SPEC

05/05/2026

SPEC CPU 2026 is here! 🚀

We are proud to announce the availability of the SPEC CPU 2026 benchmark suites, the industry gold standard for vendor-neutral compute performance.

For 37 years, SPEC CPU has been the trusted "yardstick" for server buyers. This update reflects a massive multi-year collaboration between competing organizations to ensure performance metrics reflect today’s real-world software and hardware evolution.

A True Industry Collaboration

This release was made possible by the dedicated effort of the SPEC CPU committee members, including:

AMD, Ampere Computing, Arm, Dell Technologies, HPE, IBM, IEIT Systems, Intel Corporation, NVIDIA, Oracle, and SiFive.

What’s New?

➡️ 52 Real-World Benchmarks: Expanded from 43 to include modern workloads like an LLVM optimizing compiler and a Python interpreter.

➡️ Multidisciplinary Growth: Expanded to a wider array of domains—from scientific areas like astrophysics and flight dynamics to general-purpose areas like databases, EDA, and graph analytics.

➡️ Modern Language Support: Full compliance with C++17, C18, and Fortran 2018.

➡️ Next-Gen Scalability: Memory utilization has been quadrupled to 64GB to properly stress high-core-count CPUs and high-density hardware.

➡️ Expanded Datacenter Support: Formalized methodologies for bare-metal cloud platforms, ensuring relevance for both on-prem and cloud deployments.

Whether you are a server buyer, a system architect, or a hardware engineer, the SPEC CPU 2026 benchmark suites provide the unbiased, relevant insights needed to make informed technology investments.

Beyond Servers
While primarily for servers, these suites provide valuable insights for workstations, laptops, tablets, and smartphones as well. Whether you are a server buyer, a system architect, or a hardware engineer, SPEC CPU 2026 provides the unbiased, relevant insights needed to make informed technology investments across the entire compute spectrum.

🔗 Download the suites and read the full announcement here: https://ow.ly/6iI950YV3Jg

02/10/2026

Congratulations to Mohammad Bakhshalipour of Carnegie Mellon University, the winner of the 2025 SPEC Kaivalya Dixit Distinguished Dissertation Award! 🏆

This annual honor recognizes outstanding doctoral dissertations that push the boundaries of scientific originality, practical relevance, and industry impact within the scope of the SPEC Research Group.

Mohammad’s winning thesis, “Bridging Real-Time Robotics and Computer Architecture,” (completed under the supervision of Phillip B. Gibbons) was selected for its exceptional technical depth and its dual-benefit to both academia and industrial practice.

Why this work stands out:

Comprehensive Benchmarking: Introduced open-source benchmark suites and performance studies specifically for real-time robotic applications.

Architectural Innovation: Proposed application-specific hardware accelerators and domain-specific processors.

Proven Impact: Demonstrated substantial performance gains through targeted architectural design and rigorous empirical evaluation.

By bridging the gap between robotics and computer architecture, Mohammad’s work provides a roadmap for the future of high-performance, real-time autonomous systems.

Please join us in celebrating this remarkable achievement in the field of computer science and research!

02/09/2026

🚀 SPEC Releases PTDaemon® Interface v1.11.4

Attention SPECpower_ssj® 2008 and SERT® suite licensees: A new version of the PTDaemon interface is now available for download!

This update (v1.11.4) introduces key device enhancements, notably adding support for Chroma 66203 & 66204 multichannel as accepted AC and DC devices.

📅 Important Deadline: If you are planning a SPECpower_ssj 2008 submission, please note that all submissions made after July 13, 2026, must utilize v1.11.4 or higher. We encourage all users to download and apply the update today to ensure your benchmarking environment remains current.

⚠️ Technical Note: While the update includes DC device support, please remember that no SPEC benchmarks or tools currently operate within DC environments.

For more information, please visit: https://ow.ly/c7PY50Ybpub

12/29/2025

2025 has been a big year for graphics benchmarking momentum! 🚀

In his latest blog post, Ross Cunniff, SPECgpc Committee Chair, recaps the incredible progress made this year with the SPECviewperf 15 benchmark.

We started the year by modernizing the worldwide standard with a major May release, introducing support for DirectX 12 and Vulkan, alongside exciting new workloads for Blender, Unreal Engine 5 (featuring Lumen and Nanite), and Enscape.

But the innovation didn't stop there. Thanks to the modern "snap-in" architecture built into version 15, we were able to deliver the December 15.0.1 update in record time! This new architecture allowed us to "snap in" the snx-05 workload (based on Siemens NX 2406) without requiring users to re-run their previous benchmarks—a huge win for efficiency and productivity. 📈

Whether you are an enterprise looking to optimize hardware ROI or an end-user wanting the best experience in your creative apps, the SPECviewperf 15 benchmark is designed to help you make informed decisions.

Read the full story here: https://ow.ly/Mark50XQaUO

12/11/2025

Your Graphics Benchmarking Just Got Smarter! 📢

SPEC is excited to announce the availability of the SPECviewperf 15.0.1 benchmark, the trusted worldwide standard for measuring graphics performance in professional applications.

This new release is a game-changer for high-end CAD users:

✅ NEW Siemens NX Workload (snx-05): We’ve introduced snx-05, a brand-new workload based on Siemens NX 2406. Now you can accurately assess the performance of potential hardware upgrades to your graphics system without having to license and install the application on target systems.

