PCMark 10 2.3.2912

PCMark 10 is a Windows benchmark from UL Solutions that measures how well a PC handles office and everyday work. Instead of timing synthetic loops, it runs real applications such as web browsers, a word processor, a spreadsheet program and an image editor. It then turns the measured times and frame rates into scores for comparing systems. It comes as a Basic demo edition, a paid Advanced Edition and a Professional Edition sold as an annual commercial license.

How the main benchmark is built

The standard PCMark 10 run groups individual workloads into three test groups. The applications it drives include Chromium, Firefox, LibreOffice and GIMP. They ship with the benchmark, so results do not depend on the software already installed.

Essentials

• App Start-up launches Chromium, Firefox, LibreOffice Writer and GIMP repeatedly, with a warm cache and after flushing it, and records how long each takes to become responsive.
• Web Browsing loads custom pages from a built-in web server: a social media feed, an online shop with zoomable images and 3D models, a map with traffic overlays, and HD and 4K video.
• Video Conferencing simulates a one-to-one call and a four-person group call, measuring stream playback, H.264 encoding and the face detection used to blur the caller’s background.

Productivity

The Writing workload scripts LibreOffice Writer through loading documents, copying and cutting text between them, inserting pictures and saving. Spreadsheets uses LibreOffice Calc to copy data and formulas between workbooks, then recalculates large sheets such as a Monte Carlo option-pricing model.

Digital Content Creation

Photo Editing applies a chain of filters to large RAW and JPEG camera images, both as single edits and as a batch. Video Editing transcodes video for mobile playback and applies sharpening and deshaking filters. Rendering and Visualization combines a real-time 3D scene with a ray-traced render.

Several of these workloads have both a CPU path and an OpenCL path, so a GPU can take over video conferencing, spreadsheet recalculation, photo filters and video sharpening when available. The result reflects complete system performance.

Scores and how they are calculated

The benchmark combines workload results, measured in seconds or frames per second, into a score for each test group. It then combines the three group scores into the overall PCMark 10 score. Both steps use geometric means, so one weak result pulls a score down more than a simple average would. The overall score is scaled so that a fixed reference PC scores 5,000; higher is better. Scores are only comparable between runs of the same test.

Express and Extended runs

PCMark 10 Express is a shorter, lighter run covering only Essentials and Productivity, suited to basic office systems. PCMark 10 Extended adds a Gaming group with two graphics tests, a CPU-focused physics test and a combined test.

Microsoft Office tests and battery life

The Applications benchmark measures performance in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Edge. It requires Office to be installed and registered on the test PC. It also runs on Windows on Arm devices, with scores comparable to x86 PCs.

For laptops, the Battery Life Profile reports runtime in hours and minutes across five scenarios: Modern Office, Applications, Video, Gaming and Idle. Each starts with at least 80% charge and runs until the PC hibernates or shuts down. Modern Office repeats ten-minute loops of writing, browsing and video calls with idle gaps that approximate a real user’s pace.

Drive benchmarks

The storage tests replay recorded disk activity, called traces, from real applications. The Full System Drive test covers booting Windows, launching and using creative and office software and games, and copying large files. Quick System Drive is a lighter version for smaller system drives, while Data Drive targets USB sticks, memory cards, external drives and NAS devices. Each reports an overall score, bandwidth and average access time. The Drive Performance Consistency Test applies a long, heavy load for expert analysis. Its volume of writes is significant for drives with limited endurance.

Results screen and monitoring

Each PCMark 10 result shows the scores, a validation status, system information and charts of CPU temperature, clock frequency, power draw, GPU load and battery level during the run. You can compare up to four results side by side, including results imported from other machines.

Tests unlocked by Advanced and Professional

The Professional Edition also works with Testdriver, UL’s browser-based tool for running PCMark 10 remotely on networked PCs. For new enterprise customers, UL Solutions points to its Procyon suite as the successor while keeping basic PCMark 10 support.