Speed Tester is shareware. You may evaluate it freely for up to 15 days, then to continue using it you are expected to pay a $7 registration fee. Registration is handled by the Kagi Software service. You may register on-line with a credit card at :
< http://order.kagi.com/?VN&S >
or for non-secure browsers :
< http://order.kagi.com/?VN >
Or use the Register application to register by e-mail or by fax with a credit card, or through postal mail. Please run the application for more information (and turn on Balloon Help!). If you received Speed Tester without the Register application, please download the complete package.
After you register, you'll receive a fix to disable the registration reminders, and enable preferences and the graphics test. I'll e-mail you the fix shortly after you receive Kagi's receipt. Please remember to include an e-mail address and a postal address (address is not necessary, but is for my records) so I know where to send the fix!
When you register, you are paying for both applications (PPC and 68k) even though they are separte downloads. There is no need to pay for both, if you plan on using both of them. Site and world licenses are also available. The Bonus box in Register is for those of you who feel seven dollars is too little for Speed Tester. (Of which, I hope there are many! :-) The Kagi Shareware address and fax number are for registrations only, please.
Please distribute Speed Tester as a complete package, with both the application, this document, the Version History, and the Register application. It is OK to upload the unmodified package to BBSs, the Internet and online services. You may also include the orginal package on CD-ROM Shareware/Freeware distributions.
Documentation:
IMPORTANT!! DO NOT RUN ANY TESTS WITH BALLON HELP ON. IT WILL GREATLY
INCREASE THE TIME IT TAKES TO COMPLETE THE TEST.
Speed Tester is based on a little program called "Check Ticks", this program makes 10,000 calls to GetNextEvent(), and then quits. Speed Tester expands on this idea. Speed Tester may register different times than CheckTicks, but let me assure you that the times are correct. Speed Tester 2.1 measures the test in microseconds (that is in millonths of a second) internally. It then converts the numbers to milliseconds (thousandths of a second), and Ticks (sixtieths of a second). CheckTicks actually measures it's one test in Ticks. (Which according to Apple, is not a very reliable way to measure elapsed time.) Also CheckTicks is not 32bit clean, this may cause descrepencies when running in 32bit mode.
Speed Tester has four tests to find out how fast your computer is. The default test is GetNextEvent(), which does the same thing as above.
The second and third tests test the floating point and integer performance of your processor. If you do not have a FPU co-processor (all PPC computers have a built-in FPU), the floating point test can take an extremely long time.
The second test is a series of two floating point tests. The first in the series is a test that calculates the powers of 2 from 1 to 64. Next it takes 2^64, and divides the number by 64, then divides that result by 63, then that result by 62, and so on until 1 is reached. One series makes up one Floating Point Calculation, and one Floating Point Calculation is comprised of 10, 000 iterations of the series.
The third (integer) test performs a series of matrix manipulations. (This test uses straight array indexing, instead of pointer addition. Array indexing taxes the integer processesing of your computer more.) This test was added to give a more significant rating of your processor. The GetNextEvent test does not (and is not meant to) give an accurate representation of your processor's speed. The GetNextEvent test is meant
to assess the impact of extensions and other programs on your System speed only.
The fourth test, is the Graphics test. This test creates a window the size of your screen, and draws 10, 000 "Speedies" in it. It then returns an elapsed time to you like the other tests.
Note: This test is not a pure processor speed test, it depends on whether you have a video card, and if you do, how much memory is on the card, and whether that memory is VRAM (faster), or DRAM (slower). It also depends on your monitor's resolution setting, and the color depth. As such, this test can have greatly varying results, even between Macs of the same family. This test is great to see how different pixel and color depths affect QuickDraw routines on your computer.
In order to invoke a test you must select a set number from the Set menu. Speed Tester will then run the selected Test, based on the set you chose (from 1 to 5). For instance, if you choose the GetNextEvent() test , and the set 3, Speed Tester will run the GetNextEvent() test 3 times. In effect making 30, 000 calls to GetNextEvent() and then return an average to you. Speed Tester can return the results in either milliseconds or ticks. (Be careful with slower machines, the higher sets can take a long time, espicially if you have a 680X0 and don't have an FPU.)
The Reference Mac dialog box, under the File menu, gives you some times on different Macs to compare your machine to (all times for PPC's are native), and the Summary window will give you the times for all tests run on your machine during a session. (You do not have to run the tests in ticks and ms, Speed Tester will compute both times for the Summary data.)
I am looking for the times from any machines not already in the database. You need to run all three tests with extensions off, and send me the results of both time formats. If I use them, I will credit you in the dialog box.
Note: If you run Speed Tester with a lot of extensions or with any other applications in the background, you may see significant fluctuations in the Result times. This is because extensions, and programs steal cycles from your CPU. Of course this is a great way to see how much an extension actually slows down your machine. Test the speed of your Mac with different extentions on or off. Seeing how each extension affects your Mac's performance in the three catogories. Ideally, you would run each test with no extensions, then 1, 2, and so on.
You can always find the most recent version on my WWW site:
http://www.pair.com/dmoll/Apps/SpeedTester/
If you have any comments or find a bug, please let me know, my e-mail address is:
dmoll@pair.com
Standard Disclaimer:
While I have tried to make sure that Speed Tester is a useful and stable program, I cannot be held responsible for any damages to your machine (hardware, or software) that result from the use or misuse of Speed Tester. By storing Speed Tester on your machine, or any machine which you have access to (including network computers), you agree to the above terms.
