Check Your Computers Performance with Fossiltoys May 11, 2010
Assess PC Performance at Fossiltoys.com
I ran across an interesting site while trying to find a way to compare PC performance for several systems I’m currently reviewing: Fossiltoys.com.
Fossiltoys.com is a completely free and very interesting JavaScript tool that actually embeds itself in the web browser rather than the web server so it is a true monitor of the actual machine’s performance and total independent of internet speed and traffic.
Here’s the are the features, summarized from the website…
- Simple but effective web-based online PC speed monitor (CPU and RAM)
- No software installation required - completely web-based
- Platform neutral: Mac, Windows, Linux, Unix
- Monitors not just CPU speed, but system slowdown due to insufficient RAM as well
- Unobtrusive - speed is displayed in window title, even when web browser is minimized.
- Stores log of last 1,500 speeds
- Provides export feature for spreadsheet analysis
- Displays minimum and maximum speeds recorded during monitoring period
The number it provides as a speed really means nothing unless you are comparing your system to itself under different conditions to see how it is affected (for example running no applications vs. running a particular mix of applications) or if you’re comparing similar systems running the same software to see which system is performing better. I found this particularly helpful when benchmarking three different netbooks from three different manufacturers but with nearly identical specs and running identical software.
Some specifics on the best way to use this site for analysis…
- The higher the Fossil Speed shown on the page, the higher the available performance of the PC at that time. As more programs are run, the Fossil Speed will reduce, indicating less available performance to run new programs.
- The absolute value of the speed does not mean anything. It only makes sense when compared against Fossil Speeds from other PCs with like specifications, or the same PC at different times.
- The Fossil Speed is linear - a number twice as big means the PC is able to perform twice as fast. This is only valid when comparing with the same or similar PCs. Any comparison will be less accurate when comparing PCs with very different hardware, especially multi-core CPUs.
- Tests both CPU and memory access speed. For many PCs, the amount of memory is more of a limiting factor than CPU speed. The Fossil Speed will reflect PC speed limitations due to insufficient RAM e.g. when many programs are running at the same time.
