HandBrake Video Transcoding

Website: HandBrake

We perform a simple encoding test using the freely available HandBrake software, which converts a 60-second, 400MB, 4K, MKV video sample to a high quality, 1080p, MP4 file using the available presets. Our results show strong scaling with increasing threads, which is indicative of high-performance video editing suites, albeit without any GPU acceleration.

PCMark 10 Photo Editing

Website: Futuremark

This workload involves making a series of adjustments to a set of RAW and JPG photographs using ImageMagik - an open-source image processing library - to apply a range of filters with a live preview. The images are then saved in JPG and PNG formats. We run one test with OpenCL disabled to place maximum load on the CPU and one test with OpenCL enabled that allows the processor to offload work onto its onboard GPU.

CPU-Z

Website: CPUID

The popular tool for identifying key system information such as real-time CPU frequency, voltage, BIOS version, memory speed, and a whole load of other figures also includes a built-in benchmark tool. This assesses both single and multi-threaded performance in an extremely quick test directly within the usual interface. It also offers a stress test and the ability to limit the number of threads being benchmarked. We use the default settings and obtain both single- and multi-threaded results. The version we use is 1.79, and results are not compatible with previous versions as outlined here.