Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation

SPECwpc V2.0 benchmark

The SPECwpc benchmark measures all key aspects of workstation performance based on diverse professional applications. The latest version is SPECwpc V2.0 (introduced on November 18, 2015), which improves scalability measurement for workstations with large numbers of processing cores and fully integrates solid-state storage into performance testing. SPECwpc added support for measuring performance of virtualized workstations in V1.2, introduced in June 2015.

The SPECwpc benchmark can be used by vendors to optimize performance and publicize benchmark results for different vertical market segments. Users can employ the benchmark for buying and configuration decisions specific to their industries. SPECwpc V2.0 runs under the 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 SP1. Results from SPECwpc V2.0 cannot be compared to earlier versions of the benchmark.

Major upgrades in the SPECwpc V2.0 benchmark include:

• Improved storage workloads that better reflect performance of NAND Flash devices for high-capacity data storage.
• Better scalability measurement for multi-core systems and the ability to request a specific number of threads or processes for multi-threaded workloads.
• Ability to condition drives for NAND Flash devices before performance measurement.
• A new PTC Creo CAD/CAM workload in the product development category.
• Real-world enhancements for several workloads in the test suite.

More than 30 workloads are included in SPECwpc V1.2 to test CPU, graphics, I/O and memory bandwidth. The tests are divided into the application categories listed below. Individual scores are generated for each test and a composite score for each category is generated based on a reference machine, yielding a "bigger is better" result. The reference machine has the following configuration: x3430 processor, 8GB (4x2GB) memory, V4800 graphics and SATA 7.2k rpm hard-disk drive.

* from SPECviewperf benchmark

The benchmark does not require the full application and associated licensing to be installed on the system under test, simplifying set-up, running and results reporting.

SPECwpc V2.0 is available under a two-tiered pricing structure: free for non-commercial users and $5,000 for commercial entities. Commercial entities are defined as organizations using the benchmark for the purpose of marketing, developing, testing, consulting for and/or selling computers, computer services, graphics devices, drivers or other systems in the computer marketplace.