Real-world benchmark lets IT users test hardware system performance the PC World Labs way
WorldBench, the benchmarking software developed and used by PC World Labs for testing hardware system performance, is now compatible with all editions of Windows 7. The latest version, WorldBench 6, is available for purchase at www.worldbench.com.
"The first WorldBench was created in 1996 to help the PC Worldeditorial team rate and rank systems. Since then, companies such as Monsanto, Sony and HP have been using our software to better inform their buying decisions," explained PC World Labs Director Jeffrey Kuta. "Because of this demand, we saw a broader market for WorldBench 6 and created a new licensing structure to accommodate individuals, small businesses and large corporations."
A single-user license to run WorldBench 6 on one PC, suitable mainly for hobbyists who wish to tweak their system settings and optimize performance, costs $249. A small-business license (for up to five computers) is available for $999, while a corporate license (for up to 25 systems) is available for $2,499.
"Corporations now have the opportunity to run WorldBench on several different types of desktops or laptops to help them decide which SKU gives them the best price/performance value before a large purchase of thousands of PCs," Kuta said.
WorldBench 6 resembles previous versions of the software in appearance and navigation but has been updated to run reliably on both 64-bit and 32-bit versions of all Windows 7 editions, as well as on Windows Vista and XP. Real-world benchmarks such as WorldBench outperform synthetic benchmarks because they gauge a PC's speed, performance and reliability by testing actual user tasks, such as word processing, compressing or encoding files, and Web browsing.
Since it is automated, WorldBench 6 can report errors and restart failed tests without user input. It then records the results, including the final WorldBench 6 score, as well as the individual results of each application's workload, in both text and graphs.
Refined for more than a decade, WorldBench is currently used in more than 30 countries by Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies and international media outlets.
For sales information please email worldbench@pcworld.com.
About PC World Labs
Since its inception in August 1992, PC World Labs has tested tens of thousands of products, providing invaluable data to PC World's award-winning editorial staff. PC World Labs tests products in major computing and consumer electronics categories such as desktops, laptops, printers, digital cameras, televisions and storage. These results are reported in our reviews and are a critical part of the scoring that determines each product's rating.
PC World Labs distributes its test methodologies worldwide to our partner PC World magazines in more than 80 countries. For a summary of these test methodologies, please visit http://www.pcworld.com/article/122812/how_we_test.html.
About PC World
PC World Communications publishes PC World, PCWorld.com (www.pcworld.com) and is home to PC World Labs. In 2009, PC World won two Digital Azbee Awards of Excellence from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASPBE). In an average month, PC World magazine reaches over 4.7 million readers (IntelliQuest Consumer Study Spring 2009) and over 11 million unique Web visitors (HBX 6 month average - March 2009 to August 2009).
PC World is a subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading technology media, events, and research company. IDG's online network includes more than 450 Web sites spanning business technology, consumer technology, digital entertainment and video games worldwide. IDG also publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers. Media brands are in more than 90 countries and include CIO, CSO, Computerworld, GamePro, InfoWorld/TechWorld/TecChannel, Macworld, Network World, and PC World.
Additional information about IDG, a privately held company, is available at http://www.idg.com.
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PC World
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jim_hopkins@pcworld.com