***
LICENSE
PCBENCH v 1.3 Software License
Use of this program implies that:
1) The user is either using the program with a temporary permit,
   or is a registered user.
2) Registered user status can be obtained from Aki Korhonen - the
   author of PCBENCH - for a fee of $15.
3) Temporary permit to use the program is automatically in effect.
   However, if PCBENCH is used frequently, the temporary permit is not
   valid. In this case the user must register (and pay the $15 fee,
   which will feed a poor programmer for one more day).
4) This program may be distributed by anyone, if the following
   conditions are met: (a) no fee is charged for the program itself,
   (b) fees have the purpose of covering distribution costs only.
5) Aki Korhonen reserves all rights.

(This legalese was prepared by lawyer-friend, sorry for the language)

PCBENCH Version 1.3 (C) 1990 Aki Korhonen
***
SMALL TALK
PCBENCH History
PCBENCH developed from MS-Assembler over Turbo-C 1.0 and 1.5 to the
final form it is offered to you today. It is written in TC 2.0
and Assembler. It totals over 100 k in C source code and 20 k in ASM.
The first version was out November 1988, this version was completed in
July 1991. All coding was done by Aki Korhonen.

PCBENCH consists of the following files:
REGISTER.TXT..You may use this form to register your copy of PCBENCH
PCBENCH.EXE...The Benchmarking Program with 34 benchmarks, a database
              and numerous special functions to let you know all about
              your PC and its inner life.
PCBENCH.HLP...Help for The Benchmark (activated by F1)
PCBENCH.IND...Index for The Help
TESTRESU.LTS..Database of tested computers (up to 170 entries)
TESTRESU.BAK..Backup copy of database

Enjoy using PCBENCH!  PLEASE, DON'T LET ME STARVE!  REGISTER NOW!
***
MAIN MENU
Main Menu Help
Select one of the available four choices by moving the highlighted
bar over the preferred selection. The bar will scroll using the
cursor-keys. To select the highlighted entry, press ENTER.

Possible choices:     Function:
Run Benchmarks........Gateway to benchmarking menu, from which all
                      benchmarks can be run.
Hardware Information..Gateway to hardware information menu, which has
                      functions to make a thorough check of your PC.
Result Functions......Gateway to menu, from which everything having
                      to do with presaved benchmark entries are found.
Exit..................This will exit the program and save results.
***
NO SAVED ENTRIES
No saved Entries

     There were no saved entries in the file TESTRESU.LTS.
     Either the file was empty or it did not exist.
     PCBENCH will look for the file in the current directory
     only, so make sure the TESTRESU.LTS file is in your
     directory. If TESTRESU.LTS is deleted or corrupted,
     it is possible to use TESTRESU.BAK which is a backup
     of TESTRESU.LTS prior to the latest change.
***
FILE MENU
File Menu Help
Select one of the available seven choices by moving the highlighted
bar over the preferred selection. The bar will scroll using the
cursor-keys. To select the highlighted entry, press ENTER.
To return to main menu, press ESC.

Possible choices:     Function:
Browse Entries........Just take a look at what entries are filed.
Compare Entries.......Compare and print entries that are filed.
Change Name...........Change name of an entry on file.
Delete Entry..........Delete an entry on file.
Sort Entries..........Sort entries into alphabetical order.
Undo Changes..........Undo changes which were done during this
                      run of PCBENCH.
Import Data...........Import new entries from other files.
***
BROWSE ENTRIES
Browse

Use the Cursor Up and Cursor Down -keys to move the highlighted
bar from one selection to an other. Page Up and Page Down -keys
will jump a screenful at one time.

When done, press ESC or ENTER to return to Result File Function
Menu.
***
COMPARE ENTRIES SELECT
Select to Compare

Select two entries to compare on screen and if required to
output to paper, device or file.

Entry selected first will appear in the first column in the
comparison screen. Second selection will be in the 2nd column.

Choose by moving the highlighted bar to the desired entry and
pressing ENTER.

Pressing ESC will return you to Result File Function Menu.
***
CHANGE NAME SELECT
Change Name

Select entry which's name you want to change.

Selection is made by moving the highlighted bar over the desired
entry and pressing ENTER.

ESC will return you to the Result File Function Menu.
***
DELETE SELECT
Select To Kill

Select entry which you would like to delete. Upon selecting
you will be asked to confirm your choice.

Selection is made by moving the highlighted bar over the desired
entry and pressing ENTER.

ESC will return you to the Result File Function Menu.
***
UNDO
Undo All Changes

This function will UNDO all changes to the result file during
the current run of PCBENCH. Earlier changes can not be undone.

