PCMark 8 update adds Windows 8.1 compatibility

We've released an update for PCMark 8 Professional Edition that enables Windows 8.1 compatibility, introduces new options for testing OpenCL, and adds detailed hardware monitoring graphs. 

PCMark 8 includes five benchmark tests covering a variety of scenarios from home to business use. There is a dedicated Storage benchmark for testing SSDs and HDDs and an Applications benchmark that uses Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite. PCMark 8 also includes battery life testing tools.

While this update only applies to PCMark 8 Professional Edition, the good news is that it clears the way for PCMark 8 Basic and Advanced, which we now expect to release within the next couple of weeks.

PCMark 8 Professional Edition v1.1.111

This update adds compatibility with Windows 8.1 and Internet Explorer 11, introduces new options for testing OpenCL, and adds detailed hardware monitoring graphs.

• Scores from the Work, Storage and Applications benchmarks are not affected by this update.
• Scores from the Home and Creative benchmarks should not be compared with scores from previous versions of PCMark 8 due to the addition of new run modes for those tests.

PCMark v1.1.111 uses a new installer. If your system has an older version of PCMark 8 installed, you should manually uninstall it using Add/Remove Programs in the Windows Control Panel before installing this update. You should also manually uninstall SystemInfo.

New

• The Home and Creative benchmarks now offer a choice of run modes.
• Conventional mode does not use OpenCL, reflecting how the majority of software works today.
• Accelerated mode uses OpenCL acceleration, anticipating how software will work in the future.
• New interactive graphs show hardware monitoring data from each benchmark run.

Improved

• Progress windows now show estimated time for each test.
• SystemInfo scan is now at least 50% faster.

Compatibility

• Compatible with Windows 8.1.
• Compatible with Internet Explorer 11.
• SystemInfo updated to v4.21 for improved compatibility with the latest hardware.
• New troubleshooting options for OpenCL device selection in Help tab.

Fixed

• Fixed an issue in the Web Browsing test that could cause the test to hang.
• Fixed an issue with Video Chat and Video Group Chat showing empty windows.
• Fixed a bug that could cause Video Chat tests to return inaccurate results.
• Fixed a crash on 32 bit versions of Windows.