Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr22/byte24.zip/BBHELP.DAT

Text File | 1990-05-13 | 10KB | 504 lines

bbench dataBYTE's DOS benchmarks
measure hardware-level
system performance in four
key areas: CPU, FPU,
disk, and video.

This selection launches the
full benchmark test suite.
To configure each suite,
move to the CONTROLS menu.

Before running the
benchmarks, be sure that:

1-You're starting with a
"clean" machine: remove
any TSRs or disk caching
utilities.

2-You've set files=20 and
buffers=20 in the Config.sys
file.

To ensure test accuracy,
do not touch the keyboard
or mouse during the test.
The RESULTS screen appears
automatically at the end
of the test.

This selection launches
the CPU Benchmark Suite. It
executes the following
tests:

1-SIEVE: The Sieve of
  Eratosthenes scan for
  prime numbers.

2-SORT: Two sorting
  algorithms: Quicksort
  and Shellsort.

3-INTEGER MATH: A set of
  basic arithmetic
  operations carried out
  with integers.

4-STRING MOVE: The best
  indicator of memory-access
  speed. This test moves
  strings of characters by
  bytes, words, and double-
  words if the processor
  supports 32-bit moves.
  It carries out word and
  double word moves on both
  odd and even boundaries.

Select the tests you want
to run from the CONTROLS
menu.

This selection launches the
FPU test suite if you have
a coprocessor installed.
Test routines include:

1-FMATH: A floating-
  point version of the basic
  math operations test found
  in the CPU suite.

2-FOURIER: A Fourier
  analysis; this test
  measures the speed of
  transcendental functions.

Select the tests you want
to run from the CONTROLS
menu.

This selection launches
the Disk benchmark suite. It
runs two tests:

1-FILE I/O: This test
  measures read and write
  rates by making repeated
  read and append accesses
  to test files. It requires
  at least 500 KB free on a
  floppy disk, or 2 MB on
  a hard disk.

2-LOW LEVEL: This test
  helps determine raw disk
  performance. It generates
  two results: Throughput,
  and Average Seek Time.

Select the tests you want
to run from the CONTROLS
menu.

This selection launches
the video benchmarks. We run
two tests:

1-TEXT: This benchmark
  measures text writes in
  two ways. The first test
  positions the cursor at
  random and writes text
  on the screen; the
  second test creates a
  series of boxes and
  then scrolls regions
  of text within them.

  Both tests use the video
  BIOS and are sensitive to
  BIOS shadowing.

2-GRAPHICS: This test
  measures raw graphics
  speed by performing
  repeated circle fills in
  each mode that the test
  machine supports.

Select the tests you want
to run from the CONTROLS
menu.

The CONTROLS menu lets
you configure test
suites, choose the type of
hardware installed, and
select comparison machines
from a list of historical
data.

Once you have run the
benchmarks, you can review
the results and write them
to disk as an ASCII file.

Select this option to
modify the test suites.
You can choose which tests
to run, and the duration
of each test.

This is also where you
select the default drive
for the disk tests.

SYSTEM SETUP lets you
specify the type of
processor, coprocessor,
and display adapter
installed in your machine.

The BYTE benchmarks
do this for you
automatically.

Modifying the default
selections should be
necessary only if you
have an unusual setup.

You can also change the test
system name from this menu.

This selection lets you
pick previously tested
systems against which to
compare the current test
system results.

You can also view
performance indexes from
previous tests from here.

This choice takes you
back to the RESULTS table.
From there, you can hit
the TAB key to view the
Performance Index graphs
and individual test graphs.

This selection saves the
current test results to disk
in ASCII format.

Select the duration for the
Sieve test. To keep the test
from running at all,
decrease the duration until
the display reads "off."

To move more quickly through
the duration time settings,
hold down the CTRL-left arrow
or CTRL-right arrow keys.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select the duration for the
Sort test. To keep the test
from running at all,
decrease the duration until
the display reads "off."

