ZD Testing Lab's 3D Winbench 2000 Processor Test is interesting because it isolates benchmarking testing right down to the processor, and specifically to the L2 cache. This performance test really stresses the processor's L2 cache and can give a very good indication of its internal processing power.

As a secondary method of determining overall CPU processing power, we have included MadOnion's 3DMark CPU test, taken from the 3DMark 2000 benchmark suite. While the scores attained relate to overall CPU speed, it still takes into consideration 3D pipelines and helps compare CPU impact in overall 3D video processing. Please note that the newer 3DMark 2001 suite omits the processor test, so the previous 3DMark 2000 version has been used.

Content Creation Winstone 2001 is a benchmark from the ZD Testing Labs which uses a selection of multimedia applications such as Adobe Photoshop & Premiere, Macromedia Director & Dreamweaver, and Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge. These applications also run somewhat concurrently, and individual applications stay active and resident while not in use. This makes Content Creation Winstone 2001 one of the best application stress tests available, and an excellent judge of overall system performance, as well as the impact of increasing CPU speed.

Business Winstone 2001 is another benchmark from the ZD Testing Labs but instead of multimedia applications, it uses basic business programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Project. This makes Business Winstone 2001 a good barometer for business application performance and stability.