a groundbreaking new AI system, called Radiant AI, which gives non-player characters (NPCs) the ability to make their own choices based on the world around them. Oblivion is known to tax even the upper echelon of high end systems, due to the rendering required to fully immerse players in its massive environments.
Battery Performance Testing
Laptop Logic has chosen to take a “real-world” approach to battery testing, eschewing a more formal software-based benchmark. There are four components of Laptop Logic’s new battery performance testing: DVD playback, general use, gaming, and recharge time.
DVD Playback is just as the name suggests. A copy of Peter Jackson’s King Kong will be played on the system (in either Windows Media Player or PowerDVD or whatever DVD playback software ships with the laptop). The movie will be played on loop in case the laptop’s battery exceeds the film’s 187 minute (3 hours 7 minutes) runtime. At the beginning of the test, the editor will record the start time with a PC-based stop watch program and note when the test concludes.
General Use will simulate a normal user experience, with tasks similar to those commonly performed by an average person. General Use will have several different tasks running simultaneously. The system will stream ESPN Radio Primetime’s podcast (http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/index), display a live video feed from the Turtle Bay Resort in Hawaii (http://www.turtlebayresort.com/About_Us/webcam.asp), have the Laptop Logic forums open in the background, and perform random web browsing and text editing. At the beginning of the test, the editor will record the start time with a PC-based stop watch program and note when the test concludes.
Recharge Time will measure how long it takes for the system to recharge itself from 0% to 100%.
