HWBot: Windows 8 benchmark errors don't show up on AMD PCs

[Half Monk 697]

A few days ago, the HWBot website, which collects PC benchmark scores, decided to ban all Windows 8 scores from its database. The site claims that the decision was due to a change in the real time clock (RTC) in Windows 8 that can cause benchmark programs to show inaccurate results if the CPU base clock (BCLK) frequency is changed in software.

 

 

At the time, HWBot tested this issue on a PC with an Intel Haswell processor. Today, the site has posted an update on the matter which says that the RTC issue does not appear when benchmarks are run on a PC with an AMD processor. The site says, "In fact, the clock drifting on Intel based systems seem to resolve itself when switching from an Intel based system, to AMD, and back to Intel."

 

As a result, the HWBot benchmark database will now accept Windows 8 benchmarks scores that are generated from an AMD PC. The site is still blocking all new Windows 8 benchmark results from Intel systems and existing Windows 8 benchmark scores will be blocked if they appear to be a new world record or top score or if they are "seemingly out of line."

 

Even though HWBot is accepting Windows 8 benchmark scores from AMD rigs, the site still feels the RTC problem lies with Windows 8 itself and not with Intel. The site states:

Windows 8 seems to be using a different source to fetch “real time” on an Intel based system compared to an AMD based system. It’s still guess why and which at the moment, but it seems to be related to the power saving features integrated in Windows 8.

 

Finally, the site also claims that Windows 8.1 suffers from the same RTC issue as Windows 8. We have emailed Microsoft for comment but have yet to receive a response. Futuremark, which makes the PCMark and 3DMark benchmarking programs, has already posted a response to the HWBot bans, saying, " ... the steps required to exploit this issue are quite unusual and could not be happened upon by accident."