Speedmark 5 Task List

Speedmark 5 is Macworld Lab’s standard test tool for benchmarking new and upgraded systems running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). It uses real-world applications and everyday tasks. It is a general-purpose suite that includes tasks everyone from a high-end user to a new user performs every day.

Macworld Lab follows a detailed script to perform the 17 tasks. Each task is performed three times. All systems are configured with 2GB of RAM. We compare the results to a 1.5GHz Core Solo Mac Mini, which is assigned a score of 100. We then take the geometric mean of the normalized scores.

Here’s a list of tests that make up of Speedmark:

Mac OS X

• Startup
• Duplicate 1GB file
• Compress 2GB folder
• Uncompress 2GB file archive

Microsoft Office 2004

(These two tasks require Rosetta to run on Intel-based Macs)

• Word Scroll
• Entourage - Download E-mail

Pages ’08

• Search/Replace

iTunes

• Convert AAC files to MP3 from Hard Drive

iMovie HD

• Export to QuickTime for Email
• Apply Aged video effect

iPhoto

• Import 100 photos from hard driver

Camino

• Multiple Page Loading Test

Unreal Tournament 2004

• Antalus Botmatch at 1024x768 Max Settings with sound and graphics enabled—Average Frames Per Second

Cinema 4DXL 10.5

• Render

Compressor 3

• Convert DV file to MPEG2 for DVD

Adobe Photoshop CS3

• 14 Actions

Handbrake 0.9.1

• Encode one chapter from DVD to H.264.

While Speedmark gives an excellent indication of real-world performance, it is not our only benchmark. We will continue to develop tests and publish results in a variety of applications appropriate for the hardware under review. Your suggestions are always welcome.