Storts Family

One problem which occurs whenever you try to optimize or speed up your computer is measuring how much of an effect your efforts have made. Confirmation bias can make it very, very hard to simply “eyeball” your computer’s speed because you’ll usually want to confirm that your efforts made an impact. This can be a problem as your computer ages. If you have no objective way of knowing how fast your computer is you won’t be able to figure out which optimizations work and which don’t.

That is where free benchmark testing software comes in. Downloading a free benchmark will give you a firm, objective way of judging the perform of your computer. As you make adjustments to your computer you can see just how much, or how little, your computer’s performance has changed.

SuperPi

While your computer may pack more computing power than the rocket which sent men to the moon, it is still possible to choke a computer processor using simple math, and that is what SuperPi does. SuperPi is capable of calculating Pi up to 32 million digits after the decimal point. This complex math significantly tasks your computer’s processor, and SuperPi keeps track of how quickly it takes for your computer to complete the calculation.

SuperPi is focused on your processor’s speed, not the speed of other components, so it only useful when judging changes to your computer’s processors. For example, overclockers consider SuperPi to be one of the best free benchmarks around because it provides a processor-focused test which can help them judge how much extra performance their overclocking has gained them.

3DMark 06 / PCMark 05

Futuremark is a software company which offers a wide variety of computer benchmarks which are considered among the best in the world. Chances are that any review of a desktop or laptop computer you’ve ever read has, at some point, quoted 3DMark or PCMark figures in the performance section of the review.

The latest versions of 3DMark and PCMark aren’t free, but older versions with limited options can be used an unlimited number of times without charge. While these benchmarks are over four years old, they are still among the best free benchmarks available. Futuremark’s benchmarks are very demanding, and there are many modern computers which will achieve very low scores when running these benchmarks.

3DMark focuses on gamers, has it only tests the power of your video card. PCMark is for more general use and tests numerous computer components. Both can be downloaded directly from the Futuremark website.

Novabench

Novabench is a free benchmark testing software suite. Unlike many benchmark suites, Novabench isn’t a trial version or an older version released for free. The free version is the only version available, and it gauges multiple aspects of your computer’s performance.

The Novabench benchmark tests processing speed, 2D graphics performance and hard drive read/write performance, making this a very well-rounded benchmark. It is particularly well suited for computers which are meant for a home office, as the hard drive read/write speed benchmark can help you find out if your productivity is being hurt by a hard drive which takes a long time to spin up and transfer data. Novabench also has a basic multimedia and graphics benchmark. It is less intensive than a dedicated graphics benchmark, like 3DMark06, but can give you a general idea of your computer’s graphics performance.

SiSoft Sandra

Sandra stands for System Analyzer, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant. It is a fully-featured benchmark suite which is aimed at users who are very well informed about the inner workings of their computers and for businesses which need to perform a detailed analysis on multiple computers. SiSoft Sandra kindly offers a free version of the software.

The benchmark tests available in SiSoft Sandra are jaw-dropping. Want to test your computer’s memory bandwidth? No problem. Want to benchmark network performance? Sure. Want to benchmark your computer’s power efficiency? Yes, SiSoft Sandra does that as well. Chances are that you’ll come across one or two benchmarks in SiSoft Sandra which benchmark hardware you didn’t even know existed.

Another useful feature of SiSoft Sandra is the inclusion of references. Let’s say, for example, that you decide to benchmark your processor. SiSoft Sandra will benchmark your processor and then compare your performance to five other similar processors to give you a better idea of how an upgrade may or may not help you. This is something that only SiSoft Sandra offers, and it is incredibly useful.

FRAPS

One of the most popular free gaming benchmarks in existence, FRAPS is different from all of the other free benchmark software on this list because it is the only non-synthetic benchmark. Rather than putting your computer through a series of tests which are designed to judge its overall performance, FRAPS records how your computer actually performs.

FRAPS does this by capturing information about how many frames per second your computer is producing while in games. A higher number of frames per second is always preferable and results in smoother gameplay. FRAPS will work with any game, from World of Warcraft to Call of Duty 4, and it is capable of both displaying your current frame rates in real-time on your screen and recording the frame rate data to a log file.

FRAPS’s benchmarking functionality is completely free. FRAPS does have a paid version, but the features unlocked in the paid version of FRAPS have nothing to do with benchmarking your computer.

Which to choose?

The benchmark you use will depend on what you want to benchmark. FRAPS and 3D Mark06 are certainly the ones to use if you’re interested in gaming performance. NovaBench and Sandra focus more on general performance, such as processor and hard drive speed. SuperPi taxes only your processor, and is a good choice if you want to isolate your processor’s performance from all other factors.

However, if you intend to benchmark everything in your computer, from processor to video card to hard drives and more, you’ll want to use all of these programs. They all provide different data which is useful in determining your computer’s overall performance.

Do you benchmark your computer? Voice our your tips to keep a computer running healthily.

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One of our pet projects over the past year has been to launch our own line of customised t-shirts, and we have now finally decided to get this baby moving.  But we thought it would be cooler if we asked YOU to help us with the design.