Enter Y to undo all changes, N to return to the previous menu.
***
SORT ENTRIES
Sort Entries

This function will sort all entries into alphabetical order.
Changes will not be saved onto disk before the program is
exited via the main menu. Sort can also be undone with the
undo-selection.
***
CHANGE NAME
Change Name Of Entry


Change name of entry. ENTER will accept new name, ESC will abort.
***
IMPORT DATA
Import Data


Choose entries to import using the Space Bar. The rightmost
column will display whether the entry is marked for import
or not. A 'YES' indicates that the entry will be imported,
a 'NO' the opposite.

Press ENTER to begin the actual importing.
ESC will abort the import procedure.
***
PRINT CHOICES
Print Choice Menu
There are two types of reports that can be printed:

1) Standard-frame, which incorporates graphics to make the
   results quickly readable.
2) ASCII-frame, which lacks all graphics characters. The
   only thing found is the name of the test and result.
   This is for those who want to use the results with some
   editor or in DTP.

The third selection in this menu specifies the output device
to be used for printing. Specifying a device like PRN,
LPT, COM1, COM2 will direct the output there. A filename
here directs output into a diskfile.
***
NO BENCHMARK FILE
No Benchmark File


TESTRESU.LTS file was not found.

PCBENCH looks for it only in the current directory, so the
result file might be somewhere else.

If TESTRESU.LTS has been accidentally deleted, you may use
TESTRESU.BAK by RENaming it to TESTRESU.LTS. The latest
changes and benchmark-results will be lost, however.
***
SAVE ENTRIES
Save entry to file


Shall new benchmark entry be saved into the result file?
Select YES to save, NO to abort.
***
GET NAME
Enter Name Of Current Computer


Edit name of entry to suit your liking.
ENTER will accept name, ESC will abort changes.
***
COMPARE ENTRIES
Compare Entries

Press        Function
Cursor keys..Change resultscreen.
ESC..........Return to previous menu.
F10..........Print entries. This will enable you to print
             the entries which are on screen to a device
             or diskfile.
F5,F6,F7.....More information (help) on benchmarks
***
COMPARISON TYPE


There are two basic types of comparison:

1) Comparison between two entries in the database

2) Comparison between an entry in the database and
   IBM PC XT, PS 30/286, PS 80/386 and PS 70/486

Please select the type of comparison you would like to do.
***
RUN BENCHMARKS
Run Benchmark Menu Help

Select one of the available choices by moving the highlighted
bar over the preferred selection. The bar will scroll using the
cursor-keys. To select the highlighted entry, press ENTER.
To return to main menu, press ESC.

There are three main categories of benchmarks:
- Processor and memory
- Fixed disk drives
- BIOS and DOS performance

First selection in this menu will run all categories automatically.
The remaining three can be used to run each category one at a time.
When all the benchmarks in a category are run, they may be viewed
using the same menu entry.
***
HARDWARE MENU
Hardware Menu
Select one of the available eight choices by moving the highlighted
bar over the preferred selection. The bar will scroll using the
cursor-keys. To select the highlighted entry, press ENTER.
To return to main menu, press ESC.

Possible choices:     Function:
Memory................Information about RAM & ROM
CRT Adapter...........Information about graphics adapter
CRT Performance.......Tests the performance of your monitor
Comm-adapters.........Information about serial and parallel ports
Mass Memory...........Information on fixed disk and diskette drives
Miscellaneous.........Information about processors, mouse, DOS
Memory Allocation.....List of RAM use (if DOS 3.0 or higher, including
                      program names etc.)
Sound check...........Tests the PC's built-in speaker

Press ESC to return to the main menu.
***
SOUND
Speaker Test

This is a test of your PC's built-in speaker. The first check
includes stepping up and down the scale between 55 and 208 Hz
Second emits beeps at 220,440 and 880 Hz. The third is a
simulated phone ring and the fourth the same sound all Flight
Simulators emitted prior to version 4.
***
MASSMEMORY
Disk & Diskette Test

Information in this screen contains information derived from your
PC's DOS, BIOS and hardware. The logical drive information is
issued by DOS, interleave and rev speed of the fixed disk
directly from the hardware, and about everything else from the
BIOS.


Note: Revolution speed assumes that the fixed disk has only one
index hole. Interleave may be off by up to 50% (depending on
fixed disk controller + BIOS). The above do not work on an XT.
***
COMMINFO
Communications Information


This information is taken out of RAM which BIOS uses (400h-500h)
and combined with data taken directly from the I/O-ports. A
ridiculously low serial speed for serial ports (such as 2 bps)
indicates that the port has not been properly initialized.
Better check out why.
***
CRT
CRT Performance


Check for any distortions or change of color on your monitor. If
the screen size varies while the screen is blinking, you have a
cheap (almost useless?) monitor. An audiple sound is a good hint
of the fact that you have a lowend monitor.


