Almost four years later, Futuremark has released the next iteration to their PCMark benchmarking program. That is not to say they have done nothing in four years as the hardware world changes far too often to stay dormant. Futuremark has released VRMark, updated 3DMark to include some benchmarks for VR and also DX12, and did release more mobile-centric benchmarks. PCMark 8 was lagging behind in use, with 3DMark doing a lot already and people preferring individual application benchmarking vs. a full suite that was getting dated.

PCMark 10 is a strong attempt to get PCMark back into not just hardware reviewers' hands, but also office and home professionals alike. Gone are the storage and battery tests, but in return, you get more real-world testing in digital content creation, simulations and modeling, and an entire gaming group, while still retaining the essentials and productivity groups that contain tasks a lot of us do daily and rarely think about if running slowly. The extended analysis is a great help in identifying bottlenecks or the lack thereof, and it also is useful when it comes to building a balanced system.

Compared to PCMark 8, nearly all the tests have been updated to the latest codec/foundation. The Rendering and Visualization test now runs on OpenGL to better simulate the real-world performance of professional applications. Gone is the casual gaming test based on DX9, and we have a DX11-based 3DMark Fire Strike instead. It would have been nice to see a DX12 test as well though. The biggest change is clearly in run time - PCMark 10 takes an average of 18, 26, and 30 minutes for the PCMark 10 Express, PCMark 10, and PCMark 10 Extended benchmarks to run respectively. Comparatively, PCMark 8 benchmarks took an average of 30-56 minutes even in accelerated mode.

At the same time, there are a few things that still feel dated. Why is there no support for Hyperthreading or Simultaneous MultiThreading in all the tests? It will not affect a large majority of customers whose workdloads are themselves not going to take advantage of this, but those who do will find it lacking. Why have customers with two discrete GPUs been left behind? Going with GIMP and LibreOffice is great, and I really wish more people used them, but I too go with Adobe and Microsoft because everyone else I work with does. Removing the latter and going open source leaves that tiny question of what if the three major hardware players had some optimization for Adobe or Microsoft programs only in peoples' minds. I am also still not convinced by the removal of the storage and battery tests. App start-up tests storage to an extent, as do the load/save sections of various tests, but not enough to seriously test storage given this is targeting office workers with an old HDD and professionals with fast NVMe storage alike. Similarly, I already know of a few people who are lamenting the loss of the battery test, which was invaluable to them when it came to testing laptops and netbooks.

In the end, PCMark 10 does do what it aims for and offers office professionals - especially those in the IT department - help with identifying a good, balanced set of PC hardware or OEM towers to purchase based on application. The price tag for the Advanced Edition will more than make up for the cost savings in the long run, and many companies may well want to consider the Professional Edition as well depending on usage and support needs. For readers of TechPowerUp and those interested in benching hardware and comparing results, PCMark 10 Basic Edition alone offers a lot. As a free benchmark, PCMark 10 will do the job for a lot of people if combined with the free 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark as well. But PCMark 10 Advanced Edition is for those whose time is valuable or who simply want more analysis and a combined benchmark. I am not convinced it will be worth $29.99 to you, but hey, it is available on Steam as well, so it is only a matter of time before it goes on sale.

Update (June 5, 2017): Futuremark informed us that dedicated storage and battery tests will indeed be coming to PCMark 10. These will be included for customers with the Advanced or Professional Editions, similar to PCMark 8, which helps further justify the $29.99 price tag. The reason they were not included at launch is because Futuremark is giving them a major update to fit in with the rest of PCMark 10, and R&D was not completed by today. Given this piece of information, I am now more inclined to purchase the Advanced Edition as a reviewer and bencher.