Having already updated its uber-popular 3DMark series, Futuremark is now preparing a new release in its PCMark line, namely PCMark 7, a benchmark focused on testing various capabilities of systems running Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system.
Requiring at least a DirectX 9 graphics card (DX10, DX11 support is needed for certain tests), PCMark 7 comes with some 20 different workloads which are mixed into seven suites that target specific PC performance aspects. The suite list includes:
- The PCMark Suite which measures overall system performance and returns an official PCMark score.
- The Lightweight Suite which measures the capabilities of entry level systems unable to run the full PCMark suite.
- The Entertainment Suite which measures system performance in entertainment, media and gaming scenarios.
- The Creativity Suite which measures performance in typical creativity scenarios involving images and video.
- The Productivity suite which measures system performance scenarios using the Internet and office applications.
- The Computation Suite which contains workloads that isolate the computation performance of the system.
- The Storage Suite which contains workloads that isolate the performance of the PC’s storage system.
"Hardware innovations like solid state drives (SSDs), and new form factors such as netbooks and tablets are greatly increasing the range of PC performance available to businesses and home users," said Jani Joki, Director of PC Products and Services at Futuremark. "With so much choice available, PCMark 7 is an essential and easy to use tool to test and compare PC performance accurately and reliably across a wide range of usage scenarios."
Futuremark hasn't provided details about PCMark 7's release date or pricing but says the benchmark is 'coming soon'.