PS. IBM users, face the facts, next time you go out to buy a
    computer, buy a computer.
***
RAMROM
RAM & ROM Memory help

Main Memory.......Usually 640k, might vary +-128k

Expanded Memory...Additional memory which confirms to the
                  Lotus, Intel, Microsoft -standard

Extended Memory...Additional memory which is located above
                  the usual top of memory (1 Mb) and can
                  be addressed by intelligent programs.

***
MISCELLANEOUS
Miscellaneous Information Help

PCBENCH will correctly identify any of the following processors:
Intel 8088, 8086, 80188, 80186, 80286, 80386, 80486
NEC   V20, V30

and any of the following mathcoprocessors:
Intel 8087, 80287, 80387, 80486

DOS Information is derived from DOS partition and by asking it.

This program identifies the Microsoft and Mouse Systems Mouse.

Country dependent information is specified with COUNTRY.SYS
on the DOS-level. Country information is supposed to be used by
application programs, but as you might already have noticed, most
programs do not care about it. (So much for userfriendly applications)
***
MEMORY ALLOCATION
Memory Allocation

This is a complete list of memory allocation in your PC beginning
with MSDOS.COM. With MSDOS 3.00 and later there will be a name
attached to the files as long as the program has not destroyed
its environment table. This is a very convenient way to see where
your memory is spent. Especially look for files which should not
be there (such as VIRUS.COM).
***
IMPORT DATA FILE NAME
Import Data File Name Help


Enter path and name of file containing a valid PCBENCH v 1.3
(or earlier) result file.

Example:

C:\TESTS\PCBENCH\TESTRESU.LTS

This file will be read to import data into the running copy of
PCBENCH.
***
CRT ADAPTER
Crt Adapter Information Help


This will tell all you need to know about your display adapter.

PCBENCH will correctly identify any of the following cards:
MGA, Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA, PGA

Additional information will be given on such details as:
a) amount of memory
b) BIOS
***
PROC AND MEM
Processor And Memory Benchmarks
The benchmarks did the following:
*CLC-loop: The processor run a loop containing commands that will
 take the same number of clock-cycles all the way from 8088 to 486.
 This is the best indicator of speed difference.

*IMUL-loop: The processor run a loop containing commands that take
 a lot less clock-cycles on advanced æprocessors than on older ones.
 This is the maximum speed difference between two processors.

*Math: A few simple math exercises for the 87,287,387 or 486.

*Memory 8,16,32 bit: All memory tests are equal. They take the same
 amount of data and read or write it to or from the type of memory
 identified. 8 and 16 bit operand sizes are used on all processors,
 on 386 and 486 also the 32 bit operand is tested. Take a close look
 at Video memory and ROM results (the typical bottlenecks in a
 system).
***
FIXED DISK
Fixed Disk Benchmarks
The benchmarks did the following:
*Track to track seek: average time to move RW-heads from one track to
 the next one.

*Average seek: average time to move RW-heads from track to X to Y.

*Full disk seek: average time to seek from track 0 to track Z, Z
 being the last track on disk. Gives an idea of maximum seek time.

*DMA Test: This is the time that it takes the drive to read two
 megabytes of data. To calculate DMA-speed, just divide 2048 kb by
 the result of this benchmark (example: 2048kb/3.5s=585 kb/s).

*Read Inner/Outer Tracks: Time to read same amount of data from
 inner & outer tracks (actually 1200 kbytes). Watch for a significant
 difference in the values.
***
BIOS AND DOS
BIOS and DOS Benchmarks
The benchmarks did the following:
*BIOS Scroll up/down: BIOS scrolled up/down 256 lines.

*BIOS Output: BIOS outputs 10 000 characters one by one using cursor
 positioning before each entry. Look for slow cursor positioning.

*BIOS Teletype: BIOS outputs 10 000 characters one by one using
 the Teletype function. The screen will scroll. Look for slow output.

*MSDOS Output With and Without Scroll: Compare these to BIOS Output
 and Teletype (With Scroll to Teletype and Without Scroll to Output).
 This shows how much slower MSDOS is in placing text on screen.

*ANSI Driver Speed Test: A hard one for the ANSI-driver. On fast
 machines this will take about a second; on slow ones 20 secs is no
 problem! This is the speed of output for the most best behaving
 application programs.
***
