Category: Collaborative benchmark development

HDXPRT 2014 source code coming soon

on August 28, 2014

We’ve really been enjoying the smaller size and quicker install and runtimes of HDXPRT 2014, and we encourage you to give the benchmark a try if you haven’t already! Within the next week or so, we’ll make the HDXPRT 2014 source code available to BenchmarkXPRT Development Community members. Part of what makes the XPRT community work is the feedback we get from members, whether it comes in the form of new benchmark ideas, suggestions for improvement, or questions raised during community preview testing. Having members comb through the code is another aspect of that community model. We welcome any members with programming skills to comment on our code and submit their own code for review.

If you decide to submit code, please read the XPRT commenting conventions, which are simply brief descriptions of a few practices that will make it easier for us to read your code.

We’ll also post detailed build instructions for HDXPRT 2014 in the Members Area. When the source code is available, check it out and let us know what you think. If you have code to share, please post on the forums or send us a message. If you haven’t yet joined the community, we’d love for you to join now.

Justin

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Looking for a bargain?

By Justin Greene

on August 14, 2014

There are many benefits to being a member of the community: the XPRT community previews, the source code for the benchmarks, the monthly newsletter, and more. To join the community, all you’ve had to do up until now is sign up and pay a one-time $20 fee. Our goal with the fee was to make sure that people who joined were serious.

Today, we’re announcing a change. We recognize that, for some companies, getting that $20 fee reimbursed can be a hassle. So, if you work for a device maker, OEM, chip manufacturer, or retailer, you’ll be able to join the community for free.

Here’s how it works: Simply fill out the form, use your company e-mail address, and click the option to be considered for a free membership. We’ll send you an email within one business day to verify the address is real and then activate your membership.

Simple, right?

Justin

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Posted in BenchmarkXPRT development community, Collaborative benchmark development, Community Preview, Performance benchmarking, Source code |

Speaking the same language

By Eric Hale

on August 7, 2014

We count on our community members for so much: benchmark ideas, critiquing the benchmark designs, and testing the community previews. Community members with programming skills can vet the source code and submit code for inclusion in the benchmarks.

We love getting code from our members. However, people have widely differing opinions about what constitutes well-documented code. A lot of it comes down to taste, but it’s easier to read code when there are common conventions. So, we’ve put together a very brief description of some conventions that would make it easier to read your code.

Because the XPRT benchmarks are written in a number of languages, we don’t discuss the particulars of coding style in detail. We know that you know the best practices for your language of choice. However, when we’re reading code in C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, HTML5, XML, and more, it helps to have some points of reference.

So, check it out and let us know what you think. If you have code to share, please post on the forums or send us a message at BenchmarkXPRTsupport@principledtechnologies.com. We can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with!

Eric

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Posted in BenchmarkXPRT development community, Collaborative benchmark development, Source code, What makes a good benchmark? |

An XPRT training course

By Eric Hale

on July 17, 2014

We have a couple of exciting announcements today! A few weeks ago, we promised something special for BatteryXPRT, and we can now show off the all new BatteryXPRT training course. The BatteryXPRT training course is an online, interactive, multi-media tool designed to make learning about the benchmark easy and enjoyable.

You can easily navigate to detailed videos and graphics explaining how to build the benchmark from source code, how to configure your device, how results are calculated, and much more. It’s like the BatteryXPRT design document, white paper, and user manual have come to life!

In addition to following the link above, you can also find the course at BatteryXPRT.com. The course works on most popular browsers in Windows and OSX.

In other news, we have a name for the Chrome benchmark, CrXPRT. Thanks for all the suggestions, and let us know what you think of the name.

As promised last week, the CrXPRT Design Document is available to the development community today. You’ll find it on the CrXPRT tab in the members’ area. If you’re not yet a member, we’d love for you to join here.

If you have any questions about CrXPRT of feedback on the BatteryXPRT course, feel free to contact us at BenchmarkXPRTsupport@principledtechnologies.com.

Eric

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Posted in BatteryXPRT 2014 for Android, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Chrome OS, Collaborative benchmark development, Video |

In the works

By Eric Hale

on June 26, 2014

A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned stability issues with BatteryXPRT 2014 for Android when running on systems with only 1 GB of RAM. After some restructuring, we now have a build that’s stable on those devices. We’re finishing testing, and it’s looking good. We’ll be making the new build available at BatteryXPRT.com and in the Google Play store early next week. Battery life and performance results from the new build are equivalent to those from the previous build, so your existing results are still valid and comparable.

Speaking of BatteryXPRT, we have something special coming soon. I can’t say what it is yet, but we haven’t done anything like it before.

We’re also getting closer to a general release for HDXPRT 2014. As we’ve explained before, the new HDXPRT runs three iterations in less than 2 hours, and will be downloadable, so the entire installation and testing process is much quicker than before. We’re currently working out a few kinks, but we expect the general release very soon.

Also, we’re still accepting ideas for naming the Chrome-related XPRT now in development. Share your ideas at BenchmarkXPRTsupport@principledtechnologies.com.

Eric

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Posted in BatteryXPRT 2014 for Android, Chrome OS, Collaborative benchmark development, HDXPRT 2014 |

Testing the waters

By Eric Hale

on June 19, 2014

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about some of our ideas for a new XPRT designed for Google’s Chrome OS. We’ve been working with some of these ideas and, while we’re still in the experimental stage, things look promising so far.

As we mentioned in the earlier blog, we’re trying WebXPRT as a base for the performance part of the test. So far, the performance component is working well. In addition to modified WebXPRT tests, we’re also trying some things that are not part of the WebXPRT 2013 workload.

We’ve been able to get battery life, but it’s been challenging and we haven’t found a way to avoid using Chrome’s Developer Mode. Accessing Developer Mode in Chrome can be tricky and requires different steps for each hardware manufacturer. We’re hoping to find ways to make battery life testing easier.

I’ve been vague about the tests because they’re likely to change over the next few weeks. We’re experimenting with both browser-based and Native Client-based performance tasks. As they firm up, I’ll be able to share more information.

Challenges aside, we’re excited about this new benchmark, and committed to making it as effective as possible. We’d still love feedback on a name, so feel free to contact us at BenchmarkXPRTsupport@principledtechnologies.com with your ideas.

Eric

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Posted in Battery life, Chrome OS, Collaborative benchmark development, Performance benchmarking, What makes a good benchmark? |

Category: Collaborative benchmark development

HDXPRT 2014 source code coming soon

Looking for a bargain?

Speaking the same language

An XPRT training course

In the works

Testing the waters

Check out the other XPRTs: