Desktop PC’s were the first computer category ComputerHubUk, in its infancy, started out covering, and they’re still one of the most important. (They’re in our very name, after all.) And we’ve been testing them with the same tried-and-true care for more than 40 years, starting with the establishment of PC Labs in 1984: We compare each system to others in its category based on price, features, design aspects, and hands-on, repeatable performance tests so we can make smart comparisons across a broad range of competing products.
To evaluate performance, we use an array of benchmark software, real-world applications, and games, carefully chosen to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of a desktop PC’s mix of components. That evaluation ranges from the processor and the memory subsystem to the machine’s storage hardware and graphics silicon. We test only sale-ready production units with the latest updates and drivers available. (Pre-production or prototype systems may appear in our hands-on or preview stories, but not reviews with benchmark results and star ratings.)
We regularly evaluate new benchmark solutions as they hit the market and overhaul our testing procedures to keep pace with the latest technologies. In late 2024, we rolled out a new suite of benchmarks. The downside of changing our benchmarks is that it resets the database of tested PCs that we can use for comparisons in reviews. (That said, at the time, we retested every recent desktop we could lay our hands on to build the database back up.) The upside is that the new tests give us more current, accurate comparisons that will improve as we add more and more data.
Our desktop benchmark testing focuses on three roughly divided aspects of performance: general productivity, content creation, and graphics rendering. We also add specific tests to measure the capabilities of gaming PCs and desktop workstations. For all-in-one PCs, we add the same display benchmarks that we perform when testing laptops.
