Matlab Logo On a good day, I can bench 185 lbs. My counterpart, Mr. Sutoyo, sometimes struggles with 135 lbs. Luckily, this post is about the MATLAB benchmark, and not about lifting weights. The MATLAB BENCH command allows you to see how fast your computer is when performing certain MATLAB tasks. In the world of computers, it also acts as a means to living vicariously through your souped up PC (or MAC).

 BENCH  MATLAB Benchmark
    BENCH times six different MATLAB tasks and compares the execution
    speed with the speed of several other computers.  The six tasks are:

     LU       LAPACK.                  Floating point, regular memory access.
     FFT      Fast Fourier Transform.  Floating point, irregular memory access.
     ODE      Ordinary diff. eqn.      Data structures and M-files.
     Sparse   Solve sparse system.     Mixed integer and floating point.
     2-D      plot(fft(eye)).          2-D line drawing graphics.
     3-D      MathWorks logo.          3-D animated OpenGL graphics.

Contents

I Can Bench This Much

My computer setup consists of the following:

  • Intel Pentium D 940 @ 3.2 GHz
  • 2 Gigabyte Ram @ 333 MHz
  • Nvidia GeForce 6800 XT
  • Windows XP OS

To run the bench command, type the following at the MATLAB command prompt:

>>bench(4)

After some intermediate plots and eye candy from MATLAB, you’ll be greeted by the following two images. These graphs will give you an idea of where your computer ranks among pre-selected computer configurations.

results of MATLAB bench part 1

results of MATLAB bench part 2

Why do we run the bench command 4 times? Well, your computer needs a couple of iterations to get acclimated to MATLAB’s benchmark test. Consider it a “warming up” exercise. Thus, let’s only look at the 4th row of data.

>> bench(4)

ans =

    0.2627    0.5587    0.3311    0.5966    0.7169    1.9982
    0.1752    0.2905    0.2472    0.4571    0.6253    0.7173
    0.1716    0.2941    0.2499    0.4568    0.6329    0.9594
    0.1705    0.2980    0.2481    0.4592    0.6530    0.7203

How Much Does Daniel Bench?

The following specs are for Daniel’s PC.

  • intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @2.40 GHz
  • 4 Gigabyte Ram @ 500 MHz
  • Nvidia Geforce 8800
  • Windows Vista 32-bit

His output obviously outclasses mine.

    0.0859    0.1977    0.1503    0.8001    0.3879    0.7092
    0.0825    0.1892    0.1528    0.4042    0.3720    0.6801
    0.0824    0.2024    0.1526    0.4041    0.3889    0.6973
    0.0938    0.2063    0.1528    0.3936    0.3855    0.7016

Beaten by a Laptop?

If someone told me that a Laptop could outperform my desktop, I would have found the thought laughable. Apparently, Rob’s Laptop did the impossible. The final benchmark we will share today belongs to Rob’s miniature beast know as the Lenovo.

  • Intel® Core™2 Duo processor T9600
  • 2GB of PC2-8500 1066MHz DDR3
  • Discrete Open GL Graphics ATI Fire GL M86-GL (512MB)
  • Windows XP Pro 32-bit
    0.1195    0.1318    0.1095    0.2314    0.2870    0.2213
    0.0763    0.1335    0.1064    0.2294    0.2698    0.2286
    0.0764    0.1309    0.1065    0.2296    0.2706    0.2354
    0.0906    0.1349    0.1090    0.2306    0.2853    0.2343

Wow!

How Much do YOU Bench?

How does your computer perform when using the BENCH command? Give it a try and report your results! Don’t forget to list your computer specs as well!