If you have questions or issues regarding WorldBench 6, see if the answer is in our screen shots or FAQs section below. If your questions remains unanswered, contact us and we will do our best to answer it.

Screen Shots

Click on the images to enlarge

Frequently Asked Questions

Version 1.03, Updated 1/25/2010

Why a new WorldBench?
How do I get WorldBench 6?
Do you offer technical support for WorldBench?
How does WorldBench 6 measure system performance?
How is the WorldBench 6 score calculated?
What is the baseline for this version?
What are the guidelines for publishing results?
Which application tests changed between WorldBench 5 and WorldBench 6?
Is there any system preparation that must be done prior to testing with WorldBench 6?
Known issues with WorldBench 6
General Troubleshooting guidelines

I get an error which says “1213,437 is a not valid floating point value.”

Not all WorldBench 6 tests completed. Is this an error? How does this affect the WorldBench 6 score?
Troubleshooting Specific Applications

Adobe Photoshop CS2
Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 (DirectX)
Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 (Rendering)
Firefox 2
Multitasking: Firefox and Windows Media Encoder
Nero 7 Ultra Edition
WinZip Computing WinZip 10.0

Why a new WorldBench?

WorldBench 6 is the leading application-based benchmark for PCs running Windows. WorldBench 6 is fully functional on all editions of Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP, including all 32-bit and 64-bit editions. Previous versions of WorldBench did not run properly on Windows 7 so upgrading to WorldBench 6 is highly recommended.

How do I get WorldBench 6?

WorldBench 6 is available online at www.worldbench.com through our e-commerce partner.

Do you offer technical support for WorldBench?

We assume our customers are technically savvy and familiar with performance benchmarking. Therefore, we do not guarantee technical support. However, you may email worldbench-help@pcworld.com referencing your order number and we may try to answer your questions.

How does WorldBench 6 measure system performance?

WorldBench uses popular applications to perform realistic tasks. These takes accurately gauge how fast your computer runs applications you may routinely use. WorldBench installs special versions of each application tested, enabling the automated test scripts to perform every test. Once a test is completed, WorldBench removes the application from the hard drive. For security reasons, none of the test applications can be installed from the WorldBench disc.

How is the WorldBench 6 score calculated?

WorldBench 6 scores are scaled against a baseline system which has been assigned a WorldBench score of 100. WorldBench 6 scores higher than 100 are approximately one percent faster overall for each point—larger WorldBench scores are better. For example, a WorldBench 6 score of 120 means the system is 20% faster than our baseline or any other system with a WorldBench 6 score of 100.
The WorldBench score is a harmonic mean—the weighted average of ratios of the application test times of the baseline to those times of the tested system. WorldBench 6 also reports these individual application times measured in seconds—faster times (smaller numbers in seconds) are better.

What is the baseline for this version?

WorldBench 6 scores are scaled so that our baseline system gets 100 points for the overall WorldBench score. The baseline system configuration is as follows:

• CPU: 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo E6600
• RAM: 2048MB DDR2
• Graphics: nVidia GeForce 7900GS
• Storage: Two Western Digital Caviar WD3200KS drives in a striped RAID array
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)

What are the guidelines for publishing results?

Guidelines for publishing results are located in section 5 of the WorldBench 6 EULA. Generally, results from WorldBench 6 must be clearly labeled, and system configuration data such as CPU, RAM, operating system, graphics adapter, and display settings must be in close proximity. WorldBench 6 results are comparable with those of WorldBench 6 Beta 2, but they are not comparable with results from WorldBench 5.

Which application tests changed between WorldBench 5 and WorldBench 6?

We have done a lot of behind-the-scenes work to get the main user interface and application bundles to install and function on all editions of Windows 7, Vista, and XP. WorldBench 6 has more current applications than WorldBench 5 and we have also updated some workloads. As a result, WorldBench 6 will stress systems more than WorldBench 5 did, and it takes better advantage of multi-core systems.
Changes in WorldBench 6, listed by test:

• Adobe Photoshop CS2: Replaces Adobe Photoshop 7.0.1. The image files used in the test have been updated to larger files that are more representative of current digital camera output. For example, we no longer use EPS files.
• Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 (DirectX): Replaces Discreet 3ds max 5.1 (DirectX)
• Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 (Rendering): Replaces Discreet 3ds max 5.1 (OpenGL). Instead of animating to the screen using the graphics accelerator, this test fully renders each frame separately using the CPU.
• Microsoft Office 2003 with SP-1: Replaces Microsoft Office XP with SP-2. Outlook has been removed from the workload.
• Mozilla Firefox 2: Replaces Mozilla 1.4.
• Multitasking: Uses Windows Media Encoder 9.0 and Mozilla Firefox 2.0.
• Nero 7 Ultra Edition: Replaces Ahead Software Nero Express 6.0.0.3. Uses three different disc-image files that range in size from a partially filled single-layer DVD to a Blu-ray Disc.
• Roxio VideoWave Movie Creator 1.5: Unchanged.
• Windows Media Encoder 9.0: Unchanged.
• WinZip Computing WinZip 10.0: Replaces WinZip Computing WinZip 8.1.
• ACD Systems ACDSee PowerPack 5.0: Dropped.
• Adobe Premiere 6.5: Dropped
• Musicmatch Jukebox 7.10: Dropped

Is there any system preparation that must be done prior to testing with WorldBench 6?

