Category: AI

We’re working on an AIXPRT learning tool

on September 10, 2020

For anyone interested in learning more about AIXPRT, the Introduction to AIXPRT white paper provides detailed information about its toolkits, workloads, system requirements, installation, test parameters, and results. However, for AIXPRT.com visitors who want to find the answers to specific AIXPRT-related questions quickly, a white paper can be daunting.

Because we want tech journalists, OEM lab engineers, and everyone who is interested in AIXPRT to be able to find the answers they need in as little time as possible, we’ve decided to develop a new learning tool that will serve as an information hub for common AIXPRT topics and questions.

The new learning tool will be available online through our site. It will offer quick bites of information about the fundamentals of AIXPRT, why the benchmark matters, the benefits of AIXPRT testing and results, machine learning concepts, key terms, and practical testing concerns.

We’re still working on the tool’s content and design. Because we’re designing this tool for you, we’d love to hear the topics and questions you think we should include. If you have any suggestions, please let us know!

Justin

Posted in AI, AIXPRT, benchmark, Benchmarking, Cross-platform benchmarks, Interactive tools, Machine learning, White papers | Tagged AI, AIXPRT, benchmark, deep learning, machine learning |

Potential web technology additions for WebXPRT 4

By Justin Greene

on August 20, 2020

A few months ago, we invited readers to send in their thoughts and ideas about web technologies and workload scenarios that may be a good fit for the next WebXPRT. We’d like to share a few of those ideas today, and we invite you to continue to send your feedback. We’re approaching the time when we need to begin firming up plans for a WebXPRT 4 development cycle in 2021, but there’s still plenty of time for you to help shape the future of the benchmark.

One of the most promising ideas for WebXPRT 4 is the potential addition of one or more WebAssembly (WASM) workloads. WASM is a low-level, binary instruction format that works across all modern browsers. It offers web developers a great deal of flexibility and provides the speed and efficiency necessary for running complex client applications in the browser. WASM enables a variety of workload scenario options, including gaming, video editing, VR, virtual machines, image recognition, and interactive educational content.

In addition, the Chrome team is dropping Portable Native Client (PNaCL) support in favor of WASM, which is why we had to remove a PNaCL workload when updating CrXPRT 2015 to CrXPRT 2. We generally model CrXPRT workloads on existing WebXPRT workloads, so familiarizing ourselves with WASM could ultimately benefit more than one XPRT benchmark.

We are also considering adding a web-based machine learning workload with TensorFlow for JavaScript (TensorFlow.js). TensorFlow.js offers pre-trained models for a wide variety of tasks including image classification, object detection, sentence encoding, natural language processing, and more. We could also use this technology to enhance one of WebXPRT’s existing AI-themed workloads, such as Organize Album using AI or Encrypt Notes and OCR Scan.

Other ideas include using a WebGL-based workload to target GPUs and investigating ways to incorporate a battery life test. What do you think? Let us know!

Justin

Posted in AI, battery life, benchmark, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Browser-based benchmarks, Collaborative benchmark development, Cross-platform benchmarks, image classification, Machine learning, object detection, Performance benchmarking, Virtual reality, Web-based testing, WebAssembly, WebGL, WebXPRT, WebXPRT 3, What makes a good benchmark? | Tagged benchmark, BenchmarkXPRT, browser, Chrome, gaming, image classification, machine learning, object detection, Performance, PNaCl, WASM, WebAssembly, WebXPRT |

The ongoing evolution of the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community

By Justin Greene

on August 6, 2020

This November will mark the tenth anniversary of the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community, which we originally called the HDXPRT Development Community. Since the early days of HDXPRT, our community has grown to include about 275 members from over 85 companies and organizations, and we’ve added seven benchmarks to the XPRT family. We initially mailed HDXPRT DVDs to testers interested in a new way to evaluate PC performance, and now thousands of users around the world download our benchmarks and rely on them to help measure the performance of everything from tablets to laptops to high-end datacenter hardware.

