Futuremark’s PCMark 7 is a well-known benchmark tool that runs the system through ordinary computing tasks, including word processing and multimedia playback and editing. Graphics and processor power figure prominently in this benchmark, but graphics power doesn’t play as big a role here as it does in another Futuremark benchmark, 3DMark (which is designed for testing the system’s gaming capabilities). This test also weights heavily on the performance of the storage subsystem of a given device.
 |
| Futuremark PCMark 7 |
| Simulated Application Performance |
|
It's another strong showing for the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2014), with a top-end score that was third-best of our tightly packed group.
|
| Futuremark PCMark 8 v.2 |
| Trace-based Workload Testing |
|
Futuremark recently launched PCMark 8, which has several built-in benchmark tests. The Home test measures a system's ability to handle basic tasks such as web browsing, writing, gaming, photo editing, and video chat. The Creative test offers similar types of tasks, but has more demanding requirements than the Home benchmark and is meant for mid-range and higher-end PCs. The Work test measures the performance of typical office PC systems that lack media capabilities. Finally, the Storage benchmark tests the performance of SSDs, HDDs and hybrid drives with traces recorded from Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office and a selection of popular games.
For this test we threw in some stiff competition with the Dell XPS 15. This machine is a larger 15-inch model with discrete graphics and as a result, it scores on top here overall. Again, the group is tightly mapped in terms of performance, with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon for 2014 putting up solid numbers as well.
