Harware Acceleration Performance Benchmarks
Microsoft Psychedelic Browsing
Internet Explorer still holds the highest score in Microsoft's own Psychedelic Browsing benchmark, followed by Firefox 9. Chrome takes third, Opera is in fourth, and the Windows version of Safari only earns 64.5 points for a last-place finish.
The scores are nearly reversed in OS X, with Safari earning a high score that's a few points higher than what Firefox demonstrated under Windows 7 to take its second-place finish. The rest of the browsers perform dismally in OS X. Opera comes in second just shy of 80 points. Firefox's 41.5 points are good enough for third place. And Chrome's 36 points earn it last place.
We still haven't received an explanation as to why the IE9 score jumped by several thousand points without the browser version being updated. If Microsoft's representatives ever respond to our inquiry we'll update the article. Until then, Psychedelic Browsing is under observation.
Mozilla Hardware Acceleration Stress Test
In Windows 7, IE9 and Firefox are again the only two Web browsers able to max out Mozilla's Hardware Acceleration Stress Test, sharing first place. Chrome falls to a distant second with 23 FPS, trailed closely by Opera's 22 FPS result. Safari only earns 13 FPS, placing it in last.
On Apple's platform, Safari takes the high score of 56 FPS. Opera places second with 19 FPS, followed by Chrome at 10 FPS, while Windows 7-winner Firefox only achieves 5 FPS on the Mac.