Performance Measurement Tools for Linux
In the computer industry, a "benchmark" is a software tool that gauges your computer's performance capacity. You can find out how fast your CPU, storage device, computer memory and video card are. Some benchmarks perform those specific functions, while others combine them into a test "suite." In the Microsoft Windows world, tools like PC Mark, SiSoftware Sandra, and CPU-Z have been around for a long time . In recent years, Linux has added tools of its own.
Phoronix Test Suite
Originally released in June of 2008 and regularly updated, the Phoronix Test Suite contains dozens of individual benchmarks for testing how fast your hardware is in Linux, a free operating system similar to Microsoft Windows. Since Windows benchmarks generally do not work in Linux, developers had to create new ones. The Phoronix website does Linux news and reviews, and uses this benchmark suite to test and report on computer hardware performance in Linux.
The Phoronix Test Suite is free to use, change and distribute under the General Public License (GPL), and you can download "PTS Desktop Live," which is a free version of Linux on a DVD that comes with the test suite pre-installed. The "Live" part means that it can run directly from the DVD.
Hardinfo
If you are looking just to test your CPU (Central Processing Unit), a free program called Hardinfo is a popular option. While it is mostly a program that lists the details of all your hardware in a graphical window, you can also test various aspects of your CPU using real-world applications like creating encryption keys and raytracing. Hardinfo can test your CPU's FPU (Floating Point Unit), a "co-processor" of sorts that handles very large numbers. Once Hardinfo has performed a test, it will produce its results in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), which can be viewed in an Internet browser. These results will list several other CPUs against which you can compare your results.
Manual Testing
You can also do your own real-world testing, instead of relying on some benchmarks that are "synthetic." The synthetic variety does not necessarily process information that you may use to produce its results. If you have no need for making an encryption key or ray tracing for example, then such tests are of limited use. One of the advantages of the Linux platform is that it allows you to compile software "from source." Source code is basically the raw data of a program before it's actually turned into a program. The process of converting the raw code to a program is something that Linux does all the time, so it's beneficial to know how effective your computer is here.
There is quite a bit of software in source code form that you can freely download and compile. The larger the program, though, the longer it takes to compile, so you should try something relatively simple like the Firefox Internet browser or the VLC media player. Simple time the compile process with a stopwatch, then compile that software on another computer using the same version of Linux and the same compilation tools.
Tags: Phoronix Test, Phoronix Test Suite, Test Suite, fast your, Internet browser, Measurement Tools