The performance of a personal computer depends on so many factors that it is difficult to establish a fixed standard for rating it. However, there are a number of applications that you can use to measure the performance of a PC or some of its components make a comparison with other hardware. Most of them are useful beyond benchmarks and offer too information Complete of the machine or certain parts of it, which is useful when renewing / upgrading devices.
Its use goes beyond and provides an opportunity to go beyond getting any particular performance value or reporting Check the correct function and overcome mistakes. Or certify the same when they know the type of component to be repaired. Even when performing techniques from Overclocking to determine the greatest power or cooling demand.
How to test the performance of a PC
There is almost anything you can look for. Some evaluate the full performance of the PC, others focus on specific components like GPU, CPU, memory or storage, and a third group is more specialized in providing information or troubleshooting.
Furthermore, more than just numerical data, the majority of users understand the “performance” of a personal computer simply through the ability to perform a series of tasks in a reasonable time and may not be as interested in a few MHz, milliseconds, or frames per second.
Make it clear that the results: a Approach to comparison with other hardware types and that a large proportion of users are more interested in their devices simply “working” for the tasks they are performing, let’s remind you of some of these applications for Windows platforms that can be very useful in some scenarios.
CPU-Z
It offers a reference in this type of program complete processor information and its characteristics of the components of the motherboard and chipset, RAM and graphics memory. It also offers a per-core and multi-core CPU performance benchmark that serves as a benchmark against other processors.
It has a validation program to upload your results to the Internet and generates an internal TXT file with all information. There is a general version and other customized versions for ASUS, GIGABYTE, Asrock, or MSI motherboards.
GPU-Z
With an interface similar to the previous one, it is dedicated to the offer Graphics card information, supports NVIDIA, AMD or Intel chips. In addition to providing all kinds of information about the GPU, it also provides information on the screen, the installed driver, and the supported and installed multimedia libraries.
It includes advanced options like a GPU load test to check the configuration of the PCI Express lane and the ability to create a copy of the graphics card BIOS. They can also be connected to hardware sensors to provide GPU operating values or operating frequencies and to allow validation of the results obtained. It does not need to be installed and is available for computers running Windows XP.
MSI afterburner
It sure is Overclocking program for graphics cards most recognized and used at the consumer level. It offers full graphics card control, detailed hardware description and some additional functions such as profile customization, benchmarking and video recording. It keeps track of all the parameters that affect the graphics card: clock speed, temperature, RAM usage, fan speed and CPU usage (per core).
Although developed by MSI engineers, it is available in a completely free and can be used with different graphics cards from any manufacturer. Contains OC scanner, an automatic overclocking function for different series of graphics cards. It also has an app for Android.
HWMonitor
The make and model of a PC’s hardware components is stated by the authors of CPU-Z, although this is where its real utility lies Monitor the controls in real time of those aspects that show the health of the CP, Energy consumption, fan speed, usage percentages, working frequencies and temperatures.
It can read the thermal sensors of the cores of modern CPUs as well as the temperature of hard drives via SMART and the temperature of the graphics card.
Speccy
It’s one of the favorites in the gaming community for a very clean interface that shows Information on all components of a PC. For those who want to explain its characteristics in more detail, just click on the specific parameters. Allows direct saving of scan results as a snapshot, XML or text file for easy sharing on the Internet.
The results can also be used to send to technical support who need to diagnose a problem with your computer. It has a free version and a paid “Pro” version that adds automatic updates and tech support.
MemTest86
It’s not your typical PC performance tool, but it’s one of the best tools you can use Check the RAM status. An essential component of any computer that can drive us crazy if it fails, as it usually causes random errors while performing a certain type of task.
Before starting the operating system, the tool must be recorded on a USB stick and executed from there. Boot from the pendrive and Memtest86 starts automatically, scans the RAM and reports any problems.
CineBench
Offers one of the CPU benchmarks most complete and reliable among the free benchmarks. A demanding test environment (Cinema 4D) is run to evaluate the functionality of a PC using the improvements made by modern processors and the latest rendering technologies.
The benchmark specifically tests all available processor cores and gives it a rating that can be compared with other devices. The larger the number, the more powerful. In addition to the Windows version, there is also an application for macOS.
CrystalDiskMark
Rate the performance of Storage units and is particularly suitable for testing internal hard drives or SSDs. It provides read / write data transfer results in MB per second and has a very user-friendly interface that allows multiple passes with different file sizes.
Not only is it free, it’s open source and has the source code. It’s a simple test, but it works well to compare it to other types of devices and see if the component is performing as promised by the manufacturer.
Speedtest.net
Allows the evaluation of the Internet connection speedThis is an important part of the world we live in, and it also affects the performance of a PC. It is very easy to use. We just load your page in any web browser and we will see how the tool gives us the public IP, its location and the internet provider.
The test starts with a simple click with the option to select the server from which we want to run the test. In general, the closest one gives the best results. The tool returns the maximum download and upload speed achieved and the ping received. You can save a picture of it for later comparison, or add it to our forum profile and the like. The same developer offers an iOS and Android mobile app for testing LTE, 4G, 3G, EDGE and EVDO networks.
SiSoftware Sandra Lite
It is a diagnostic program that offers a Test set to measure the performance of a PC and to view various information about the hardware and software installed on the computer.
It is very complete and provides information on all types of devices, from the CPU to the BIOS, video, memory, drives, connectors, keyboard, mouse, sound card, buses, connected printers, MCI devices, processes and much more.
Fraps
A universal Windows application that tests that Gaming FPS performance These use DirectX 12 and OpenGL graphics technologies and show in a corner of the screen how many frames per second you are getting at any given time. You can create custom benchmarks and measure the FPS between two points, save the statistics to disk and use them for your own checks and applications.
The application has a screen recording function at the push of a button as well as video and audio recording in real time while you play your favorite game, with resolutions up to 8K and frame rates up to 120 fps.
FutureMark Suite
Finally, we leave the largest reference in complete suites to evaluate the performance of a PC. It has several uses like PCMark This fundamentally measures the computer’s performance in computer productivity tasks, performs various PC performance tests, evaluates daily tasks such as web site surfing, video chat, writing and spreadsheets, editing photos and videos, or playing games.
Another test offered by this provider is the 3D Mark, particularly suitable for evaluating the performance of computer graphics cards. It supports Windows, iOS or Android operating systems and although the best options are paid for, it offers free benchmarks like 3DMark Basic Edition, which comes with the DirectX 12 reference TimeX and which meets the needs of the normal user to evaluate the GPU should . In addition, the company also offers the VRMark, one of the few free benchmarks for testing virtual reality devices.
There are many more applications for measuring the performance of a PC, providing information, or testing the hardware to anticipate failures, as well as more specialized applications ranging from power consumption testing to networking to environmental compliance. We hope the ones offered here are useful to you. If you use others, you can comment on them for user information. We read you in the comments.
