Laptop Computers

For researches productivity in laboratory Terralab.ru there is reliable package BAPCo SYSmark 2001, for some laptop computers we examine fresh Winstone 2004; AIDA 32 helps to analyze memory subsystem or disc storage units. Video accelerators of the most of thin & light laptop computers, which will be described further, more than spare, and for its estimation it is enough 3Dmark 2001 SE (build 330), but in the capacity of test we examine with "Serious Sam Second Encounter Demo" in not hard modes (roll "Little Trouble"). High productive laptop computers of class replacing desktops is another story, but we won't examine them in details next time.

We'll remind, that scripts SYSmark 2001 emulate the work of hypothetic user (pressing on keys and mouse manipulations) with two groups of applications. The first group is Internet Group Creation - it is a scenario of the medium company site creation. Site is arranged in Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 with Flash 5. Images are edited in Adobe Photoshop 6.0, with help of Adobe Premier 6.0 special effects and sound are added in video rolls, which will be encoded by Microsoft Windows Media Encoder version 7.0. Script starts 3-4 applications at the same time, some of them work background. Feedback time of the system on user commands (time, wasted on operation execution) is one of the productivity indexes.

Second group is Office Productivity, typical office tasks. In Word 2000 multipage engine description is edited, factory presentation with graphics, made in Excel and photo slides, is prepared in Power Point. In Outlook mail box there are about 3 000 mails, but script writes one more with size in 10 pages, at the same time checking on orthographic mistakes and attaching packed with WinZip 50 Mb avi-file (video from Content Creation). Antivirus and Dragon Naturally Speaking works background. Package decompresses about 1 Gb of the application code and even installs virtual printer (so called BAPCo printer made from Epson Stylus driver) and measures the speed of sending multipage document on the print. Thus have measured the average feedback time in both parts of the test (as rule it is measured in milliseconds) SYSmark puts out its rating, back proportional to the feedback time. Usually results are the same.

The package SYSmark 2001 wasn't chosen, rather wasn't left on the work, occasionally. Two years ago, when we began develop the methodology of laptop computers' testing, it was completely adequate and hadn't any analogues. It is doubtful whether we had to demand from the laptop computers something more, especially in comparative tests. After that SYSmark 2002 has appeared and nearly at the same time BAPCo has released MobileMark 2002 package. After attempting, we didn't launch them because of two reasons. The first is that we decided to save portability though not exhausted but very important measurement base, due to it we can compare three laptop computers generations. You have to agree, that laptop computers are changed not so often, as video accelerators, but sphere of solved tasks haven't almost changed.

The second reason is inadequacy of the results in SYSmark 2002 and MobileMark 2002. It was told about right after release the first of them, AMD protested especially loud, because its processors, in the judgment of SYSmark 2002, became lose sharply with Intel Pentium 4 (even in spite of necessity to modernize the code of Windows Media Encoder for proper rating in 2001 and they didn't do all this). To the respect of TerraLAB, we haven't ever obsessed with one or another newfangled test, we have continued to use SYSmark 2001 for laptop computers and other, at the same time with SYSmark 2002, instruments for desktop platforms. With issue of processor Pentium M all became obvious: almost in all benchmarks 1.6 GHz Centrino takes the lead over equifrequient Pentium 4 (with bus 400/533 MHz), but even 2.4 GHz. And only SYSmark 2002 doubts favoring evidently to long conveyor of P4.

I forecast some objections: for example, new packages use new versions of application (from Microsoft, Adobe, Macromedia), optimized according to multimedia instructions of modern laptop processors. Yes, it is true, but it was critically three years ago, but in our days even VIA C3 with Nehemiah core supports SSE, not saying about AMD chips. From the other side, processors Transmeta Crusoe are so weak, that pass SYSmark 2001 with many dificalties. Some selective measurements shows, that results, made in the newest packages PC Magazine Multimedia Content Creation and Business Winstone, said about the same things as SYSmark 2001. Besides, SYSmark 2001 is less subjected to the influence of memory capacity and promptitude of the had drive, and this is very important for us, cause it's very difficult to bring laptop computers configurations to general denominator.