===Survey on the Sandra Benchmark utility====

[acqbonehead]

I've standard edition and would like to upgrade to the full version. But this is my first experience with a benchmark utility.

Is this a good one?
Which would you recommend?

[JonmaTifa]

Sandra is what i use, i just use the demo version which is all i really need. Just use the demo for now and if you like it enough, sure get the regesterd version...

[codybear]

Sandra is NOT a benchmarking tool

it can be used for comparision with your own system if you make changes to see if they are better or not but it is not for benchmarking...there are many true benchmarking tool out there and Sandra IS NOT one of them


let me be more specific...run the Sandra benchmark...make changes to your system and run it again...then it will be accurate to compare the two but in real world TRUE benchmarking...no way

[This message has been edited by codybear (edited 05-13-2001).]

[elroy]

Sandra has become the one that everyone quotes but prior to it coming along everyone used winbench.

[RobRich]

The only viable benchmark within Sandra that I tend utilize during product testing is the memory performance test. This is because the test is engineered along the same design as the industry accepted StreamD. Otherwise, I would not recommend Sandra for comparative testing across multiple platforms.

Better benchmarks are available for examination of individual hardware aspects. HDTach is great for determining drive performance, SpecINT/FPU is the most accepted processor benchmark, STREAM is perhaps the best memory bandwidth test availavble, and the list goes on....

Sandra is decent for comparision of similar platforms, but I would not recommend it as the only benchmark you utilize for performance testing. I own the retail version, as I use it for complementary testing with my articles, but I feel the shareware version offers all the personal end-user needs.

Robert Richmond

[acqbonehead]

I hope this does not sound to asslicking, but I want to thank all of you for your opinions and suggestions. I hope one day to be able to offer advice to newcomers as you offer yours to this newcomer.

AC

[ragtop]

Sandra might not be a "true" benchmarking program that can be used by the professionals when they do product reviews, but I find its a great utility for the typical hobbyist. It works well for system ID purposes as well as performance comparisons when you make system changes ie: did that BIOS tweak you just made help or hurt your system performance??

I'm satisfied with the free version - I don't think I'd have much use for the extra modules that come with the registered version.