Next, we fired up some benchmarks by Futuremark. The company, which is based just outside of Helsinki, Finland, started publishing benchmarks in 1998. Since then, Futuremark has developed tests for evaluating standard PCs and mobile devices and continues to update its flagship 3DMark gaming benchmark suite, and PCMark as well.
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| Futuremark PCMark 7 |
| Simulated Application Performance |
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PCMark 7
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Futuremark’s PCMark 7 benchmark includes a suite of tests designed to measure the way your computer would perform during typical tasks. It includes an Entertainment Suite, which offers gaming scenarios and tests its media playback capabilities. The benchmark also has a Creativity Suite, in which the system processes images and video. Other tools include the Computation Suite and the Storage Suite. The latter is capable of measure SSDs and hard drives, either individually, or as a whole. |
Interestingly, the Z1 didn’t take the lead in PCMark 7, bowing to the Dell XPS One 27, which has an Intel Core i7-3770S processor, NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M graphics and a hybrid storage subsystem. It appears the 10K RPM HD in the Z1 couldn't keep up with the SSD/7200 RPM HD combo in the XPS One 27.
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| Futuremark PC Mark 8 |
| Simulated Application Performance |
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PCMark 8
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Futuremark recently launched PCMark 8, which has several separate benchmarks. The Home test measures a system's ability to handle basic tasks: video chatting, web browsing, photo editing, an similar day-to-day activities. The test is designed to be run on just about any Windows 7 or 8 computer. The Creative test offers some of the same types of tasks, but puts more stress on the system and is meant for mid-range and higher-end PCs. The Work test simulates the workflow of a typical office user. And the Storage test - you guessed it - benchmark's your computer's data storage performance. |
Because the benchmark is so new (the free version isn’t even available yet) we don’t have comparison data for PCMark 8 just yet. All the data from the benchmark's separate tests, which provide plenty of detailed feedback, is available in the chart above.
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| Futuremark 3DMark 11 |
| Simulated Gaming Performance |
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3DMark 11
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As a gaming benchmark, 3DMark 11 puts extra emphasis on your system’s handling of DirectX 11. But it measures more than the graphics card’s performance (the processor can make a big difference to a score, for example) and is a good way to get a feel for a system both as a gaming PC and as a general-use computer. Futuremark recently updated 3DMark 11 to support Windows 8, so if you plan to run this test on your own Windows 8 system, be sure to get the latest version. |
The Z1 reasserted its position at the top in this test, which isn’t surprising. That said, don’t expect the system to be much of a gamer – this
workstation is designed to create content more than consume it.
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