PCMark 8 Now Available on Steam

[btarunr]

PCMark 8, the latest release in our series of popular benchmarking tools, will be available to download and buy from Steam within the next few hours. PCMark 8 combines performance benchmarking, battery life testing, a dedicated benchmark for SSDs and HDDs, and real-world tests using popular applications from Adobe and Microsoft. It's an essential tool for anyone who wants to get the most out of their hardware.

PCMark 8 includes five new benchmark tests, each designed around a typical use scenario. Choose the benchmark that best matches your needs, or run all five for a complete picture of your PC's performance. Each benchmark produces a score you can use to compare systems as well as detailed results you can use to gain a deep understanding of system performance.



The Home, Creative, and Work tests reflect the most common computer usage patterns - light home use, demanding media and entertainment activities, and typical office productivity tasks. The Applications benchmark is a real-world test of system performance using popular applications from Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office. The Storage benchmark is ideal for testing SSDs, HDDs and hybrid drives, highlighting the real-world performance differences between devices. You can use the Home, Creative, Work and Applications benchmarks to test battery life too.

PCMark 8 costs $49.95, but can be bought from Steam for $37.49 (25% off) for a limited time. Keys bought from Steam are interchangable with the standalone version.

Buy PCMark 8 from Steam - 25% off for a limited time

• Includes all five benchmarks plus battery life tests.
• Benchmark with Adobe & Microsoft applications.
• Test your SSD or HDD with the Storage test.
• Measure the battery life of your tablet or notebook.
• Run individual workloads to fine-tune your system.
• Get in-depth hardware monitoring graphs.
• Automatically save your results offline.

Or download PCMark 8 Basic Edition for free

• Includes the Home, Creative and Work benchmarks.
• Easy to use, no technical know-how needed.
• Free online account to manage your results.

With this release there is also a minor update for PCMark Professional Edition. Benchmark scores are not affected, but if you are interested, you'll find the release notes below. If you are not already using PCMark 8 in your reviews and would like a key, just reply to this mail.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[btarunr]

Link will be active shortly.

 

[EarthDog]

$50 for a benchmark... Wow. WTG Futuremark!

 

[xvi]

I don't get it. PCMark seems like something you'd install once, run once, and be done. Why add the extra steps of installing and authenticating Steam on top of installing and authenticating PCMark?

 

[natr0n]

I was never fond of PCMmark.

 

[Arctucas]

I don't get it. PCMark seems like something you'd install once, run once, and be done. Why add the extra steps of installing and authenticating Steam on top of installing and authenticating PCMark?

For the free version, no need for Steam:

 

[xvi]

For the free version, no need for Steam:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll305/Arctucas/PCM8mirrors.jpg

Well, sure, the demo/free version is on Steam as well.

 

[aravind_kumar]

what is the difference between Cinebench and PCMark? Both tests the CPU only

 

[xvi]

They test them in different ways. Some processors may be better for one workload, but worse in another. This is similar to how some games favor AMD cards while others favor nVidia cards.

 

[FX-GMC]

I don't get it. PCMark seems like something you'd install once, run once, and be done. Why add the extra steps of installing and authenticating Steam on top of installing and authenticating PCMark?

Who doesn't already have steam installed? There is also the likelihood that someone will purchase it from steam that wouldn't have otherwise.

(Disclaimer: I am fully aware that there are computers without steam installed.)

 

[xvi]

Who doesn't already have steam installed? There is also the likelihood that someone will purchase it from steam that wouldn't have otherwise.

From a business standpoint, I agree. It makes sense to release it on Steam since it's extra advertising and probably no skin off their back. I'm sure they got a few more customers than they would have if they hadn't released it on Steam.

From a customer standpoint, it makes a little sense since it'd probably be nice to have your registration info saved and a reliable place to download from. Typical usage would be install once, run a benchmark, uninstall. If you upgrade a piece of hardware, re-download, re-install, re-run benchamrk, re-uninstall. It makes sense here, but these customers typically go for a free version.

From an enthusiast's standpoint, which I think is the most likely customer for the paid version, it doesn't make any sense since the enthusiast will likely be reformatting often and it seems like Steam would only get in the way and add bloat. Typical usage would be a thumb drive with latest drivers and the benchmark install. I don't think they'd like Steam sitting in the background using up resources.

 

[FX-GMC]

From a business standpoint, I agree. It makes sense to release it on Steam since it's extra advertising and probably no skin off their back. I'm sure they got a few more customers than they would have if they hadn't released it on Steam.

From a customer standpoint, it makes a little sense since it'd probably be nice to have your registration info saved and a reliable place to download from. Typical usage would be install once, run a benchmark, uninstall. If you upgrade a piece of hardware, re-download, re-install, re-run benchamrk, re-uninstall. It makes sense here, but these customers typically go for a free version.

From an enthusiast's standpoint, which I think is the most likely customer for the paid version, it doesn't make any sense since the enthusiast will likely be reformatting often and it seems like Steam would only get in the way and add bloat. Typical usage would be a thumb drive with latest drivers and the benchmark install. I don't think they'd like Steam sitting in the background using up resources.

I agree with what you say. I must point out though (atleast with 3dmark) steam doesn't have to be running to launch the program.

 

[xvi]

I agree with what you say. I must point out though (atleast with 3dmark) steam doesn't have to be running to launch the program.

Ah! Well, that's certainly better than I'd thought.