Benchmark Your Computer with Debian

Benchmarks is a way to evaluate your computer both hardware and software and see how it compares to other standard computer set ups.  Debian 5 Lenny comes installed with benchmark options that are easy to use and are very useful in testing your system.  Benchmarks can be useful in determining purchases, comparing two set ups to see which is the best for your situation, etc.

 Getting Started

Choose Preferences and "System Profiler and Benchmark".  When the window opens you will see that you can generate a system profile which will provide you with a list of your system resources, hardware, etc.  This is a very handy troubleshooting tool.  But it also provides a way to benchmark your computer.  A benchmark runs a standard test on your hardware and operating system to determine how you stack up against other machines.  It will give you a good reference point if you need to convince the wife...you need a new computer!

The benchmarks are at the bottom of the left hand screen.  It may be the easiest just to click "Generate Report" at the top of the window because that will run it all and provide the reports in a web browser...easy.

Once you generate the reports you will be able to see how you match up on each of the benchmarks.  The comment at the bottom of each window tells you if the best is a higher or lower score in each benchmark.  It also compares your score with an Intel processor and a PowerPC. 

The "This Machine" is the computer you ran the test on.  Each of the benchmarks listed will provide different results based on a different method of benchmarking.