Instead of us just slapping the MakeUseOf logo onto a white t-shirt, we thought we would ask all you budding designers out there to design a shirt for us. Something cool looking that people (techies) would WANT to wear. Think along the lines of geeks, computers, software and Make Use Of. The MakeUseOf.com text should be placed somewhere on the t-shirt as well, but doesn’t have to be the main element.

For instance, check out the T-shirt done for our friends at GeeksAreSexy.net.

If you would like to design something for us, we would need it by April 30th 2010. We will choose the top 3 designs which will make its way onto our shirts. The three winners will get $200 each (payable via Paypal), bragging rights and a free T-shirt with their design on it.

But before you get your crayons and hand paint out, there’s a few rules to this competition :

• T-shirt artwork needs to be high-resolution or vector. Photoshop rasterized images should be at least 300DPI, vector images can be any size as they are easy to scale. T-shirt designs should be 7 colors or less.
• The recommended formats for the design are TIFF, JPG, PSD, PDF, AI and EPS (other file formats will not be considered).
• All designs should be sent to mark[at]makeuseof[dot]com. Do not send them to another MakeUseOf employee.
• Do not submit anything containing legally copyrighted images. If you use one of your own images, we may ask you to prove ownership.
• If your design is chosen, MakeUseOf will assume the legal copyright of that design and will do with it what we please. We would ask you to sign a contract, transferring the legal copyright of the design over to us in perpetuity.
• While making your design, what would increase your chances of winning would be if you could also make a smaller version of the design which could easily fit onto a mug or a mousepad if we ever decided to head in that direction in the future.

So – if you would like your work to be immortalized on our T-shirts, start designing! We are looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf fan page on Facebook. Over 15,000 fans already!

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Sometimes it’s nice to connect to your computer remotely. Hardcore Ubuntu users typically see SSH as their remote connection tool of choice, but if you prefer graphics to the command line don’t worry: Ubuntu provides an option for you as well.

Using Ubuntu Remote Desktop you can have total control over your desktop from any other computer: Linux, Mac or Windows. You’ll see what’s on that screen and be able to move the mouse and even type. Best of all, the feature is built into the operating system by default, so you won’t have to install a thing.

Let’s check it out!

Turning Ubuntu Remote Desktop On

Simply put, turning on Ubuntu’s version of Remote Desktop could not be easier. You don’t need to install a thing: everything you need is built in. Simply click “Settings,” then “Preferences,” then “Remote Desktop.” You’ll be presented with a simple window of options.

Just check the “Allow other users to view your desktop” button. If you want other users to be able to control your computer, also click the “Allow other users to control your desktop” button.

This window also provides you with a couple of security options. It’s highly recommended that you enable a password, but at the very least you should set it so that anyone connecting to your machine needs your permission before continuing.

As soon as you enable remote connection you’ll be told your IP address on the local network. Write this down.

Ubuntu’s remote desktop technology is based on the existing VNC standard. This means you can connect to a Ubuntu remote desktop using any VNC client. There are more than a few VNC clients around, so if you have a favorite on any platform you can use that to connect to Ubuntu already.

If you don’t have a favorite keep reading; you’ll find one by the time you’re done.

Connecting From Ubuntu/Linux

Ubuntu, and most Linux distributions, comes with an excellent VNC-compatible remote desktop viewer by default: Vinagre. You can find this program by clicking “Applications,” then “Internet,” then “Remote Desktop Viewer.” Open this up and you’ll see all the desktops you can open on your current network. If not, you can always enter the IP you want to connect to directly.

Use this tool to connect to other Ubuntu desktops on your network and you’ll be controlling your computer remotely. Nifty, right? The tool can also be used to control any computer with a VNC client installed.

Connecting From Windows

Want to control your Ubuntu computer from a Windows computer? Don’t worry; it’s more than possible. You’ll just need to install a VNC client, such as TightVNC, on your Windows computer. Then you can connect to your Ubuntu machine just by entering your IP address. Varun wrote all about this in his article about establishing a remote desktop connection to Ubuntu from Windows.

Connecting From Mac

Mac users wanting to connect to their Ubuntu machines should check out Chicken of the VNC. Again, connecting to your Ubuntu machine is a simple matter of entering your IP address, but if you’re looking for some in-depth information about using VNC on a Mac you should check out Jackson’s article on easy remote desktop support on the Mac.

Away From Home

Want to connect to your Ubuntu machine while away from work? This is a little more tricky, but not totally impossible. You’re going to need a static IP, or a dynamic address from a service such as DynDNS. I could get into it here, but I’ve already written an article about using DynDNS to connect to your computer from anywhere with more than enough information to get you started. Best of all, that article already deals with VNC in a couple of examples.

Conclusion

There you have it: everything you wanted to know about Ubuntu’s remote desktop feature but were afraid to ask. Do these tricks work for you? Do you have a preferred VNC client that I failed to touch on? Do you have any tips to share with the crew? Don’t be shy; comment away!

Got Tech Questions? Ask Them on MakeUseOf Answers!

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