As the XPRTs continue to grow and evolve, we’ve worked to make sure that the resources that we offer—and the ways we offer them—continue to meet the needs of XPRT testers and community members. As we expand in the AI and datacenter spaces with AIXPRT and CloudXPRT, our user group is becoming larger and more diverse than ever. We have already made some changes to better serve this expanding group, and will be making additional changes over the months ahead.

The first set of changes relate to our community membership model. Originally, membership in the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community required a $20 fee and provided access to preview versions of new benchmarks, the ability to submit ideas for future benchmarks, and regular updates through our monthly newsletter and community announcements. To remove the financial obstacle to joining, we introduced a fee waiver process a few years ago.

Also, we know that some OEM employees and members of the tech press are interested in the XPRTs, but are unable to join the community for one reason or another. With these people in mind, we recently experimented with making the CloudXPRT Preview publicly available. Releasing preview builds to all who are interested makes it more likely that users will incorporate the XPRTs into their test suites, and we have decided to adopt this practice for other benchmarks going forward.

In the coming months, we’ll be updating parts of our website to increase access to XPRT content. For example, certain content such as source code for most of the XPRTs is currently available only to members. We plan to remove the login requirement for access to this material.

Please keep in mind that membership in the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community continues to offer exclusive opportunities. Members can join groups such as the CloudXPRT Results Review Group and offer direct input into the design of future benchmarks. Members also receive our monthly newsletters.

If you have any questions about the XPRTs or community membership, please feel free to ask!

Justin

Posted in AI, AIXPRT, benchmark, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Cloud, CloudXPRT, Community Preview, Datacenter, HDXPRT, Performance benchmarking, Source code | Tagged AI, AIXPRT, benchmark, BenchmarkXPRT, cloud, CloudXPRT, datacenter, HDXPRT |

We’re working on an update for the AIXPRT OpenVINO workload

By Justin Greene

on July 23, 2020

Shortly after the initial AIXPRT release, we noted that each of the toolkits AIXPRT uses (Intel OpenVINO, TensorFlow, NVIDIA TensorRT, and Apache MXNet) is on its own development schedule, and new versions will sometimes appear with little warning. When this happens, we’ll have to respond by updating specific AIXPRT installation packages, giving AIXPRT testers relatively short notice.

This is one of those times! Intel recently released OpenVINO 2020.3 Long-Term Support (LTS), and we’re planning to update the AIXPRT OpenVINO packages with the LTS version. The LTS version targets environments that benefit from maximum stability, and don’t require a constant stream of new tools and feature changes. In other words, it’s well suited for a benchmark, and we think it’s a good fit for AIXPRT moving forward.

We don’t yet know what impact the new version will have on AIXPRT OpenVINO test results. A substantial part of the development process will involve testing the new packages on a variety of platforms to see how performance changes. We’ll communicate our findings here in the blog, so AIXPRT testers will know what to expect.

Thankfully, the modular nature of the AIXPRT installation packages ensures that we don’t need to revise the entire AIXPRT suite every time a toolkit update goes live. If you test with only TensorFlow, TensorRT, or MXNet, or a combination of those toolkits, this update won’t affect your testing.

We’re not ready to commit to a release date for the new build, but anticipate it will be in September.

If you have any questions about AIXPRT or OpenVINO, please let us know!

Justin

Posted in AI, AIXPRT, benchmark, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, MXNet, OpenVINO, TensorFlow, TensorRT | Tagged AIXPRT, Apache MXNet, Intel OpenVINO, NVIDIA TensorRT, OpenVINO, TensorRT |

Make confident choices about your company’s future tech with the XPRTs

By Justin Greene

on April 23, 2020

Durham, NC, April 23, 2020 — Principled Technologies and the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community have released a video on the benefits of consulting the XPRTs before committing to new technology purchases.

