Beginning with this issue, Computer Graphics World will provide highlights from current SPEC/GPC benchmark listings. The Standard Performance Evaluation Corp./Graphics Performance Characterization Group is part of a nonprofit corporation that creates and maintains a standardized set of benchmarks for high-performance computing. The graphics-oriented GPC tests include SPECviewperf, SPECapc for Pro/Engineer, and a variety of other application-specific benchmarks.
The tests are performed on a semimonthly basis by participating vendors on their own machines, according to guidelines provided by SPEC/GPC, and are subject to peer review by other vendors belonging to SPEC/GPC. The benchmarks are available to all users and can be downloaded free of charge from the organization`s Web site.
This month, we list the 10 workstations that received the best ratings for the Lightscape (a lighting design and rendering program) viewset of the SPECviewperf 6.1.1 benchmark. The Lightscape viewset consists of walk-throughs in four differently rendered Lightscape environments. The mean scores at left represent the combined, weighted results of the four tests, measured in the number of frames per second the machines were able to execute. The larger the number, therefore, the better the performance.
To see how the same workstations fared in different benchmark tests and to view results from additional workstations, visit SPEC/GPC`s Web site at
www.spec.org/gpc.