ie8 fix
madison

Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Home / News & Blogs / Hardware 2.0

The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5

By | February 23, 2012, 7:25am PST

Summary: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5 … which browser will be triumphant?

It’s once again time to update the BIG browser benchmark, where we take the leading browsers and pit them against four of the toughest benchmark tests available to see which is the tortoise, and which is the hare.

Here are the browsers that will be run:

  • Internet Explorer 9 32-bit
  • Firefox 10
  • Chrome 17
  • Safari 5
  • Opera 11

Note: All browsers are the latest build.

Here are the tests that the browsers will face:

  • SunSpider JavaScript 0.9.1 - A JavaScript benchmark developed by Mozilla with a focus on real-world problem solving.
  • V8 Benchmark Suite - A pure JavaScript benchmark used by Google to to tune the V8 JavaScript engine.
  • Peacekeeper - FutureMark’s JavaScript test which stress-tests features such as animation, navigation, forms and other commonly utilized tasks.
  • Kraken 1.0 - Another JavaScript benchmark developed by Mozilla. This is based on SunSpider but features some enhancements.

All testing carried out on a Windows 7 64-bit machine running a Q9300 2.5GHz quad-core processor with 4GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 260 graphics card.

On with the testing!

SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark –>

More from “Hardware 2.0”

Topics

Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Microsoft Internet Explorer 9, JavaScript, Opera Software ASA, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Web Browser, Web Browsers, 64-Bit, Scripting Languages, Network Technology, Internet, Processors, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components, Software/Web Development, Web Development, Networking, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

42
Comments
Add Your Opinion

Join the conversation!

Top Rated

If..
NoAxToGrind 23rd Feb
If you need a stop watch to tell the difference, then the difference doesn't matter.
View in thread

Just In

Just take any speed...
evilkillerwhale@... 12th Mar
... and slow it by half. Then you've got your IE9-64 numbers. At best.
View in thread
3 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
danjames2012 23rd Feb
basically, day to day they are all the same... its just personal preference.
3 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
statuskwo5 23rd Feb
@danjames2012 Yup. I use all major browsers ("FireChromeExplorer") and all of them have strengths and weaknesses.
3 Votes
+ -
Yes, I cannot notice a speed difference
John Zern 23rd Feb
@danjames2012
I guess my eyes do not work in the millisecond range
2 Votes
+ -
@danjames2012:
bradavon 24th Feb
Exactly. This article is pointless. ZDNet does like knocking one out over browser speeds.

It's down to personal preference, all the top 5 browsers are fast. I cannot stand Safari but the other 4 are all decent.
-1 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
Return_of_the_jedi Updated - 23rd Feb
Duh, You only confirmed that IE9 is the worst browser of them all.
-1 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 v
Rabid Howler Monkey 23rd Feb
@Return_of_the_jedi Followed closely by Safari.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
Return_of_the_jedi Updated - 23rd Feb
@Rabid Howler Monkey

The P3P crew of browsers.
0 Votes
+ -
@ Return_of_the_jedi:
bradavon 24th Feb
Yet it's rather good.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
jatbains 23rd Feb
IE9 Is pretty old now. Let's revisit once IE10 is released.
0 Votes
+ -
Why leave out 64 bit?
Sqrly Updated - 23rd Feb
Every gamer I know is running a 64 bit os and as you've stated in the past, it's only the gamers keeping the pc market alive as everyone else uses mobile devices. So why in the world would you exclude IE9 64 bit?
1 Vote
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
the.nameless.drifter 23rd Feb
@Sqrly

