Introduction and FAQ

Welcome to Benchmark Otaku!

I'm an English Windows XP user who can't read Japanese, but like using Japanese benchmark programs.

Why an interest in benchmarking?
I've always owned PCs, but my current machine is what I consider the best computer I've ever had in terms of performance for its time. So, obviously I had to benchmark it for comparison. Of course, the first taste is always free...

Why Japanese benchmarks?
Typical game benchmarking (such as DOOM, Half-Life, Far Cry, etc.) tend to need the full game from which you run a specific level/script/console command to start measurement. I don't want to pay for the full game, and I want a simple "Start Benchmark" button. As a generalization, Japanese benchmarks are usually standalone programs, free, and do nothing but test. Besides, there isn't anyone else on the net covering this topic, AFAIK.

What's your criteria for recommendation?
If I download it, find it entertaining enough to sit through, and don't feel like I've wasted my time doing so, then I'll recommend it. That said, as these benchmarks are usually designed for a specific game, if you're interested in said game, by all means download the benchmark. Also, I tend to prefer benchmarks that give you a simple score at the end, rather than a list of stats or FPS counts.

Will Japanese software work on English PCs?
Yes, mostly. The text will be unreadable or character garbage, but unless it's really picky, it'll still let you install/run it.

How do I install these things?
If you've ever installed any Windows program before, you'll have a "feeling" as to what to do. Trial and error is the best way, as nothing can really go wrong (the worse thing that'll happen is you'll cancel/exit by mistake.) Tip: the rightmost button in any install window is usually "Cancel" or "Exit", while the second button from the right is usually "Accept" or "Next." Anyway, if you're lucky, you won't need to install, as some just need to be unzipped.

The benchmark's full of Japanese! How do I navigate the menus?
So you can't read Japanese or the program's text is displayed incorrectly. Usually the top or leftmost button in a menu is "start", while the bottom or rightmost button is "quit." Again, like installing, trial and error is the way to go.

I hate seeing jumbled text. Can I display proper Japanese characters?
Yes, but your Windows XP needs to install East Asian languages (Control Panel->Regional and Lanaguage Options->Languages->Supplemental language support.) After that, you can use Microsoft AppLocale to "trick" the program to run in its proper language.

A second way to do it, but also a bit more drastic, is to set XP to Japanese for non-unicode programs: Control Panel->Regional and Lanaguage Options->Advanced->Language for non-Unicode programs = Japanese. This will NOT change XP into Japanese (everything is still in English), but it will allow Japanese programs to display text properly. It also changes any backslashes to yen characters (probably more changes, but I haven't seen them.)

How do I use AppLocale?
Start it up, browse for the program, then select the appropriate language (Japanese, written in kanji, is the last option in the list.) You can then just run it or create a shortcut.

Sounds like a lot of work to get it working...?
You only need to take these extra steps if you care about presentation or looks. The program will run regardless of whether the text is screwed or not.

Your videos look crap...?
They're only to give you an idea of what to expect, and possibly save you downloading time should it not appeal to you. Want better quality? Download the benchmark.

Broken links...?
Some of the programs and websites listed are quite old, and thus links are subject to change. If you find a broken or non-working link:

• Try going to the top-level website and searching for the download from there. Look for a Download page (ダウンロード) and then look for the benchmark (ベンチ - bench, ベンチマーク - benchmark.)
• Put the benchmark original name or filename into Google and see what shows up.

What score does your computer get on "normal" benchmarks?
PCMark05 (Futuremark) 5907
PerformanceTest 6.1 (Passmark) 717.8