SPEC/GWPG announces benchmark roadmap  

Siggraph 2014 announcements include new SPECviewperf strategy,
upcoming workstation initiatives, and plans for updated application benchmarks

VANCOUVER, B.C., Canada,, August 14, 2014 -- SPEC's Graphics and Workstation Performance Group (SPEC/GWPG) announced today at Siggraph 2014 its benchmarking roadmap for the months ahead, including a new strategy for SPECviewperf, upcoming workstation performance-measurement initiatives, and plans for updated application benchmarks.

Current SPEC/GWPG members are AMD, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Intel, Lenovo, NEC and NVIDIA.

Greater SPECviewperf flexibility

SPEC's graphics performance characterization (SPECgpc) group plans to decouple the testing files called viewsets from the SPECviewperf framework that controls running of the files and recording of results.  This would provide the flexibility to offer new viewsets without requiring major revisions to SPECviewperf itself.  SPECgpc is currently working on updated viewsets to measure graphics performance for systems running Autodesk 3ds Max and Inventor applications.

Better I/O and scalability measurement

SPEC's workstation performance characterization (SPECwpc) group announced its intention to fine-tune storage I/O testing in the next version of its benchmark, scheduled for early 2015.  The group also plans to improve scalability measurement for workstations with large numbers of processing cores.

Updated application benchmarks

On the heels of yesterday's release of SPECapc for 3ds Max 2015, SPEC's application performance characterization ( SPECapc ) group has near-term plans for new products to evaluate performance for systems running SolidWorks CAD/CAM, Autodesk Maya 3D animation and Siemens NX CAD/CAM applications.

Successful sales

SPEC/GWPG reports that 2014 has been its biggest year of benchmark sales to date. Paul Besl, SPEC/GWPG chair, says the new two-tiered pricing structure for benchmarks enacted last year -- free for non-commercial users and SPEC/GWPG members and paid-for by commercial companies that profit from computer sales or services -- has been a definite success.

"We've been able to continue our policy of offering free benchmarks that encourage widespread adoption of performance evaluation tools within the user community while gaining a new source of revenue from non-member commercial entities that benefit from using our benchmarks for new product development, testing and marketing.  As a non-profit organization, those extra revenues are plowed back into new and better benchmarks."

About SPEC/GWPG

The SPEC Graphics and Workstation Performance Group (SPEC/GWPG) is the worldwide leader in standardized performance evaluation for professional graphics and workstation applications. The SPEC/GWPG portion of the SPEC website received nearly 1 million visitors and 14,000 benchmark downloads in 2013. For more information, visit www.spec.org/gwpg. 

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