Performance and settings of a computer
Measuring the performace of the demonstration computer
You can run a few programs that measure the performance of the computer only in the demonstration computer due to
licences. See the separate exercise on using the programs.
Adjusting the display
In Windows you can adjust all kinds of settings of the computer by seleting
Start/Settings/ControlPanel.
For example, for adjusting the display click the Display icon.
Do not change the display settings in the computer lab. You can try the different settings
on your own computer at home.
After clicking the Display icon you can adjust the resolution, background image,
screen savers and desktop colors. To change different settings you have to know the
constraints by the display and the display controller. For example, you cannot set the
refresh rate of the display higher than what is possible for it. The possible values are
mentioned either in the manual of the display or on the display itself.
It is often also possible to adjust the display by using the programs enclosed
with the display controller card. Before changing the settings, try if they work on the
display in question. There is usually a "Test" button for doing that.
There are different utility programs that help with adjusting the display settings.
Below we try one of them.
- Save the display testing programme Ntest to
folder U:\systems\exerc6\
- Unzip MONTEST.ZIP to U:\systems\exerc6\.
- Try adjusting the display by using the program. Double click the NTEST.EXE file to start the program.
- You can check the following:
Geometry, Convergence, Resolution, Moire, Brightness and contrast, Focus, Readibility, Colors and
High voltage. Read the help of the program if you don't know the meaning of some of these.
The tool bar under the help gives you detailed instructions.
- You can try adjusting the monitor settings by using the buttons on it. The button with four arrows is
for adjustmetns. Start by pressing it in the middle. Then you can select from the menu by activating the wanted
row and pressing the button in the middle. Return gets you to the previous level. Learn how to use the controllers
and fix the settings.
- In case you want to adjust the display of your own computer, copy MONTEST.ZIP to a
floppy disk.
- Delete MONTEST.ZIP and all the files you extracted from the package from the drive U.
- You can also try the Test Your Own Monitor
page by PC Magazine.
Testing the performance
Tere are several programs for testing the performance of the computer and its different components. Find out
the type of the CPU in the computer and its clock frequency. Then you can use the CPUMARK99
program to test the performance of the CPU.
- Select Start|Settings|Control Panel|Administrative Tools|Computer Management
- See what you can find out about the hardware you are using. Find at least the clock frequency before moving on.
Pay attention to System Information and Device Manager.
- You can use the
WCPUID program
to search information on the CPU in your own computer.
- Save the CPUmark99 to folder U:\systems\exerc6\.
- Install CPUMARK99 by double clicking the icon of the installation program.
- Let the program extract the files to U:\cpumark\.
- Start CPUmark.exe and let it test the CPU speed.
- Compare the result with the resultst the other students got and with the
result on the PC Magazine site. Is your result reasonable?
- Find out what kind of programs PC Magazine uses for
testing the performance of computers.
Test programs and stuff