The best free software for testing workstation performance has an upgrade

The takeaway
The SPEC workstation benchmark is updated. It is free to use unless you sell computers for a living.

The details
An all-new version of the most popular benchmark software for testing Windows workstations is now available. SPECworkstation 3 includes new and updated workloads throughout the benchmark suite; it is free of charge to users.

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SPECworkstation3 is free software for evaluating workstation performance. It uses approved software from a variety of disciplines to test all component systems. (Image source: Siemens PLM)

More than 30 workloads containing nearly 140 tests in the SPECworkstation 3 benchmark exercise CPU, graphics, I/O and memory bandwidth. The workloads are divided by application categories that include media and entertainment (3D animation, rendering), product development (CAD/CAM/CAE), life sciences (medical, molecular), financial services, energy (oil and gas), general operations, and GPU compute.

The benchmark is created by SPEC, a non-profit organization that establishes, maintains and endorses standardized benchmarks and tools to evaluate performance and energy consumption for computing systems. SPEC membership comprises more than 120 leading computer hardware and software vendors, educational institutions, research organizations, and government agencies worldwide.

SPECworkstation 3 does not require the full application and associated licensing to be installed on the system under test, simplifying set-up, running and results reporting. It runs under Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit RS3 or later. Results from SPECworkstation 3 should not be compared to earlier versions of the SPECwpc benchmark.

The SPECworkstation 3 benchmark is available immediately to users for free downloading. Vendors of computers and related products and services that are not members of the SPEC Graphics and Workstation Performance Group (SPEC/GWPG) can purchase the benchmark for $5,000. SPEC/GWPG members include AMD, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Intel, Lenovo and Nvidia.

Major new features and upgrades in SPECworkstation 3 include:

A totally redesigned storage workload based on traces of nearly two-dozen applications.
Workloads that reflect changes in updated versions of Blender, Handbrake, Python and Luxrender applications.
GPU-accelerated workloads based on Luxrender, Caffe, and Folding@Home applications.
Refreshed graphics workloads from SPECviewperf 13, including new viewsets representing Autodesk Maya, PTC Creo, energy (oil & gas), and medical applications.
A more robust GUI and improved results validation and error reporting.
An option to report results based on subsystems in addition to vertical market segments.