PC performance testing for retailers

PC performance data for retailers

When shopping for a Windows PC or Mac computer, consumers can get overwhelmed by the multitude of available choices. Complex specifications indicate each computer’s strengths and capabilities, but such technical information can prove difficult to understand, especially when comparing multiple computers. The challenge is to demonstrate a computer’s actual performance in an instantly meaningful way.

At UL Solutions, we offer industry-leading benchmarks that make it easier for everyone to understand the performance of a PC or Mac computer. A benchmark tests how well a product performs a function and how that performance compares across similar products. UL Solutions custom benchmarks test computers and reduce a computer’s specification sheet to an easily understood numbered score. The higher the score, the better the performance. It’s that simple.

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Simplifying complex specifications into user-friendly statistics

UL Solutions began developing industry-standard computer benchmarks in the 1990s. Since then, our benchmarks have evolved to perform accurate assessments of PCs and Macs as well as notebooks, tablets and smartphones. Millions of people around the world trust our benchmarks; they are accurate and user-friendly and they come from UL Solutions, a trusted industry partner with more than 120 years of experience in product testing, certification and verification services.

UL Solutions benchmarks cover a variety of performance capabilities for computers and smart devices used at the office and in the home, for work and for play. Customers can easily understand our benchmark data because sales associates can easily explain it. Even nontechnical customers can feel empowered to understand how a computer will perform the tasks specific to their needs. Will it run smoothly while multitasking or handling large files? Will a laptop battery last throughout the day? Consumers who understand computer performance make better purchasing decisions.

How can UL Solutions benchmarks help your business?

For retail businesses, our easily understood benchmarks can help increase sales, reduce returns and improve customer satisfaction. We already work with many international consumer electronics retailers, helping them achieve their goals and maximize customer experience. Our Benchmark team can create custom benchmarks to fit your business needs. We can thoroughly test and assess your products under controlled conditions in dedicated laboratories, or we can help you set up and run your own testing facilities with processes that deliver accurate, repeatable test results.

Our benchmark data comes in tailored packages, making it much easier for your customers to confidently choose and buy a new PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone and allowing your sales staff to recommend and sell devices with greater information and insight into each product on the shelf. Your customers can also download our complimentary benchmarking software to test an existing device or computer at home before coming into a store, which can highlight the value of an upgrade or replacement.

What benchmark services do we offer?

As electronics retailers already know, gamers are a huge part of the consumer computer market, and game performance depends heavily on computer and processor capabilities. Our most popular benchmark measures and tests video game performance.

Baldur Gate 3 at max settings

PC performance is incredibly important for gamers, and new games constantly raise the bar for visually rich, immersive experiences. We conduct game performance testing on a broad selection of hardware that covers the range of popular CPUs and GPUs found in modern gaming computers.

To date, our dedicated laboratories have assessed more than 50 of the world’s newest, most popular games on a variety of computers. We test each game at different resolution settings, from 1080p medium and 1080p ultra to 1440p ultra, 4K UHD medium and 4K UHD ultra, pushing each game and computer system to its technical limits. In your retail store, you can explain this performance data and demonstrate the expected frame rates for each gaming computer.

Gaming categorization

Gamers fear that a new PC won’t be able to play the latest games or deliver the experiences they want, but how do they know for sure? Even expert consumers may struggle to understand complex technical specifications, confusing naming schemes and manufacturer jargon. Measuring and grading computer and game specifications according to specific categories can help clear the air. Product categories can help your customers find the gaming computers that best meet their needs and budgets.

Gaming computer benchmarks slot performance into different categories, from abilities adequate to basic computing needs or full-blown artistic creation to meeting the needs of a casual or elite gamer. Color-coded categories and numbered scores give consumers and sales associates a good idea of which platforms work best for specific games, enabling improved in-store presentation by grouping products with similar performance. You can guide consumers to what they really need and want rather than what is simply technically possible.

Beyond the gaming world

We designed our benchmarks to be accurate, neutral and relevant, and they extend beyond gaming to the many uses of both home and office computers. Our benchmarking capabilities include real-world scenario testing on professional applications like Microsoft 365 and Adobe. Our multiplatform Procyon® benchmark suite, for example, runs benchmark tests focusing on office productivity, photo and video editing, battery life, AI inference and more.

We designed our benchmarks and performance around common activities and real-world applications. We can provide data on everyday device usage as well as gaming-specific statistics. Our performance data combined with categorization gives your customers a more accessible way to choose a PC or Apple Mac computer. Instead of trying to compare complicated specifications, consumers can choose a device based on the activities that are most important to them, and it’s all summed up in a simple score.

Find out more

UL Solutions is an internationally recognized and respected brand that many well-established consumer electronics retailers already use. Allow us to create a proposal tailored to your specific needs to help you achieve your business goals.

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Existing customers

Read more about how we test game and computer performance, access our API implementation documentation and find other support materials.

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Elkjøp case study


Elkjøp logo

Challenge

Elkjøp, part of the Dixons Carphone group, is one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in the Nordic region, with 400 stores in six countries. Trading as Elgiganten in Sweden and Denmark, Gigantti in Finland and Elko in Iceland, Elkjøp sells a wide range of consumer electronics and household appliances through its online stores and retail locations.

Elkjøp knows that choosing a new computer is difficult. Many people struggle to relate PC specifications to real-world performance. Elkjøp felt that many customers were buying cheaper laptops and notebooks without understanding how the lower performance of these systems would affect their everyday use and enjoyment. Sales staff sometimes find it hard to explain the meaningful differences between systems, which can leave less knowledgeable customers feeling confused and frustrated.

Response

We thoroughly tested every PC, notebook and laptop sold by Elkjøp in our dedicated laboratory in Finland. We ran a range of benchmarks to produce complete data on all aspects of performance, from everyday web browsing and personal productivity to how well a system handles the latest games and virtual reality experiences.

We used the PCMark 10 benchmark scores to measure performance in multiple commonly performed tasks for each PC. For gaming PCs, we ran 3DMark to measure graphics performance and VRMark to assess virtual reality gaming performance. Our benchmarks remove many obstacles for the average consumer trying to understand what computer performance means for them. With our data, it’s as simple as "the higher the score, the better the performance."

Elkjøp uses our benchmark scores on their website, on point-of-sale materials and in their advertising and promotions.


Elkjøp - score in 3DMark Time Spy