This is a quick intro to Speedometer Version 2.0. More thorough docs are available to those who register.
Obligatory Shareware Plee
First things first: This is shareware. If you find the program useful and plan to keep it around, please send the $25.00 registration fee (If you can't afford $25.00, send me a note of explanation, and what you can afford). If you are a member of the press, or are a manufacturer of hardware for the Macintosh, just send me your business card and I will waive the fee.
Although this program may be distributed freely for non-commercial purposes I reserve all rights to the visual representation, actual code implementation, and any and all technologies used in the program with the exception of the code libraries provided as part of the Lightspeed C development system. This means you may not sell, alter, or in any way profit from this work without my permission. Give away as many copies as you like, but don't change anything, and don't charge for it. I specifically prohibit any of the public-domain exchange companies such as Educomp from distributing this program on their disks. Users groups, however, are free to include it in their collections.
The Program
Speedometer is a system information and performance testing program for the Macintosh family of computers. Various tests are available, the central one of which is designed to give a Performance Rating (PR) for the system as a whole. The intention of Speedometer is to help you understand and tune the performance of your computer, and also to give some method of comparing different systems. The PR is based on tests that will remain standard through all future version of the software and thus presents a stable basis for comparison.
Speedometer runs well on Mac+ through Mac II machines. It has not been tested on the IIx, SE/30, Mac IIcx, or Mac 512e. It should run on any of these as long as System 6.0 or higher is in use.
Operation of the program is simple. and can be understood by simply reading the on-line information (reproduced below) and by exploring the menus.
Performance Test
The performance test runs three main tests and provides both individual and combined scores for the results. The tests are: CPU (memory moves, loops, graphics, etc╔), Math (primarily floating point calculations), and Disk (repeated reads and writes of 24K blocks ╤ totally non-destructive of disk data). These ratings are based on a stock SE with an Apple HD20 internal SCSI drive. Such a system rates 1.0 on all tests. Some variation can be expected between runs. Differences of 1/100's in the various ratings are unlikely to be significant.
NOTE: The program needs to reside on the disk which you wish to have considered as your main system drive. For instance, if you have an SE with an internal 20Meg, copy the program to any folder on that disk and then run it.
Systems Comparison:
Ratings for various other systems are available by selecting Systems Comparison. Results from the current system (if the tests have been run) are graphed in light gray. Click on the name of the machine with which you wish to compare your results. That machine's scores will be graphed in darker gray and the values will be printed below the graph area.
NOTE: This list represents machines available to me for testing. If you want to have your system listed, (particularly if you are lucky enough to have an SE/30, IIx, IIcx, or any of the 25Mhz machines - or faster) please send me the test results. I will regularly upload an updater program to the boards (about 2-3K) which will insert the new machines into your list window.
Benchmarks:
Whetstone: This classic benchmark is primarily a test of floating point math with a heavy emphasis of transcendental functions. Its results should echo the Math portion of the PR test.
Dhrystone: Another classic. This tests everything else ╤ pointer manipulation, memory moves, string copies, etc╔ It "does nothing, but does it very well." The test is runs 50,000 loops, instead of the traditional 500,000 for brevity's sake.
Seive: This is BYTE Magazine's implementation of the Sieve of Eratosthenes. It eliminates non-primes from the first 8,190 integers. This test uses only integer math. The test is run ten times and the results are in seconds.
Savage: This mean-sounding test simply repeats the following:
a = tan( atan( exp( log( sqrt( a * a ) ) ) ) ) + 1, loop times, accumulating the error as it goes. Normally, loop is set to be 25,000, but I use 5,000 to keep the test a reasonable length. If you wish to compare the results with those from other programs, the time can be scaled proportionally. Error can, with less success, also be scaled.
Any one of the tests may be run at a time, or all four can be run in series by choosing Do All Four.
