The Whetstone Benchmark

Many workers in science and engineering fields place a premium on a PC's computation speed. Among the many utilities available to assess this specific attribute, one of the most popular is the Whetstone benchmark. A Whetstone run is a set of loops requiring integer, boolean, and floating point arithmetic. Iterative calls to programmed subroutines and inline transcendental functions are also made.

With the benchmark coded in FORTRAN, multiple Whetstone runs were performed on a variety of PCs. Although the same source code was used, different compilers were required to port the benchmark to various Windows and Mac OS processors. Even on the same processor, different compiler optimizations can affect benchmark results by more than 10%. Because the code doesn't support cooperative multitasking and requires less than 200 KB RAM, even on RISC processors, benchmark results tend to be insensitive to system bus bottlenecks.

Results from each run are expressed in double precision kilowhets/second (dpKWS, a unit proportional to computation speed), accompanied by the corresponding PC model and processor chip configuration, as follows. For the sake of brevity, only the fastest Whetstone results for a given model are presented. Scores on 68xxx, 60x, and 7xx processors are tallied under Mac OS, while all other scores are under Windows, unless otherwise noted.

NOTE: prior to October 10, 1999, this page displayed results for a Windows-compatible benchmark using 16-bit addressing. Although 16-bit addressing is required for processors predating the 80386, no results for these processors had ever been reported. On October 10, the 16-bit Windows benchmark was replaced with code using 32-bit addressing. The new benchmark achieves Whetstone scores approximately double those achievable with the old code. Consequently, all 16-bit Windows benchmark scores, starting with results achieved by 80486 processors, have been deleted as unrepresentative.

