Web Browser Grand Prix 5: Opera 11.50, Firefox 5, And Chrome 12

Features
By Adam Overa
published

Three major released have landed since our last impromptu Web Browser Grand Prix (WBGP4): Chrome 12, Firefox 5, and Opera 11.50. Can Chrome or Opera regain the WBGP championship? Will Mozilla Firefox ever overtake Microsoft's IE9 in the rankings?

Performance Benchmarks: HTML5

JSGameBench

JSGameBench is a new addition to the Web Browser Grand Prix. This benchmark was created by developers at Facebook to test HTML5 gaming performance.

Firefox 5 surges ahead of the pack to take first place with a score of over 3000. IE9 earns a respectable second-place victory with just over 2200 points, and Chrome receives a score of just under 700 to finish third. Safari and Opera languish behind in fourth and fifth place with scores of 233 and 154, respectively.

GUIMark2 HTML5

We dropped the original two-pixel version of the GUIMark2 HTML5 Vector Charting test and are now solely looking at the much more believable single-pixel variant. Like the GUIMark2 Flash tests, we've combined the GUIMark2 HTML5 scores into a single average, which we will be including in our placing tables. The Detail chart below contains the three individual test scores (vector charting [one-pixel variant], bitmap gaming, and text columns).

Achieving nearly 34 frames per second, Opera is the top performer in the vector charting portion of the GUIMark2 HTML5 benchmark. Safari comes in second with just under 29 FPS. Firefox is close behind in third place with a score of 24.6 FPS. IE9 places fourth with 23 FPS, while Chrome falters with the only score below 20 frames per second.

Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 5 own the HTML5 bitmap gaming test, with Microsoft's browser earning just over 60 FPS, and Mozilla just under. Far behind in third place at 33 FPS is Google Chrome. Fourth place goes to Opera at 20 FPS, with last-place finisher Safari achieving a meager ten frames per second.

Again it's Firefox and Internet Explorer way out in front in the text column test, the former with 58 FPS and the latter with 55. Third place again goes to Chrome with almost half the score of the IE9 and Firefox: 33 FPS. Safari and Opera round out the placing at fourth and fifth (respectively), with Safari close to 30 FPS and Opera closer to 25. Now let's take a look at the composite:

When looking at the average scores of all three GUIMark2 HTML5 tests, it's Firefox 5 that takes the lead with just over 47 frames per second. IE9 is closely behind in second with a composite score of just under 46 frames per second. Chrome is in third with over 28 FPS, and Opera is a close fourth-place finisher at 26.5 FPS. Safari places last with just under 23 frames per second.

Asteroids HTML5 Canvas And JavaScript 2D

Internet Explorer takes the lead in Asteroids with the sought-after result of 60 FPS. Chrome is in second place at 51 FPS. Opera comes in third with a score of 42 frames per second. Safari finishes fourth at 25 FPS, while Firefox 5 flails in fifth with only 20 FPS.

Adam Overa
102 Comments Comment from the forums
  • adampower
    Wow, it seems like I upgrade my browsers every week.
    Reply
  • somehow it seems that firefox is focussing more on benchmarks rather than actual real world usage.
    Reply
  • opera keeps impressing me throughout the WBGP
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    Now if just Google would release a 64-bit Chrome browser.
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    First of all, this is the most thorough WBGP yet.
    somehow it seems that firefox is focussing more on benchmarks rather than actual real world usage.
    I don't think so - proper page loads and battery life are important considerations.

    I agree that Mozilla did not do a right thing in copying Chrome's release cycle, but at least they're trying - for example, they're trying hard in bringing down memory usage by increasing the garbage collection frequency(check this out in the Aurora and Nightly builds).

    WBGP is basically a test of speed, and Chrome may have won in that, but Firefox is not far behind. I can wait for two or three seconds for my page to load. You can easily bring down the page load times by using addons like AdBlock Plus.

    Even with the faster release cycle, this article clearly states that Firefox is still the most stable browser. Many people say that they've had numerous crashes, but its something wrong with their drivers or OS - I have not had a single crash since FF 4.0 beta 5 (or 7?), when they introduced hardware acceleration for the first time.

    Firefox remains the most customizable browser, while Opera has the most number of features out-of-the-box.

    So overall, according to me Firefox>=Opera>Chrome>IE 9> Safari.
    Reply
  • cadder
    Will you guys please investigate the SECURITY of each browser? I would use the one that is most secure even if it is slowest.
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    9516697 said:
    Will you guys please investigate the SECURITY of each browser? I would use the one that is most secure even if it is slowest.
    That's easy: FF+AdBlock Plus+ NoScript+Ghostery+BrowserProtect
    Reply
  • ChiefTexas_82
    IE 9 is a speed demon? I droped IE because it started running like ****. I blame loading too many side programs after years on the web. So I wanted to try Chrome or Firefox. Being a Google fan already, I tried Chrome. So far it leaves my old IE8 in the dust. Except for a certain bug, I would say it has been an improvement in almost every way.
    Reply
  • ChiefTexas_82
    I don't like how Nvidia's GPU auto-detect doesn't work on chrome.
    Reply
  • thartist
    Damn, Opera has it's flaws but it's nonetheless the one that does one thing best: browsing.
    Reply