A Better Way to Rate PC Performance

Introducing WorldBench 5, PC World's next-generation system benchmark.

Visit Editor in Chief Harry McCracken's Weblog at blogs.pcworld.com/techlog.

One amazing place. Since its founding 12 years ago, that's exactly what our Test Center has been. On any given day, the stuff on its test benches represents a dazzling cross section of the latest, greatest tech gear--from towering desktop PCs to seriously tiny digital cameras.

But if you ask me, the least important thing about the PC World Test Center is that it happens to be a sizable physical facility here at our San Francisco headquarters. Nope, what makes the Test Center the Test Center is the people in it--namely, our talented team of technicians, led by Director Uli Diehlmann. It's also the array of tools they use to gather objective data. And it's our unwavering commitment to testing methodologies that are based on the way real people use tech products.

All of these elements are reflected in WorldBench 5, the latest update to the benchmarking software we use to test the speed of Windows PCs. Starting with this issue, our Top 100's system reviews include WorldBench 5 performance ratings; see "PC World Unveils WorldBench 5" for more information. In coming months, you'll find WorldBench data in News and Trends, New Products, and other sections as well.

WorldBench has come a long way since its debut in the March 1996 PC World. Back then, a 120-MHz Pentium PC qualified as a hot rod, and the mere fact that WorldBench 1.0 supported Windows 95 was something to boast about--so we did.

Eight years later, there's even more to brag about. So I will: Version 5 of WorldBench is a sensational upgrade, designed with today's potent systems in mind. "The PC keeps going and going, and it's still evolving," explains James Motch, whose official title is director of benchmark development, although Mr. WorldBench would be just as appropriate. "The software is catching up with the hardware, and that's what we're showing in these tests."

Unlike "synthetic" benchmarks, WorldBench puts PCs through their paces by testing their ability to perform real tasks in popular Windows XP programs. Version 5's suite includes everything from workaday business apps (Microsoft Office) to professional graphics tools (Adobe Photoshop) to industrial-strength multimedia packages (3ds Max). For the first time, WorldBench runs programs in demanding multitasking scenarios.

These tests add up to a true system benchmark that does far more than simply exercise a machine's CPU. As James notes, "We test the drive, the RAM, the video--everything we can measure reliably. Even the motherboard's chip set and the PC's software load have an impact."

For more on WorldBench 5, check out www.worldbench.com. One other note: This is the first version that we've offered for sale, responding to years of requests from system tweakers, corporate IT types, and others who need to evaluate PC speed. Buying information is available at the site.

When you're PC World, "How fast is that new computer?" remains one of the most vital questions you can answer. But it's far from the only one. In fact, at the same time that we were wrapping up WorldBench 5, we were also knocking down walls and drawing up testing plans for some very forward-looking projects.

What we were doing was creating a consumer electronics lab, including a facility for testing high-definition TV sets and a "digital living room" where we can evaluate newfangled entertainment devices such as Media Center PCs. You'll find the results of this labor in upcoming reviews in both PC World and Digital World.

Waitaminnit... "Digital World"? That's right: We're about to launch a companion publication focused on products that blur the lines between the worlds of the PC, living-room electronics, and mobile communications. Watch this space for more details--or visit www.digital-world.com for a sneak peek right now.