Benchmark

n. criterion, measure; evaluation of computer performance (Computers); point of reference for comparison (especially a mark for measuring the level of a body of water against a standing structure, such as a bridge, etc.)

v. measure (such as the product of a competitor) according to indicated standards as to compare it with and improve own product

Benchmark may refer to:Benchmark (surveying), a point of reference for a measurementBenchmark (crude oil), a reference for and discussion of cost and/or pricing of petroleum, such as Brent Crude  and West Texas Intermediate in terms of benchmarks based on classification differences.Benchmark (computing), the result of running a computer program, or a set of programs, in order to assess the relative performance of an object by running a number of standard tests and trials against itBenchmarking (geolocating), a sport similar to geocaching in which participants individually go out and find benchmarksBenchmarking, the process used in management in which organizations evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to the best practice, usually within their own sectorBenchmark Capital, a venture capital firm behind various startups, such as (and including) eBay.
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Noun
1. a standard by which something can be measured or judged; "his painting sets the benchmark of quality"
(hypernym) standard, criterion, measure, touchstone
2. a surveyor's mark on a permanent object of predetermined position and elevation used as a reference point
(synonym) bench mark
(hypernym) reference point, point of reference, reference

SPECint92 SPEC Flops SPEC ratio Intel Comparative Microprocessor Performance index SPEC CFP92 Suite Synthetique des Benchmarks de l'AFUU SPECfp92 SPECrate_int92 MIPS SPEC CINT92 SPECmark SPECmark89 SPEC rate benchmark clock rate SPECrate_base_fp92 SPECrate_fp92 Dhrystone Whetstone VAX MIPS 

<benchmark> A standard program or set of programs which can be run on different computers to give an inaccurate measure of their performance.
"In the computer industry, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and benchmarks."
A benchmark may attempt to indicate the overall power of a system by including a "typical" mixture of programs or it may attempt to measure more specific aspects of performance, like graphics, I/O or computation (integer or floating-point). Others measure specific tasks like rendering polygons, reading and writing files or performing operations on matrices. The most useful kind of benchmark is one which is tailored to a user's own typical tasks. While no one benchmark can fully characterise overall system performance, the results of a variety of realistic benchmarks can give valuable insight into expected real performance.
Benchmarks should be carefully interpreted, you should know exactly which benchmark was run (name, version); exactly what configuration was it run on (CPU, memory, compiler options, single user/multi-user, peripherals, network); how does the benchmark relate to your workload?
Well-known benchmarks include Whetstone, Dhrystone, Rhealstone (see h), the Gabriel benchmarks for Lisp, the SPECmark suite, and LINPACK.
See also machoflops, MIPS, smoke and mirrors.
Usenet newsgroup: news:comp.benchmarks.
Tennessee BenchWeb.
[Jargon File]
(2002-03-26)

The performance of a predetermined set of securities, used for comparison purposes. Such sets may be based on published indexes or may be customized to suit an investment strategy.