✅ "Snap-In" Architecture: This release introduces the first "snap-in" workload powered by the SPECviewperf 15 benchmark's modern design. This means we can add new workloads more easily going forward, without requiring you to re-run your existing benchmark results! Your old data remains valid.

SPECgpc Committee Chair Ross Cunniff notes that this update enables users to "make more informed decisions about graphics hardware investments."

➡️ Learn more and download today: https://ow.ly/Y2CM50XHCQc

GAINESVILLE, Va., December 11, 2025 — The Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC), the trusted global leader in computing benchmarks, today announced the availability of the SPECviewperf 15.0.1 benchmark, an important update to the worldwide standard for measuring graphics performance b...

08/12/2025

Attention all recent PhDs and computer science enthusiasts! ✨

Do you know a recent graduate who wrote a groundbreaking dissertation in computer benchmarking or performance evaluation? Here's an amazing opportunity to give their hard work the recognition it deserves!

We're happy to announce nominations are now open for the SPEC Kaivalya Dixit Distinguished Dissertation Award! 🎓

This award celebrates outstanding doctoral dissertations in areas like:

👉Computer Benchmarking

👉Performance Evaluation

👉Experimental System Analysis

The winning dissertation will be recognized for its scientific originality, significance, and real-world impact. The winner will also receive a $1,000 prize 💰 and will be honored at the ACM/SPEC International Conference on Performance Engineering (ICPE 2026)!

Important Details:

Who's eligible? Dissertations defended between October 2023 and September 2025.

A thesis can only be nominated once, so make that nomination count!

Do you have a friend, colleague, or mentee who fits the bill? Tag them in the comments or share this post so they don't miss out! Let's celebrate the next generation of innovators together! 🚀

Learn more at: https://ow.ly/Rliz50WBA2E

08/07/2025

Calling all SIGGRAPH 2025 attendees and graphics enthusiasts! 👋

Are you curious about how the latest graphics tech—like ray tracing and virtualized geometry—is changing the game? 🚀 And more importantly, how do you actually measure and compare the performance of all this cool new hardware?

Join us for a BoF session at SIGGRAPH 2025 where we'll dive into these questions and more!

We'll explore how SPEC's new SPECviewperf 15 benchmark tackles these challenges with new, graphically intensive workloads and how you can make smarter decisions about hardware without having to buy all the software yourself.

This is a great chance to chat with industry peers, share insights, and get your questions answered. Hope to see you there!

Topic: Benchmarking Graphics Performance on Modern Computing Systems

When: Sunday, August 10, 2025
Time: 9:00am - 10:00am PDT
Where: East Building, Room 9

Learn more at: https://ow.ly/mEsA50WB2SU

06/18/2025

We're still buzzing about the positive impact of the recent U.S. export policy changes, championed by SPEC's International Standards Group! This move truly strengthens the core mission of standardization: fostering global cooperation.

Want to dive deeper into why this matters for the future of computing energy efficiency and inclusive benchmark development? Our latest blog post explains it all.

Read more here: https://www.spec.org/blog/specadvocacy

06/05/2025

We are happy to announce that SPEC, through the tireless efforts of our International Standards Group, has successfully advocated for changes to U.S. export policies. This clarification re-enables companies on the BIS Entity List to participate in creating global standards.

This is a pivotal moment that strengthens the very goal of standardization: bringing together the best minds from industry, academia, and research worldwide to cooperate on crucial computing energy efficiency standards. We look forward to the return of previously excluded member companies and fostering even more inclusive benchmark development, including the next-gen SERT Suite.

Harmonized global standards mean significant cost reductions for manufacturers and more effective pathways to sustainable technology development.

Learn more about SPEC's commitment to global collaboration: https://ow.ly/X8rG50W4zO9

05/14/2025

Congratulations to Samuel Kounev, Klaus-Dieter Lange, and Jóakim von Kistowski on the release of the second edition of their book, "Systems Benchmarking - For Scientists and Engineers," now published by Springer! 🎉

Building on the strong foundation of the first edition published in 2020, which has been adopted as a key resource in graduate and postgraduate courses globally, the updated version provides an even more comprehensive look at the state-of-the-art and future of systems benchmarking.

In addition to a number of updates across all chapters, the second edition features three new chapters:

- Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence: Addressing the growing need for robust ML and AI system evaluation.
- Scalability of Networks and Systems: Introducing innovative metrics and methodologies for assessing scalability.
- PC, Workstation, Graphics, and Network Benchmarks: Covering essential industry benchmarks such as SYSmark, PCMark, Phoronix Test Suite, 3DMark, Blender, and end-to-end network performance analysis tools.

The second edition also features a foreword by the distinguished Ian T. Foster of Argonne National Laboratory and University of Chicago.

A special acknowledgment goes to the numerous members who contributed their expertise as chapter co-authors in Part II:

Jeremy Arnold, André Bauer, John Beckett, James Bucek, Ken Cantrell, Don Capps, Alexander Carlton, Simon Eismann, Sorin Faibish, Johannes Grohmann, Nikolas Herbst, Tobias Hossfeld, Rouven Krebs, Yannik Lubas, Mary Anne Marquez, Maximilian Meissner, Aleksandar Milenkoski, David Morse, Nicholas A. Principe, David Schmidt, Norbert Schmitt, Van Smith, Simon Spinner, Sitsofe Wheeler, and Marwin Züfle.

Explore the new edition further at: https://ow.ly/f4TZ50VI3CP

A huge congratulations to Sam, Klaus, and Jóakim on this significant achievement!