benchmarking
28 MAXIMUM PC SEP 2020 maximumpc.com
Zak Storey takes you
behind the scenes of
our testing plans for
2020 and beyond
GOOD-QUALITY TECH JOURNALISM starts with a
solid, objective testing platform, there’s no doubt about
it. However, in print things are more complicated than
in the world of digital. There’s a very fine balancing act
that needs to be performed: Resources and budgets
are less readily available here, and time and space far
more limited. Fixed print deadlines and word counts are
incredibly restrictive, and because of that we can’t just
throw pages and pages of benchmarks at you, without
sacrificing quality content elsewhere; whether that’s
the fantastic photography our art division produces,
or the intricately woven literary entertainment,
knowledge, and opinions of our writers. Finding the
perfect balance between it all is key.
Maximum PC’s current set of benchmarks and
zero-points have been getting somewhat long in the
tooth, and frankly they could really do with a good ol’
refresh. To that end, this time around we’re going to
take you on a complete tour of what tests we’re going
to be introducing in the coming months, how we’ll be
testing our hardware, and what we plan to do with the
results once we’re done.
So if you’re curious about where we’re heading, or
interested in learning how to benchmark your own
machine, then it’s time to turn the page and enter into
the wondrous realm of synthetic and real-world tests
you need to know about for the next few years.