13. System Performance: Sysmark 2002

We performed the applications benchmark Sysmark 2002 in combination with various power schemes.

Using the "Portable/ Laptop" setting activates the processor Speedstep function, i.e., the processor decides how much power is needed based on the application currently running.

In the next run-through, we carried out all measurements with the "Always On" power scheme active. Here the CPU always runs at top speed. So these measurements show the system's maximum output.

As a glance at the two diagrams makes clear, the higher processor speed is a real boon in the area of Internet content creation. Comparing the measurements directly with the 2.2 GHz and the 1.4 GHz CPU, a 57% increase in speed results in an increase of the ICC value of almost 40%, while the office productivity value cannot even add 25 percent.

Not terribly surprising but worth a note is the fact that in battery operation and with the "Presentation" power scheme active, the system always shows the same system performance, regardless of the CPU in use.

This setting causes all Pentium 4-M processors to run at a "mere" 1.2 GHz.