PC Model	Processor(s)	dpKWS
Macintosh IIsi	20 Mhz 68030/68882	1331
PowerBook 170	25 Mhz 68030/68882	1773
Macintosh IIci	25 Mhz 68030/68882	1896
PowerBook 180c	33 Mhz 68030/68882	2107
Centris 650	25 Mhz 68040	4009
Quarda 605 Upgrade	25 Mhz 68040	4073
Quadra 800	33 Mhz 68040	5332
Quadra 950	33 Mhz 68040	5569
Macintosh 7300/200 w/ Virtual PC under Windows	200 Mhz 604e	7841
Centris 650 w/ PDS Card	50 Mhz 601	16077
kit	133 Mhz AMD 5x86	17781
Performa 6116CD	60 Mhz 601	22779
Power Macintosh 6115CD	60 Mhz 601	22989
Power Macintosh 7100/66 AV	66 Mhz 601	24938
Power Macintosh 7100/66	66 Mhz 601	25168
Power Macintosh 7200/75	75 Mhz 601	28195
Performa 5200CD	75 Mhz 603	28490
Power Macintosh 5200/LC 75	75 Mhz 603	29013
Power Macintosh 7100/80	80 Mhz 601	30912
Power Macintosh 6100/84	84 Mhz 601	32051
Power Macintosh 7200/90	90 Mhz 601	33879
PowerBook 5300cs	100 Mhz 603e	33937
Quadra 800 w/ Daystar Power PC Card	100 Mhz 601	38216
Power Macintosh 8100/100 AV	100 Mhz 601	38462
	133 Mhz Cyrix	40329
PowerBook 1400cs/117	117 Mhz 603e	42076
Power Macintosh 7500/100	100 Mhz 601	43988
Performa 6320	120 Mhz 603e	48860
Performa 5260/120	120 Mhz 603e	49020
Power Macintosh 7600/120	120 Mhz 604	53097
Power Macintosh 8500/120	120 Mhz 604	57200
Power Macintosh 7500 w/ PowerWave 132 Card	132 Mhz 604	62992
Power Macintosh 9500/132	132 Mhz 604	63721
Performa 6360	160 Mhz 603e	64447
kit	150 Mhz Pentium	64514
Upgraded PowerBook 540c	167 Mhz 603e	64795
Daystar Genesis	150 Mhz 604	66815
Power Macintosh 8500/150	150 Mhz 604	68650
Power Macintosh 7500	150 Mhz 604	71090
PowerCenter 150	150 Mhz 604	71599
PowerBook 3400/180	180 Mhz 603e	72993
Performa 6400/200	200 Mhz 603e	80429
PowerBase 200	200 Mhz 603e	81191
Power Macintosh 4400/200	200 Mhz 603ev	81744
Power Macintosh 5400/200	200 Mhz 603e	81967
Power Macintosh 7220/200	200 Mhz 603e	81967
kit	200 Mhz Pentium	84739
UMAX J700	180 Mhz 604e	87209
Power Macintosh 8500/180	180 Mhz 604e	87464
PowerCenter Pro 180	180 Mhz 604e	88809
Power Macintosh 7300/200	200 Mhz 604e	95390
Power Macintosh 8600/200	200 Mhz 604e	97087
PowerBook 3400/240	240 Mhz 603e	97087
PowerTools Infinity 4200GT	200 Mhz 604e	97403
Power Macintosh 9500/200	200 Mhz 604e	97561
PowerBase 240	240 Mhz 603e	97879
Power Macintosh 7500 w/ XLR8 Card	200 Mhz 604e	98879
Power Macintosh 6500/250	250 Mhz 603e	101351
DEC3000_500	150 Mhz EV4	102188
PowerCenter Pro 210	210 Mhz 604e	103022
Power Macintosh G3/233	233 Mhz G3	109290
PowerTower 225	225 Mhz 604e	109840
UMAX SuperMac S900L/225	225 Mhz 604e	109890
Performa 6115CD w/ Sonnet Crescendo Card	240 Mhz G3	109890
StarMax 5000/275	275 Mhz 603e	112735
Upgraded Power Macintosh 7500	233 Mhz 604e	114504
Upgraded Power Macintosh 9500/132	233 Mhz 604e	115075
PowerBook G3/250	250 Mhz G3	115385
Power Macintosh 7100/66 w/ MAXpowr G3 Card	240 Mhz G3	116564
Power Macintosh 7500 w/ Newer MaxPowr Pro Card	250 Mhz G3	117045
Upgraded Power Macintosh 7500	245 Mhz 604e	118577
PowerCenter Pro 240	240 Mhz 604e	119665
Power Macintosh 7500 w/ 32 MB RAM Cache Card	250 Mhz 604e	121212
PowerTower Pro 250	250 Mhz 604e	121657
Power Macintosh G3 (minitower)	266 Mhz G3	122951
Power Macintosh 8500/120 w/ PowerLogix Card	260 Mhz 604e	127660
Power Express	275 Mhz 604e	129171
Power Macintosh 8500 w/ PowerForce 250 Card	292 Mhz G3	135135
Power Macintosh G3 (minitower)	300 Mhz G3	138889
Newer PDS G3 MAXpowr	300 Mhz G3	139535
Power Macintosh 9600/300	300 Mhz 604e	146127
Power Tower Pro w/ PowerForce G3/275 Card	313 Mhz G3	146341
Power Macintosh 8600/300	300 Mhz 604e	146987
PowerCenter Pro w/PowerForce G3/275 Card	317 Mhz G3	148515
iMac	350 Mhz G3	163265
Nu-Topia	333 Mhz AMD K6-2	164119
Power Macintosh 9600/350	350 Mhz 604e	169492
Power Macintosh 8500/120 w/XLR8 Zif G3/400	400 Mhz G3	187207
DEC3000_500	275 Mhz EV4.5	197701
PowerMac G4	450 Mhz G4	217984
Epox MVP3G-M Motherboard	450 Mhz K6	228748
PowerBook G3	500 Mhz G3	232906
Power Tower Pro w/XLR8 G3 Card	500 Mhz G3	233216
Compaq	400 Mhz Pentium II	235446
kit	400 Mhz Celeron	267805
DEC_KN20AA	267 Mhz EV5	335849
Dell	500 Mhz Pentium III	339967
	500 Mhz Pentium III	349998
	600 Mhz Pentium III	417184
DEC_KN20AA	333 Mhz EV5	419055
DEC_KN20AA	400 Mhz EV5.6	504724
Dell Dimension XPS T-800R	800 Mhz Pentium III	558170
DEC_KN20AA	500 Mhz EV5.6	652346

These results are summarized graphically as follows.

To run the benchmark on your PC, click the appropriate item in the following list to download a compatible Whetstone program.

• 68k Macintosh Version: requires a 6888x floating point unit (FPU) or a full-up 68040 (68LC040 NOT supported) Macintosh model
• Power Macintosh Version: requires a Mac-OS-compatible model with 60x or 750 Power PC processor
• WinTel Version: requires IBM-compatibles with 80386 or later processors and 32-bit addressing

After downloading, reboot your PC to disable extensions and, if possible, minimize network connections of any kind. Results appearing in the above table reflect similar conditions with minimized system interrupts. Execute the Whetstone program and enter 500-2000 inner loops at the first prompt; 5-10 outer loops at the second prompt, depending on your processor's speed. Total run time should exceed 10 sec to obtain accurate results. Press your "return" key to terminate the program. Reports of dpKWS values output under the "Pass # 02" heading are welcome at MacMission Control.

Whetstone FORTRAN source code can also be downloaded and customized to run on a processor of your choice.