To move more quickly through
the duration time settings,
hold down the CTRL-left arrow
or CTRL-right arrow keys.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select the duration for the
Integer Math test. To keep
the test from running at
all, decrease the duration
until the display reads
"off."

To move more quickly through
the duration time settings,
hold down the CTRL-left arrow
or CTRL-right arrow keys.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select the duration for the
STRING MOVE test. The test
will do each type of move
(byte-wide, word-wide, and
doubleword wide, with word
and doubleword moves on
both odd and even
boundaries) for the selected
duration, so a single run
actually lasts three to
five times as long as the
duration number you choose.

To move more quickly through
the duration time settings,
hold down the CTRL-left arrow
or CTRL-right arrow keys.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select the duration for the
Fmath test. To keep the
test from running at all,
decrease the duration until
the display reads "off."

To move more quickly through
the duration time settings,
hold down the CTRL-left arrow
or CTRL-right arrow keys.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select the duration for the
Fourier test. To keep the
test from running at all,
decrease the duration until
the display reads "off."

To move more quickly through
the duration time settings,
hold down the CTRL-left arrow
or CTRL-right arrow keys.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select the duration for the
File I/O test. This test
requires at least 60
seconds to obtain an
accurate reading. To keep
the test from running at
all, decrease the duration
until the display reads
"off."

To move more quickly through
the duration time settings,
hold down the CTRL-left arrow
or CTRL-right arrow keys.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select a logical drive
between A: and Z: on the
test system as the target
for the File I/O test. This
test requires 500 KB free
for a floppy or 2 MB
for a hard disk.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select whether or not to
run the Disk tests.
There is no duration
option for this benchmark;
the length of the run
depends on the size of your
hard disk.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select the hard disk unit
number for the low-level
benchmarks. This number is
usually 0, unless you
have more than one hard
disk drive installed.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select the duration for the
Text test. Test times vary
depending on the number of
video modes appropriate for
your graphics adapter.
To keep the test from running
at all, decrease the duration
until the display reads
"off."

To move more quickly through
the duration time settings,
hold down the CTRL-left arrow
or CTRL-right arrow keys.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select the duration for the
Graphics test. Test times
vary with the number of video
modes supported. To keep
the test from running at
all, decrease the duration
until the display reads
"off."

To move more quickly through
the duration time settings,
hold down the CTRL-left arrow
or CTRL-right arrow keys.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Select the number of
repetitions for the test
suite.

One run is usually
sufficient, but increasing
the number of iterations
may result in greater
accuracy.

Select SAVE CHANGES to put
test configuration changes
into effect.

Save the changes you've
made above for the
current session.

Saves the current
configuration as the
default; future runs
will use this
configuration.

The BBDEF.DAT file holds
the default configuration.
You can recover the original
defaults at any time by
deleting this file.

Restore the current
configuration to the
last saved defaults.

Select a name for the test
machine. The program will
use this name in all tables,
graphs, and other references
to the current test machine.
Use the right arrow key to
get to the name-editing
field.

Specify the system's main
processor.

WARNING:
Modifying this field
could cause the BYTE
benchmark program
to crash.

Specify the system's
numeric coprocessor.

WARNING:
Modifying this field
could cause the BYTE
benchmark program
to crash.

Specify the system's
graphics adapter.

WARNING:
Modifying this field
could cause the BYTE
benchmark program
to crash.

Specify the number of
physical hard drives
installed in this system.

WARNING:
Modifying this field
could cause the BYTE
benchmark program
to crash.

Toggle the sound
on and off.

Select this option only if
you have a CGA system with
noticeable snow on the
display.

This won't affect the
outcome of the tests,
but it will cause the
program to run
more slowly.

This selection saves
your changes for the current
session.

You MUST select this
option if you don't want your
changes discarded.

The BYTE benchmarks
automatically detect your
test system's configuration.

If you have modified the
configuration data, this
option reruns AUTO DETECT
and restores the defaults.

You must select
SAVE CHANGES, however,
before the new
configuration will
take effect.