Another good system-level test that we like to use is BAPCo's SYSmark 2000. In many ways SYSmark 2000 is like Content Creation 2000 except for it also adds a slew of office productivity applications. According to BAPCo, SYSmark's main strength lies in its replication of real-world workloads in real-world applications.

SYSmark 2000 tells a similar tale, only to a more drastic extent. Content Creation applications, which do not tend to be as integer-dependant, perform on par with the Pentium III (never mind the 400MHz frequency difference). Office productivity, on the other hand, suffers more severely and falls well below the performance of the Pentium III.