Test 2: 3D Mark 2000

MadOnion's Direct3D gaming benchmark. Designed to benchmark the whole system, from processor to video card.

Verdict

There is no doubt that SmartOS makes a difference. More CPU power is the most apparent result to come out of the benchmarks. The amount of CPU processing power affects almost every application run, resulting in a smoother computing experience. The shell makes an easy, fast, and reliable replacement. If you don't mind the little extra navigation, it's well worth every penny. The listed price is $20, which is much less than any similar program such as Norton Utilities.

There are a few bugs, including two icons of every program in the systray, and sometimes the orb sits on top of your gaming screen. AutoHLT programs do not run well with SmartOS or SlimOS. I found these froze the computer when any mode was on other than "app". Apparently, the resource engine puts all resources and priority into the halting of the CPU, which then halts the computer. This is easily fixable, by turning off the program when running an application where you want to use a more powerful resource allocation. While these are bugs, they cause no major problems, and will undoubtedly be fixed in the near future.

by Ross Johnson

Price - 9 Speed - 9 Bugs - 7 Stability - 8 Overall - 8.25

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