Because even on 64bit windows 7 chances are you're running 32bit IE, you have to explicitly go looking for the 64bit IE version
1 Vote
+ -
Not always true
rhonin Updated - 23rd Feb
@the.nameless.drifter
Depends on the version on Win7 you are running.
Both my newer machines (Dell and ASUS) running Pro have 32 and 64 for you to pick from in Start and on the desktop.
2 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
Aerowind Updated - 23rd Feb
@rhonin In case anyone missed the memo (and it's looking like you have), 64 bit IE isn't up to date. It's a thousand times slower than 32 bit.
1 Vote
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
Samic 23rd Feb
@Sqrly
Because IE9 64 bit isn't optimized Javascript by any means (Isn't even use Chakra JavaScript Engine). It's been said before in MSDN blog the sole reason IE9 x64 is for developer to make x64 plugins/add ons and not for day-to-day use.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
PB_z 23rd Feb
@Samic IE 64-bit does use Chakra, however it does not do just-in-time compiling.
1 Vote
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
apetti 23rd Feb
@Sqrly 32bit performs better than the 64bit version... I know it sounds weird, but research it. I was thinking the same thing.
0 Votes
+ -
Should be The bogus browser benchmark! Wow akh blogs about bogus browser
Johnny Vegas 23rd Feb
benchmarks again. Keeps harping on bogus js benchmarks, keeps ignoring the new w3c html5 tests and the real world tests with the top sites. Ignores the fact that even in todays ajax world js perf is now a small fraction of total perf for all browsers. Wake up dude this is entirely boring at this point. No one cares about these lame js microfocused tests. They have been meaningless for a couple years now. Seriously they are as lame and bogus as the acid3 is now. They dont reflect real browser performance on real websites at all anymore. Accept it and move on. Please dont waste time doing this with these everytime a new browser rev comes out. If you really care about this do it with real benchmarks. I bet people would really care to see the results if you actually stepped up and made the effort to do it right.
1 Vote
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
Aerowind 23rd Feb
@Johnny Vegas I like how you didn't read his comments where he said all of this crap was moot, because we're at a time where the few ms of time between browsers is irrelevant.
-4 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
owllnet 23rd Feb
AKH,
Stop publishing these useless bench marks. Nobody cares except some retarded people.

IE9 is simply the safest and fastest, and works best with Windows 7. And 90 percent of PC runs windows.

Chrome is the worst, with snopping and privacy violations cooked in.
1 Vote
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
jetsethi 23rd Feb
@owllnet
I dunno...Chrome seems to pass it in both speed tests and real world usage. It's a small difference, but a difference
3 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
Caveman22 23rd Feb
@owllnet lolno.

IE9 is only "safest" if you go around downloading everything in sight. It does nothing against drive-bys or phishing. And fastest......... LOL
0 Votes
+ -
So what do the numbers mean?
spdragoo@... 23rd Feb
At least when I see video card benchmarks, the actual scores (usually) show the FPS (Frames Per Second) performance that you get from each card being tested. Granted, once you get to a certain point your eyes can't actually see a visual difference in performance (i.e. do you actually notice lower flutter/stuttering/clipping at 90-FPS compared to 60-FPS, or do you only think you notice it?), but you have some actual performance figures.

But if they're "virtual" performance numbers, then how much real-world performance boost will we actually see? It's like having a high-end sports car that can reach 180+ miles/hour speeds... and using it to drive from my house to pick up burgers & fries from the McDonald's (round trip maybe 3 miles, with 2 stop signs, 2 roundabouts, and 7 stop lights to pass through). Sure, I "know" that the sports car could make the round trip in 1 minute (not counting the wait in the drive-thru)... but I also know that I'll have to stop & wait at both stop signs, will probably hit 3 or 4 red lights on the way, and probably have to yield before using 1 of the roundabouts, so I tend to need about 15-20 minutes travel time (again, not counting drive-thru wait time).

To be honest, I primarily use Mozilla's Seamonkey and Firefox for surfing, but also use IE9 & (very occasionally) Chrome. I have yet to see any true "speed improvement" using Chrome, & the main variable that seems to affect my Internet surfing speed is the time of day that I'm surfing (i.e. usually slows down between 4:30 and 6:00 pm -- also the time when Netflix & Hulu have the most problems streaming shows & movies).
0 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
Aerowind 23rd Feb
I'll stick to Firefox. Chrome might be faster, but every time I boot it up, the lack of NoScript punches me in the gut.
1 Vote
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
SuperComputerGuru 23rd Feb
@Aerowind Chrome has a noscript extension which works very well. Not as good as the firefox version, but generally good enough.
0 Votes
+ -
Chrome's version of no script is a joke
wackoae 23rd Feb
It barely blocks anything .... specially nothing from Google's bucket of companies (example DoubleClick).
0 Votes
+ -
@NotSoSuperComputerGuru .. would've been much better advice
thx-1138_@... 23rd Feb
.. to suggest he uninstalls Google Chrome, replaces it with Chromium or Iron (same, chromium engine - but without the built in spyware/data-mining/usage tracking capabilities of G-Chrome) ... *then* advising him to install ScriptNo:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/oiigbmnaadbkfbmpbfijlflahbdbdgdf
0 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
PB_z 23rd Feb
Time for you to get some graphics-based benchmarks. The IE TestDrive demos are super fast on IE but bring Chrome to a crawl.
1 Vote
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
AsifHussain1 Updated - 23rd Feb
I ran IE9 on Mac and Ubuntu. It's the fastest:)
0 Votes
+ -
RE: The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 17 vs Opera 11 vs Firefox 10 vs IE9 vs Safari 5
caspy7 23rd Feb
Mozilla did not develop the Sunspider benchmark.
0 Votes
+ -
LOL.. Your box must be slow..
Johnpford 23rd Feb
Hell I just ran the sun spider test on my Powerbook(safari) and I had a 184.9 vs your 316 and way faster then anything else you have. Anyway, the browsers have all become so fast all I care about is compatability. If you want to get my attention figure out a way to test that. It's becoming a real pain, I hate launching IE for this, Chrome for that, etc.
2 Votes
+ -
hey
panoslondon1 23rd Feb
Of course your laptop may produce a better result if you use better hardware than the hardware zdnet used in the test. The point really is that this javascript tests are pointless cause there is so little difference. I prefer IE9 cause it's the safest in own opinion and displays pages the best.
3 Votes
+ -
Top Rated
If..
NoAxToGrind 23rd Feb Top Rated
If you need a stop watch to tell the difference, then the difference doesn't matter.
1 Vote
+ -
RE: If..
AsifHussain1 23rd Feb
Exactly! This whole "Browser X is faster and thus better than Browser Y" is irrelevant in regards to speed if they're that close these days. Basically Opera, Chrome, and Firefox are the only ones that matter security wise since Safari and IE are a joke when it comes to that.
-1 Votes
+ -
I would not count a browser ...
wackoae 23rd Feb
... with built in spyware by design as a "secure" browser.
0 Votes
+ -
I think wackoae...
evilkillerwhale@... 12th Mar
...doesn't understand what spyware is.

