Benchmarking tools

[equant]

Any opinions on ways to benchmark (particularly compact) macs? I'm curious about benchmarking different system software and hardware setups.

I'm about to put an upgrade in my Mac SE, but I'd also like to see if there's a difference between the use of 6.0.n and 6.0.n

Thanks,

Nathan

 

[tomlee59]

If you're trying to evaluate the difference in performance attributable to OS-specific characteristics, most benchmarking tools out there will give you misleading results. Speedometer, for example, operates at a fairly low level, so the effect of the OS will not be readily apparent.

I'd say that your best bet is to select a collection of "representative" tasks (whatever that means for you), and put them through their paces. Time them the old-fashioned way, with a stopwatch (or equivalent).