How to Benchmark?

If you look at the system setup of Toms test he usually mentions using the Timedemo level in Quake 3 which runs and gives you a score at the end as far as I can remember.

However I have been reading benchmark scores for ages and have come to the conclusion that you should not read too much in to them because you will rarely get the same score as Tom. This is because most benchmarkers have ideal conditions ie they have RAM with the fastest timings, the best motherboard, the latest CPU and a very expensive graphics card - depending on what is being tested of course. Also they have a fresh install of an OS and the latest drivers. In my opinion all these things combined probably make their scores about 10% higher than real world system setups.

OK there are people that have the best of every thing in their machines but that is hardly real world is it?? That is an elite not the majority. That is why I thought it was a good idea last year when Tom used a P3 600MHz in 1 of his graphics card tests as well as the latest chips so that people would have a better idea of what their system would be like with the hardware being tested.

Sorry for ranting but just don't be dissapointed when your PC doesn't match up to the bench mark scores provided by Tom.

4.77MHz to 4.0GHz in 10 years. Imagine the space year 2020