When you KNOW Google's analytic software is built in and you CHOOSE to add it, it's not spyware. You're paying for a browser with your history. Also, what, you think that same crap ISN'T in the other browsers? Are you TOTALLY pants-on-head retarded? Like 95% of all searches are through Google. They pull your IP address and your searches. Most sites are using Google for search, too. They KNOW anyway. Even TOR won't stop Google from knowing that someone is searching for something.


BUT OH LAWD, THE ALIUMS ARE UH COMIN' TO SUCK OUT OUR JURBS

Lunatic.
-1 Votes
+ -
Adrian, you missed the most important benchmark ...
thx-1138_@... Updated - 23rd Feb
... the Spyware, Hidden Tracking & Data Mining benchmark ... apparently Google Chrome's the only one that qualifies for it ... and their "bar is very large" (larger is far worse).
1 Vote
+ -
Conclusion says it all
pvermeij 23rd Feb
The conclusion says it all. Speed does not matter anymore. There are other things that matter much more. I have been using Firefox for a long time now. Tried others, but quickly went back:
- Firefox (and Chrome as well now) has two very useful addins: Adblock Plus and IETab. The latter is required by some sites because they are not compliant.
- Chrome installs itself in your user home directory, and it does not give me an option to install it somewhere else. A complete disqualifier for me. Although you can get around this with another installer, I don't like software for which I need to do something extra not to install it in such a ridiculous place.
2 Votes
+ -
as soon as Chrome topped IE on speed......
allspammailhere 23rd Feb
... it seems that speed is no longer important for some people happy
0 Votes
+ -
My 2 cents
vancevep 23rd Feb
I do notice that Chrome is a little faster on my Ubuntu machine, but the font rendering is absolutely horrid. The negligible speed difference (for me) doesn't make up for the fact that my eyes have to suffer the whole time I'm using Chrome. If Firefox wants to compete more seriously with Chrome, it needs to work on its Sync functionality. Chrome has it right... simple username/password login and bam... everything's sync'd. No secret codes and having to mess with "the other device". I think it's differences OTHER than speed that make browser X more appealing than browser Y (at least for many end users).
1 Vote
+ -
Browser Wars
KingDelta 24th Feb
More and more I use different browsers for different things. I used to use Chrome for speed tasks like research and exploration of new sites and FireFox for everything else because I got it tailored perfectly with all the extensions I need. Now however, I have switched to Maxthon for pure speed and it leaves Chrome in the dust! If Maxthon had as LastPass extension and my favorite Video Download Helper, it would be my only browser!
0 Votes
+ -
And IE9 64?
orendon 26th Feb
Can the test include IE9 in 64 bits? In my company, we are unable to use IE9-32, but firefox or IE9-64, Can you include the IE9-64 tests the next time?
0 Votes
+ -
Just take any speed...
evilkillerwhale@... 12th Mar
... and slow it by half. Then you've got your IE9-64 numbers. At best.

Join the conversation!

Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]
ie8 fix
Click Here
ie8 fix

The best of ZDNet, delivered

ZDNet Newsletters

Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox

Facebook Activity

Blog Roll

Blog Archive

White Papers, Webcasts, & Resources
ie8 fix
ie8 fix