Category: HDXPRT

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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An HDXPRT 2014 update

By Justin Greene

on July 31, 2014

After the HDXPRT 2014 release last week, we discovered a new issue. During installation, if network connections were active, Windows SmartScreen would pop up with a message that said, “Windows SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting…” If network connections were disabled, a popup would say, “Windows SmartScreen can’t be reached right now.”

Even after turning off SmartScreen entirely, we continued to receive Windows publisher verification warnings. It turns out that the problem relates to testing on a system where Windows 8/8.1 is reinstalled over an existing copy of the OS. Residual information in the C:\Windows.old files apparently trigger the warning. It may also occur if you upgraded from Windows 8 or 8.1 Preview to Windows 8.1.

You may not encounter this problem at all during testing. If you do, there are at least three options for dealing with this. The first option is to turn off SmartScreen in the Windows Action center and disable Windows prompts about publisher verification. Then, open Internet Explorer – Internet Options, click the Security tab, click the Custom level button, and scroll down to select Enable Launching applications and unsafe files.

The second option is to delete any Windows.old files. You can find instructions for that here.

The third is to test on a completely fresh OS install on a reformatted drive.

Also, today we’re posting an updated build that fixes a few UI issues. Scores from the original build are still valid and comparable.

If you have any feedback or questions regarding HDXPRT 2014, feel free to send us a message at BenchmarkXPRTsupport@principledtechnologies.com.

Justin

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Posted in HDXPRT, HDXPRT 2014, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 |

HDXPRT 2014 is here!

By Eric Hale

on July 24, 2014

Today we formally released HDXPRT 2014. The BenchmarkXPRT Development Community has been using a community preview for several weeks now. Now that we’ve released the benchmark, anyone may freely use it.

HDXPRT 2014 address the most common comments we had about the previous versions. It is a much smaller and faster benchmark. Instead of taking over five hours to get a result, as HDXPRT 2012 did, you can now install the benchmark and get a result in less than 2 hours. Also, because we were able to trim the benchmark size considerably, you can download HDXPRT directly from our site via a compressed install file. See the HDXPRT 2014 User Manual, available in the download and at HDXPRT.com, for installation instructions.

The HDXPRT 2014 source code will soon be available to the community. Remember that community members have access to the source code, but it is not available to the general public.

Although HDXPRT is much smaller and faster than HDXPRT 2013, we worked hard to make sure than we did not compromise the results. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Eric

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Posted in BenchmarkXPRT development community, HDXPRT 2014, HDXPRT capabilities, HDXPRT Development Community benefits |

It makes a difference

By Eric Hale

on July 3, 2014

Ars Technica reported this week that they tested the developer preview of Android L and saw a whopping 36 percent improvement in battery life! Google made improving battery life a priority, and it sounds like they are succeeding. I can’t wait to test Android L with BatteryXPRT.

This is a spectacular example of how a change in software can change benchmark results, but it’s hardly unique. I’ve written before about how background activity on a phone depressed my friend’s WebXPRT scores. AnandTech used both IE 11 and Chrome 30 to test the Surface Pro 2 with a variety of benchmarks, including WebXPRT, SunSpider, Octane, Browsermark, and others. Browser choice had a noticeable impact on results – about a 40 percent difference for WebXPRT and a 76 percent difference for SunSpider!

People are generally pretty aware that changing the hardware changes performance. However, sometimes they lose track of software differences. When you compare scores, it’s not always possible to keep all the variables the same, but it’s crucial to know what the differences are.

In other BenchmarkXPRT news, we’re making some final adjustments to HDXPRT 2014, and the general release is just around the corner.

Eric

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Posted in Android, Battery life, HDXPRT 2014, Performance benchmarking, Performance testing on tablets, WebXPRT |

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 |

Stronger, faster, and definitely better

By Eric Hale

on May 29, 2014

This week we released HDXPRT 2014 Community Preview 1 (CP1) to BenchmarkXPRT Development Community members. For those community members who’ve been around since the beginning, you’ll notice how much HDXPRT has changed. We’ve trimmed down HDXPRT without reducing the value of the test. While HDXPRT 2012 required multiple installation DVDs, HDXPRT 2014 CP1 is available for download in the member’s area. In addition, it took HDXPRT 2012 at least five hours to complete the recommended three test iterations. HDXPRT 2014 is much faster – the total time required for install and three test iterations is less than two hours!

Like all versions of HDXPRT, CP1 uses real-world media applications such as Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 12, Apple® iTunes®11.1, CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.7, and others to perform common consumer tasks like editing photos, converting videos, and editing music files.

If you’re a community member, give CP1 a try. If you have questions about HDXPRT 2014 or any of the XPRTs, please contact us at BenchmarkXPRTsupport@principledtechnologies.com. If you’d like to be a part of future XPRT development and community previews, now’s a great time to join!

Eric

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Posted in BenchmarkXPRT development community, Collaborative benchmark development, Community Preview, Future of performance evaluation, HDXPRT 2012, HDXPRT 2014 |

Category: HDXPRT

HDXPRT 2014 source code coming soon

An HDXPRT 2014 update

HDXPRT 2014 is here!

It makes a difference

In the works

Stronger, faster, and definitely better

Check out the other XPRTs: