Take a look under your PC's hood! Here's how

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Take a look under your PC's hood! Here's how

Jason Parker
Contributing Editor, Downloads
Monday, March 31, 2003

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No matter what kind of computer you use--a lightning-fast 2.5GHz Windows PC or your aunt's old Mac Quadra 840--knowing the actual processor speeds and the amount of memory on your system (as well as other stats) can be very useful.

It helps you troubleshoot problems (if, for instance, your computer's acting sluggish) and can help you make informed decisions about when to upgrade your hardware and what needs replacing.

But how are you to find out all this information? With benchmarking software, of course. It allows you run diagnostic tests that check everything from your machine's processor speed and drive efficiency to the output of your graphics card.

Here are three of my favorite benchmarking downloads for putting my computers through their paces.

PerformanceTest runs 27 different tests on your system, then returns the results in the form of a bar chart. This one covers all the bases, including the state of your network connection and CD/DVD drives. (Shareware/Windows)

HARDiNFO 2002 Professional runs a full set of diagnostic tests on your computer or all the computers on your network. It produces nice-looking and easy-to-understand graphical representations on the stats for each piece of hardware. (Shareware/Windows)

Xbench for Mac OS X puts your Mac through its paces and gives you comprehensive results. It also grades your Mac with an overall performance number, so that you can compare it to other Macs. (Free/Mac)

If you want a precise look at what's really under your computer's hood, download one of these programs--and put your system to the test.

Know of any other good diagnostics programs? Do you care what's going on under your system's hood? TalkBack to me!

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