If the Basic mode is, well, a little too basic, then you may want to switch to the ‘Advanced’ mode, which spices things up a bit. To access the ‘Advanced’ mode simply click on the ‘>>’ button.
In ‘Advanced’ mode there are a number of options displayed on the right-hand side of the benchmarks application window.
Tests
The ‘Tests’ section allows you to run the individual benchmarks separately, rather than all at once, which is useful if you’re trying to optimise the performance of a particular aspect of your PC. For example, the H.264 Video Encoding test is highly CPU-intensive, which means that looping this test is a good way to test system stability.
Defrag Before / After
Ticking these options will automatically initiate Windows’ built-in disk defrag program at the specified moment (before and/or after the tests have run) on the drive that the benchmarks are initiated from, for each loop of the benchmarks. This will mean more consistent results for multiple runs.
Reboot After / Shutdown After
By selecting ‘Reboot After?’ the PC will reboot after each successful run, whether that be a single benchmark or a loop of 99. If you are looping several runs of the benchmarks, or you can’t be bothered to wait around until they have finished, then ticking ‘Shutdown After?’ will switch-off your PC once the benchmarks have completed. The results are accessible from the results file stored in the benchmarks folder.
Infinite Looping
If this is option is selected then the benchmarks will loop indefinitely using the settings you have selected. If you want the benchmarks to stop, simply press the ‘Abort’ button. After the benchmarks have been aborted the application will generate an average score from all the completed loops.
Set Number of Loops
Although the benchmarks application will generate an accurate result from a single run, to get the most accurate results we advise running the benchmarks three times. To do this, tick the ‘Set Number of Loops’ option and enter the number of loops you want to run in the appropriate box.
Don't halt on errors?
Turning this feature on means that, if a benchmark fails, the result will be discarded but the benchmark application will carry on regardless. This is useful when benchmarking a particularly unstable machine - just leave it running all night until you get a result! It’s worth noting that if this option is not selected then the failure of a single test will cause the entire benchmarks process to halt. If you have selected a number of loops to run then this can be quite irritating, as a single test failure will stop the tests from looping.
Don't halt on user interaction?
As part of the Custom PC Benchmark Suite 2007’s protection mechanism against cheaters, we check for keyboard presses and mouse clicks. Ticking this option will disable this feature, but disqualify you from entering our online Benchmarks Leaderboard. However, this option is useful for when you are stability testing, as looping the H.264 Video Encoding test while trying to play a game is a sure-fire way to make a flaky machine fall over.
Notes
You can add your own notes into this box, which will then be written into the results file. This is useful for a number of reasons, such as noting the overclocked speed of your CPU during a particular run, or any other changes to your PC’s configuration.
CPU Usage
While the benchmarks are running, you can see the CPU Usage of your machine in the right hand corner of your screen. This is recorded while each benchmark is running, and an average CPU usage will be given to you. This is a really useful way of working out the bottleneck in your machine.
Results file
As well as being displayed on screen, the benchmark results are exported to a file called ‘results.csv’, which is located within the root of the folder into which the benchmarks were installed. As the results file is a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file it can be loaded into any spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc, although it can also be opened by word processing applications, including Notepad.
The results are converted into scores that are relative to a base test machine in the Custom PC Labs. So if our test machine scores 1,000 and your PC scores 1,200, your PC is 20 per cent faster than our test PC in that test. In advanced mode the time in seconds is also displayed for those who want a more precise result.
The reference PC consists of a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 CPU, Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP motherboard, 250GB Samsung SpinPoint P120S hard disk, 2GB of Corsair XMS2-8500 RAM, GeForce 8800GTS 320MB graphics card and Windows Vista.
Additional notes
Please note that if the ‘Don't halt on errors’ or ‘Don't halt on user interaction’ options are enabled then you will not be eligible to submit your scores to the online Benchmarks Leaderboard. However, defragging the machine, or looping the tests a set number of times is perfectly fine and encouraged for more reliable results.
If you've run a lot of tests, the results screen can get cluttered with information. To clear it, just double click.