These guidelines contain important information about using and distributing PCMark05. Please consult the appropriate guide below before distributing the software or publishing results. If you have any questions related to these matters, please contact us!

Testing guidelines

For reliable benchmarking, we highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with these testing guidelines:

• Restart the computer before running the benchmark. Wait for at least 5 minutes before running the benchmark to ensure all startup activities have finalized.
• Exit all other programs.
• Under the 32-bit Windows operating systems, other tasks can preemptively run during the tests, thus affecting the results. You will want to eliminate as many of these types of tasks as possible, such as automatic updates in operating systems, e-mail clients or other tasks from your StartUp folder. This action also maximizes your available memory.
• Disable all file sharing and possibly also all network connections. Background network activity may affect results. You can submit your results even if you run the benchmark without network connection. Save your results in the default format (.pcr) and restart your system with network connection after the benchmark run. Run PCMark05 and submit your saved result by selecting the 'Submit Saved Result' item in the right click menu (open the right click menu by right clicking the PCMark05 main window).
• Follow a standard testing procedure each time you run the tests. Run the tests at least three times to verify that the results are reproducible.
• Before running the HDD tests, the target drive should be first defragmented in order to receive accurate results.
• Priority of the PCMark05 process should not be changed. By default it is "Normal" and that is what should be used.

Publishing benchmark results

Only PCMark05 Professional Edition allows you to publish benchmark results in any media or publication. Make sure that you follow instructions set forth in the license agreement and in our testing guidelines. Also, include the official PCMark05 logo with a link or referral to Futuremark.

Default scores

In order to keep the reported scores comparable, we highly recommend that you use the default settings as a reference point. Referring to the default settings will make comprehending the results easier for the mainstream end users who have unregistered versions of PCMark05 installed on their systems.

Distribution guidelines

PCMark05 or parts of it can not be distributed without a specific written permission from Futuremark.
Please contact distribution@futuremark.com for more details regarding magazine cover CD distribution.
Please contact sales@futuremark.com for more details on how to obtain a commercial bundling license for PCMark05.

DirectX, Windows 98/ME/XP and Windows 2000 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. PCMark is a trademark of Futuremark Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.