AIXPRT, one of the battery of XPRT benchmark tools, runs image-classification and object-detection workloads to determine how well tech handles AI and machine learning.

CloudXPRT, another XPRT tool, accurately measures the end-to-end performance of modern, cloud-first applications deployed on infrastructure as a service (IaaS) platforms – allowing corporate decision-makers to select the best configuration for every objective.

All of the XPRTs give companies the real-world information necessary to determine which prospective future tech p – and which will disappoint

According to the video, “The XPRTs don’t just look at specs and features; they gauge a technology solution’s real-world performance and capabilities. So you know whether switching environments is worth the investment. How well solutions support machine learning and other AI capabilities. If next-gen releases beat their rivals or fall behind the curve.”

Watch the video at facts.pt/pyt88k5. To learn more about how AIXPRT, CloudXPRT, WebXPRT, MobileXPRT, TouchXPRT, CrXPRT, and HDXPRT can help IT decision-makers can make confident choices about future purchases, go to www.BenchmarkXPRT.com.

About Principled Technologies, Inc.
Principled Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of technology marketing and learning & development services. It administers the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. For more information, please visit www.principledtechnologies.com.

Company Contact
Justin Greene
BenchmarkXPRT Development Community
Principled Technologies, Inc.
1007 Slater Road, Suite #300
Durham, NC 27703
BenchmarkXPRTsupport@PrincipledTechnologies.com

Posted in AI, AIXPRT, benchmark, Benchmarking, BenchmarkXPRT, Cloud, CloudXPRT, Cross-platform benchmarks, IaaS, image classification, object detection, Performance benchmarking, Press Releases | Tagged AI, AIXPRT, cloud, CloudXPRT, IaaS, image classification, object detection |

Adapting to a changing tech landscape

By Justin Greene

on April 23, 2020

The BenchmarkXPRT Development Community started almost 10 years ago with the development of the High Definition Experience & Performance Ratings Test, also known as HDXPRT. Back then, we distributed the benchmark to interested parties by mailing out physical DVDs. We’ve come a long way since then, as testers now freely and easily access six XPRT benchmarks from our site and major app stores.

Developers, hardware manufacturers, and tech journalists—the core group of XPRT testers—work within a constantly changing tech landscape. Because of our commitment to providing those testers with what they need, the XPRTs grew as we developed additional benchmarks to expand the reach of our tools from PCs to servers and all types of notebooks, Chromebooks, and mobile devices.

As today’s tech landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace, our desire to play an active role in emerging markets continues to drive us to expand our testing capabilities into areas like machine learning (AIXPRT) and cloud-first applications (CloudXPRT). While these new technologies carry the potential to increase efficiency, improve quality, and boost the bottom line for companies around the world, it’s often difficult to decide where and how to invest in new hardware or services. The ever-present need for relevant and reliable data is the reason many organizations use the XPRTs to help make confident choices about their company’s future tech.

We just released a new video that helps to explain what the XPRTs provide and how they can play an important role in a company’s tech purchasing decisions. We hope you’ll check it out!

We’re excited about the continued growth of the XPRTs, and we’re eager to meet the challenges of adapting to the changing tech landscape. If you have any questions about the XPRTs or suggestions for future benchmarks, please let us know!

Justin

Posted in AI, AIXPRT, benchmark, Benchmarking, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Chromebooks, Cloud, CloudXPRT, Collaborative benchmark development, Future of performance evaluation, HDXPRT, History of benchmarking, Performance benchmarking | Tagged AIXPRT, benchmark, BenchmarkXPRT, cloud applications, CloudXPRT, HDXPRT, machine learning |

Category: AI

We’re working on an AIXPRT learning tool

Potential web technology additions for WebXPRT 4

The ongoing evolution of the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community

We’re working on an update for the AIXPRT OpenVINO workload

Make confident choices about your company’s future tech with the XPRTs

Adapting to a changing tech landscape

Check out the other XPRTs: