Low Geekbench Numbers

Hello,I j

I just got my Lenovo W520 (8GB RAM, 2.2ghz i7).

I ran some geekbench numbers, and even though some say it is biased towards mac, it's not even close to comparable.

My test gave a 3600 number, whereas similar cpu macs are around 9000.

here is my result (based on a restart and factory settings). I also used the 32bit free test. The other results I am showing are 32 bit as well.

LENOVO 427637U : Geekbench Result Browser

for comparison,

mac with same processor and memory comes in around 10048

Compare MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011) with LENOVO 427637U : Geekbench Result Browser

on a side note,

pros
- nice case design, quality build
- trackpoint
- nice quality screen

cons
- letters generally too small for usage (1920 x 1080 screen)
- thought battery life would be better (getting around 3-5 hours doing regular work with a small video playing on the side)


wondering people's thoughts about the benchmark, before I try to return it.

Thanks.

 

welcome to the forum!

your results are indicative of the power plan being set for power savings rather than performance.   set your power plan on high or max performance, plug in the AC adapter, and install the battery (if not already installed).   also make sure everything in the BIOS is set for maximum performance.

your system should rank around 8500+ on 32-bit geekbench according to this search: http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/search?q=lenovo+4276

keep in mind that the 64-bit version of geekbench will net higher results due to being able to leverage more than 3GB of memory.   when comparing results, be sure to note whether the results were under the 32- or 64-bit version.

 

The battery life should be 6-7 hours while playing a video.

I'm fairly certain that your discrete GPU kicked in for the video, hogging power.

You may have had the CPU set to a lower speed when you ran the test.

 

Yeah, I get around 6 ~ 7 hours of video, if not more (H.264, anywhere between 480p and 1080p).

 

Perhaps your CPU is stuck at 800Mhz... Check this 21-page thread:

W520: Speedstep not working properly (on battery)!... - Page 18 - Lenovo Community

 

Thank you for the replies everyone. It seems like it is the problem, described in the thread.

If that is the case, then I can't achieve proper performance unless I have the charger with me. And the charger is so huge, it makes it quite an inconvenience. I was planning on using it predominantly for video editing, for which I need the higher power.

I really wanted to like the laptop, but I guess it's not meant to be.

Thanks.

 

You're not really supposed to run high-performance programs on battery anyway. High wattage draws cause accelerated degradation, which is not good for any battery.

The W520 charger is massive because it needs to supply sufficient power for running. There is a 135W adapter which is smaller, but a smidge heavier. MacBook adapters do not supply enough power for maximum load, so it has to pull off of the battery.

Let's put it this way: Playing Battlefield 3 (with an overclock) for eight straight hours probably could not have been done on a MacBook Pro without a) overheating it, b) draining the battery, c) causing it to shutdown due to insufficient power.

 

Thanks, that's interesting to know. I didn't realize that about video editing on a laptop.

Also that a Macbook would lose power over time even with the charger when used for high performance operations..

 

The math doesn't add up in the case of a MacBook Pro:

45W on a i7-2720QM
45W-55W on the discrete graphics card (No one seems to list the TDP of the MBP GPUs)
10W for all of the other system components (LCD, wifi, USB, backlit keyboard, etc).

That adds up to 100 to 110W at load, whereas the adapter can only provide 90W. Either the system has to throttle, or it pulls battery power.

The Quadro 2000M supports Adobe's Mercury Playback Engine in Premiere Pro CS5.5, so that might be a point of contention.

 

Bear in mind there are plenty of other manufacturer's making power supplies. Targus, Kensington, etc, all have options.

How about making a real-world test and actually doing some video editing and rendering. Make a head-to-head comparison, not just fixate over theoretical benchmarks.

 

2011 MacBook Pro Battery Not Charging Under GPU Load | Aimful Wanderings

I'd just like to say that the 51 comments and zero idea why this is actually happening made me facepalm.

 

Mac users are stupid like that. All in love with the garbage their lord-and-master Jobs fobs off on them and incapable of grasping the defective nature of the designs. Serves 'em right.

 

Thanks for linking that, YMMD.

 

Just run Throttlestop and you'll have full power on battery. You'll like it!

 

Thanks for the suggestions and the link to the Macbook forums, that was enlightening. I guess you can't alter the laws of physics, even Steve Jobs

I think at this point, I need to figure out for myself how much horsepower I really need to do occasional video editing and regular usage. A desktop might be best. And with the video in the proper format and codec, than I might not need such a hefty laptop to work with the editing.

My first assumption was to get the most powerful laptop out there, but that might be overkill.

 

Switch the power plan to max power, use a 135W PSU, and run GB after a reboot. That's how I do it on all my computers, PCs & Macs.

I get at least 7k on my X220 w/ i7-2620M.