Windows Middle East is the definitive Buyers’ Guide for PC related products in the region. We strenuously test products in order to highlight the very best models for you. Our WinLabs are continually updated and here we give you an insight into our tests and methodology. This shows how we are able to offer authoritative recommendations, helping us keep WINDOWS the region’s most relevant computer magazine.
System testing
Application benchmark software is run at a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels (in 32-bit colour).
PCMark2005
Our WinLabs team runs this testing suite’s CPU, memory and hard drive benchmarks. These in turn include a series of different tests that focus on each PC component specifically. After the tests have been run an individual score is generated for each component, providing a fair indication of a product’s application performance potential.
PCMark 2002
As PCMark2005 lacks a battery life test, we use PCMark 2002 to perform our notebook battery tests.
SiSoftware Sandra 2004
Sandra offers a one-stop shop for finding out exactly what your components are made off. CPU, memory, hard drive and network components can all be individually tested to see whether or not they make the grade.
HD Tach 3
Used solely to test internal and external hard disk drives, HD Tach provides vital information on transfer rates and seek times. Higher transfer rates and lower access times equate to quicker kit.
Nero CD/DVD Speed Test
Used exclusively for testing optical drives, Nero’s CD/DVD tests measure a drive’s read and write transfer rates and seek times.
Windows Middle East Print Test
Our text test consists of a 20-page document that we print in monochrome and colour. We record how long this takes and subsequently calculate a real-life print speed. We also use two stock colour images to test a printer’s photo print capabilities.
DisplayMate
DisplayMate’s Video Obstacle Course is used to test digital output devices such as monitors
and projectors. We look at the image quality of various test patterns and give these scores
from 1 to 5 (1 is poor and 5 excellent). The sum of all the test pattern scores gives us a figure for comparison. Testing is always carried out at a product’s native resolution.
Graphics testing
Graphics cards are tested at a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels when part of a complete PC. When tested as standalone products, we run benchmarks at 1024 x 768 and 1600 x 1200 pixels with 4x antialiasing enabled.
3DMark 2003 & 2005
These tests make use of the Direct3D API and are both ‘synthetic’ benchmarks – in that they are specifically designed to measure the performance of the graphics card by individually testing the onboard features and technologies offered. An overall score is generated after the tests have been run.
F.E.A.R
We run the game’s built-in test with the ‘Computer’ and ‘Graphics card’ settings set to High to give a frame rate result (in frames per second).
Serious Sam
A newer OpenGL-based shooter whose engine puts plenty of strain on graphics cards.
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