What Is SPEC?

SPEC is a non-profit organization that establishes, maintains and endorses standardized benchmarks and tools to evaluate performance and energy efficiency for the newest generation of computing systems. Its membership comprises more than 120 leading computer hardware and software vendors, educational institutions, research organizations, and government agencies worldwide. The founders of this organization believe that the user community will benefit greatly from an objective series of applications-oriented tests, which can serve as common reference points and be considered during the evaluation process. While no one benchmark can fully characterize overall system performance, the results of a variety of realistic benchmarks can give valuable insight into expected real performance.

Legally, SPEC is a non-profit corporation registered in California.

SPEC basically performs two functions:

• SPEC develops suites of benchmarks intended to measure computer performance. These suites are packaged with source code and tools and are extensively tested for portability before release. They are available to the public for a fee covering development and administrative costs. By license agreement, SPEC members and customers agree to run and report results as specified in each benchmark suite’s documentation.

• SPEC publishes news and benchmark results at https://www.spec.org/ This provides a centralized source of information for SPEC benchmark results. Both SPEC member and non-SPEC member companies may publish on the SPEC website, though there is a fee for non-members. (Note that results may be published elsewhere, as long as the format specified in the SPEC Run Rules and Reporting Rules is followed.)

For more in depth inquiry, we have more information online about SPEC, including its background, the philosophy, and organizational structure.