PCMark 8, meanwhile, has a Storage subtest that we use to assess the speed of
the system’s storage subsystem. The result is also a proprietary numeric score;
again, higher numbers are better.
The Black Edition placed
last in this closely grouped
quintet, but it was close
enough to the 4,000
points that we consider
excellent in PCMark 10 to
show itself a solid choice
for Word, Excel, and
PowerPoint. The
contenders were even
more tightly grouped in
PCMark 8’s storage
subtest.Next is Maxon’s CPU-crunching Cinebench R15 test, which is fully threaded to
make use of all available processor cores and threads. Cinebench stresses the
CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image. The result is a proprietary
score indicating a PC’s suitability for processor-intensive workloads.
The 15.6-inch Dell was
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pace here, though a step
ahead of the LG Gram.
Still, none of these systems
are destined for
workstation-style 3D
rendering. Complex
spreadsheets will hold no
terrors for them.