How to Benchmark your Gaming PC

At some point, most PC owners have asked themselves, “how do I benchmark my Gaming PC?” Well, since you’re here, I’m guessing you’ve asked yourself that question and I’m going to help you figure it out. In this article, I’m going to take you through the best the methods of benchmarking your PC. We’re going to go through the different types of benchmarks, what parts are benchmarked, and the best tools for benchmarking.

Believe me when I tell you that you’ve come to the right place. Without further ado, let’s get benchmarking 😉

How to benchmark your gaming PC.

What do we mean by Computer Benchmarking?

Basically, computer benchmarks are done to access and compare performance between your computer and all the others in the world. This is done by running specialized programs (Synthetic Benchmarks) or games (Gaming Benchmarks).

Synthetic Benchmarks

In short, these are just PC performance tests. They’re mostly meant to be used as a standard point of reference, no matter what type of hardware being used. They mainly focus on letting you know the average level of performance you can expect.

Gaming Benchmarks

A ‘real-world’ gaming benchmark is probably the most significant benchmark you can get. You do this by playing a game at a certain scenario multiple times, to get the average performance level of the game, with those settings, using that hardware. There are a few modern games with built-in benchmarks that players can run.

What components are benchmarked?

Full system

This are mostly done when you don’t want to benchmark individual components that are not the CPU or GPU. They give precise numbers on storage and memory performance.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

This is probably the most important benchmark. Even though most games out there depend on the GPU, you’ll still need to ensure that your CPU can handle a certain game before you buy it. The CPU performance is reflected on the entire system, not just in videos or games like the GPU. Your computer cannot function without it.

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)

The GPU, commonly referred to as the graphics card, has the most effect on the system’s gaming performance. This is unless a game is CPU-bound. Benchmarking the GPU lets you have an idea of the performance and discloses any instabilities.

Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and Solid State Drives (SSDs)

This are done to check for read and write speeds as well are detect any problems with the drives.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

This are done to check single/Multi-core bandwith as well as check for latency.

Is there anything I need to do before I benchmark my PC?

There’s nothing complicated about running a benchmarking program. You just install it, run it and let it do the rest. Nevertheless, you’re going to want to do a few things first. Close all running and non-essential Background Programs: Keeping running programs lowers the CPU score, meaning you might not get accurate results. Benchmarks can take anywhere from 2-30 minutes, don’t interrupt them for the best results.

How to benchmark my PCs full System

Novabench

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This is a free full system benchmarking program. You get a very intuitive user interface, and very solid, full system performance results. After running the benchmark, you get a results screen, plus the ability to compare your system with others in the same class.

You can download Novabench for free here.

UserBenchmark

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This one is free, it is simple to use, and has a huge community of testers. It tests your PC and compares the results to other users with the same components. More over, you can diagnose your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best upgrades.

This is mainly a benchmark software for the whole system. However, you can also use it to banchmark individual components like the CPU, GPU, SSD, HDD, RAM and USB devices.

CPU: They include integer, floating and string.
GPU: They include six 3D game simulations.
SDD/HDD: They include read, write, sustained write and mixed IO.
RAM: They include single/multi core bandwidth and latency.

This makes UserBenchmark probably the best free software to fully benchmark your gaming PC system as you can compare it with PCs from a tremendous number of other users.

You can download UserBenchmark for free Here.

PC Mark 10

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This is a premium product that you will be required to pay for. It provides thorough full-system benchmarks for all your components. PC Mark 10 is easy to use, efficient and fast and provides multi-level reporting. All you have to do is click and run. It doesnt necessarily do any thing that the others can’t but it is more for aimed at pros rather than consumers.

Unless it is on sale, it’ll normally go for around $29.99.

How to Benchmark your PC’s CPU

GeekBench

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This is one of the best CPU benchmarking software. GeekBench measures your CPU’s single-core and multi-core power for everything from simple tasks to the hardcore tasks.

GeekBench 5 also benchmarks your computer in new application areas like Machine Learning and Argumented Reality.

It also allows you to examine youe systems potential for image processing, video editing and gaming using the compute benchmark.

You can also use it to test the GPU using CUDA, OpenCL and Metal APIs.

Even more, GeekBench supports cross-platform benchmarks. Basically, this means that you can use it to compare different devices, operating systems, and processor architectures. Meaning, you can esily compare a PC to a Mac

There’s a paid version and a free version.

PassMark

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This is another awesome CPU benchmarking software. Technically, it can be used to benchmark and dignose the full system but we like it most for it’s CPU benchmarking feature. PassMark offers Software benchmarks and diagnostics, hardware diagnostics, Digital Forensics, and Consulting Services.

It allows you to stress test your computer to examine its reliability and load testing. In addition, it also allows you to compare your computer to similar systems around the world.

There’s a 30-day free trial after which you will be required to pay $30 – that is if you want to keep using it.

CPU-Z

How to Benchmark your (Gaming) PC’s GPU

3D Mark

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This is the ultimate industry standard for gamers, PC builders and overclockers. It allows you to choose your tests, compare scores with similar ( and also different) systems as yours, and monitor your hardware’s perfomance during gaming. This enables you to what you can expect from your machine and the needed upgrades you can make to improve it’s score.

It comes with various gaming benchmarks. These are;

Time Spy – DirectX 12 benchmark tests for gaming PCs
Fire Strike – DirectX 11 benchmark tests for gaming PCs
Port Royal – Ray tracing benchmark for graphics cards
Night Raid – DirectX 12 test for PCs with integrated graphics
Wild Life – Cross-platform benchmarks for notebook computers, tablets and smartphones
CPU Profile – CPU benchmarks for modern processors
Feature Tests – Specialized tests for specific features
Stress Tests – Check the reliability and stability of your PC

However, 3D mark is not free and you will be required to part with $29.99 (unless it’s on sale).

3D Mark is very easy to recommend to any Professional Gamer or Content creator who wants to find out what their GPU is really capable of.

Basemark

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Basemark Web 3.0 is a comprehensive web browser performance benchmark that tests how well your mobile or desktop system can use web based applications. This benchmark includes various system and graphic tests that use the web recommendations and features. After running the benchmark you will see how your system performed compared to other systems and browsers in Basemark Power Board. Basemark Web 3.0 measures real-world client-side performance to detect browser bottlenecks.

Unigine Heaven

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Heaven Benchmark is a GPU-intensive benchmark that hammers graphics cards to the limits. This powerful tool can be effectively used to determine the stability of a GPU under extremely stressful conditions, as well as check the cooling system’s potential under maximum heat output.

The benchmark immerses a user into a magical steampunk world of shiny brass, wood and gears. Nested on flying islands, a tiny village with its cozy, sun-heated cobblestone streets, and a majestic dragon on the central square gives a true sense of adventure. An interactive experience with fly-by and walk-through modes allows for exploring all corners of this world powered by the cutting-edge UNIGINE Engine that leverages the most advanced capabilities of graphics APIs and turns this bench into a visual masterpiece.

Conclusion on How to Benchmark your Gaming PC

You’ve already seen some of the most efficient and reliable applications you can use to Benchmark your gaming PC. They are all intuitive and safe to use. Hopefully, you’ve found one that works the best for you. Moreover, if you know any other good apps that we can use or you’re experiencing any problems benchmarking your gaming PC, please let us know on the comments.

Read more guides on how to perform various tasks here.