In order to fairly compare WorldBench 6 results, systems should be configured with the same settings. WorldBench 6 does not come with the system configuration utility that we included with WorldBench 5, so system settings must be changed manually. See the system settings below for Windows 7:

• Uninstall anti-virus (also BigFix and anything else that will pop up and interrupt tests)
  • (Click Start | Type appwiz.cpl | Press enter)
• Uninstall Flash Plug-In (affects FireFox test)
  • (Click Start | Type appwiz.cpl | Press enter)
• Turn off Vsync
• Set display resolution to 1024×768 for desktops and native resolution for laptops and All-In-One PCs
• Disable screen saver
• “Force Aero on (Turn off, Apply, Turn on, Apply)”
  • (Right click desktop | Personalize | Windows Color & Appearance | Open classic appearance | Windows Vista basic [apply] | Windows Aero [apply])
• Set Font size to 96 DPI
  • (Right click desktop | Personalize | Display(bottom left corner) |Adjust DPI (left panel)
• Set power to high performance
  • (Click Start | Type powercfg.cpl | Press enter)
• Disable monitor timeout
• Turn off system restore
  • (Click Start | Right click Computer | Select Properties | System Protection | Protection Settings | Select your partition and Configure)
• Turn off auto updates
  • (Windows Update | Change settings | Never check for updates [ok] [continue])
• Disable network connection
  • (Click Start | Type ncpa.cpl | Press enter)
• Mute audio from within Windows

Known issues with WorldBench 6

On password-enabled systems, WorldBench 6 will repeatedly ask for password entry. You must continue to enter the password, or disable the password and restart the test.
This version of 3ds max automatically disables Vista’s Aero environment while the test is running. When the test is complete, Aero is re-enabled.
The help system is not distributed with the software. It may be found online at www.worldbench.com.
On Windows 7, both the internal clock settings and regional settings must be set to United States or else WorldBench 6 may not run properly.

General Troubleshooting guidelines

If a script fails, try running it by itself to isolate the problem.
Applications which launch at startup may cause conflicts. Disable them by running MSCONFIG and unchecking them on the Services and Startups tabs.
If you have the time, uncheck the Maximum Script Time box in case some scripts take longer than the default 3600 seconds to finish.

I get an error which says “1213,437 is a not valid floating point value.”

Windows 7 regional settings must be set to United States or else WorldBench 6 may not run properly.

Not all WorldBench 6 tests completed. Is this an error? How does this affect the WorldBench 6 score?

No, this is not an error. WorldBench 6 was designed to test the full spectrum of computers, so some tests may be too strenuous for some systems. For example, some low-end netbooks may not have the graphics hardware necessary to complete the Autodesk 3ds max tests in a reasonable amount of time, if at all. The application timeout setting of 3600 seconds is a safeguard so the system will not run unreasonably long tests which would provide a negligible contribution to the WorldBench 6 score.
Other tests may fail due to driver conflicts or other applications run at startup. Run MSCONFIG, uncheck all startup items then try again.
The WorldBench 6 score is calculated as a harmonic mean of each test compared against a baseline. If a system cannot complete a test, it gets zero points for the test in question.

Troubleshooting Specific Applications

Adobe Photoshop CS2

WorldBench 6 modifies the Master Boot Record (MBR) when installed and this sometimes conflicts with Adobe Photoshop CS2. Try installing then uninstalling Photoshop.
Sometimes the C:\ drive is not Disk 0 as recognized by Windows. Check Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Computer Management | Disk Management to verify.
WorldBench 6 modifies only the MBR of Disk 0 to avoid problems with removable drives. If there are any drives enumerated ahead of the boot drive, unplug them so C:\ is Disk 0 and try again.

Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 (DirectX)

.NET Framework 2.0 needs to be installed on Windows XP systems. Check Add/Remove programs to verify.
If it is installed, try freshly reinstalling .NET Framework 2.0.

Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 (Rendering)

The system is too slow or the graphics adapter is incapable of completing the task.

Firefox 2

Uninstall Adobe Flash Player.

Multitasking: Firefox and Windows Media Encoder

This problem is likely related to Firefox 2. Uninstall Adobe Flash Player.

Nero 7 Ultra Edition

Nero writes a series of large optical disc images to the hard drive without deleting them. You should check the available capacity of the boot drive before starting.
On some systems, Nero has stability issues. You may need to run this test individually and set the number of retries to 10 in order to get a complete set of results.
Earlier editions of Nero may conflict with the test. Uninstall them and retry.

Roxio VideoWave Movie Creator 1.5

Minimum resolution required for this script to run is 1024×768.
Webcam driver might be interfering with the test. Run MSCONFIG, go to Startup tab and disable camera driver from loading during boot up.

WinZip Computing WinZip 10.0

This test may fail at very low resolutions depending on your system configuration.

If you still have a technical question regarding WorldBench 6 after reading through the FAQs, email us and we will try to answer your question as quickly as we can.