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What Makes a Valid Benchmark?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the a-nice-chisel dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Benchmarks can make a big difference if they are accurate in predicting performance. That's simple enough to describe; it's not nearly so simple to implement. Benchmarks can be an excellent tool for predicting performance and estimating requirements, but they also can be misleading, possibly catastrophically so. This article looks at benchmarks; the good, the bad and the ugly."

1 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. Apples and Oranges by Jzor · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This reminds me of a comparison I saw in Circuit City once... (Warning: I'm not going to talk about a computer hardware benchmark.) They were trying to sell the insanely expensive Monster video cables by comparing the Monster cables to standard cables on identical TV's. The screen with the monster cables looks hella better than the other monitor. The difference was so astounding that I just had to look at the back of the TV... The Monster TV was hooked up with an HDMI cable..... The other a FRIGGIN UNSHIELDED COMPOSITE VIDEO CABLE. Apples and oranges, apples and oranges...