What's new in Novabench 6

Novabench 6 is the biggest update to Novabench since its original release in 2007. The goal was to make Novabench easier to use, more customizable, and capable of telling you more about your system.

What's new at a glance:

• Redesigned interface with test customization and unified reporting
• Expanded benchmarks (CPU, memory, storage) with deeper insights
• New NPU benchmarking
• Built-in network testing (speed, traceroute, DNS)
• Stress testing improvements
• Test result explanations
• Application tests (for Team plans)

New interface

Test customization and device selection. Select which GPU to benchmark on multi-GPU systems, choose specific drives for storage tests, pick stress test targets, and configure test parameters before you run.

Unified results and comparison. Scores and comparisons are now combined into a single results report. With online comparison enabled, you see charts, health indicators, and comparison rankings alongside your test data.

Deeper hardware insights

Version 6 adds depth to each existing benchmark and introduces new test categories.

CPU: more detailed measurement

The CPU benchmark now runs 16 test units (up from 5 in v5) with dedicated scalar and SIMD throughput measurements. Single-threaded versus multi-core breakdown is prominently displayed, and v6 surfaces hybrid topology details (P-cores, E-cores, LP-cores).

Tests run the same workloads across x64 and ARM, Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Memory: timings and profile optimization

Version 6 surfaces detailed memory configuration directly in the interface:

• Current timings, clock frequency, and channel count
• Available JEDEC, XMP, EXPO, and AMP profiles with their rated frequencies and timings

You can see at a glance whether your memory is running at its rated speed or at a lower default.

Storage: technology details and drive health

The system information panel now identifies PCIe generation and lane count for NVMe drives. For supported systems, Novabench reads S.M.A.R.T. data and displays drive health indicators including life remaining, power-on hours, and overall health status.

NPU benchmarking

Novabench 6 measures NPU performance across two areas that matter for real-world AI/ML workloads:

• Throughput (TOPS): peak inference capacity across parallel sessions, reflecting how the NPU handles sustained multi-model workloads.
• Inference latency: per-frame response time for real-time processing like background blur, portrait effects, and video segmentation.

The test runs automatically when supported hardware and drivers are detected.

Network testing

Novabench 6 introduces a complete network testing suite. This is an entirely new test category, and it ships in the free version.

A network quality score (1-5, poor to excellent) summarizes your overall network experience.

• Speed test: download speed, upload speed, idle latency, and packet loss.
• Traceroute: hop-by-hop route analysis with per-hop latency. Identifies exactly where in the network path slowdowns occur.
• DNS benchmark: measures DNS resolver performance, which can be a critical bottleneck to page load time.

Stress testing

The core stress test is now available in the free version. Every user can run CPU, GPU, and VRAM stress tests with configurable duration and device selection, with pass/fail results. This covers the most common needs including validating cooling solutions and checking overclock stability.

• Plus adds throttle detection, sensor charts (temperature and frequency over time), and account syncing.
• Pro adds parallel execution mode, stressing all selected devices simultaneously for worst-case thermal and power validation.

Explain analyzes your results

After running a benchmark, Explain (available on Plus) analyzes your scores in context and returns:

• A summary of your overall performance
• Key insights about specific strengths and weaknesses
• Actionable recommendations

Explain combines your test results with online comparison data to help you understand what matters most for your system.

Novabench scoring remains the same

Novabench scores in v6 use the same calculation as v5. Your existing scores remain comparable. Many users and organizations rely on these scores in their processes, so we chose to maintain continuity.

Version 6 captures significantly more test data per benchmark. We plan to use this data to inform a future scoring update. When we update the formula, we will tell you what changed, why, and how it affects comparisons with older results.

In the meantime, dig into the detail behind your score:

• Component scores (CPU, GPU, Memory, Storage, NPU) for system balance
• Single-core versus multi-core CPU scores for workload-specific insight
• Sub-test results for granular performance data
• Percentile rankings to see how your hardware performs relative to similar configurations

See our benchmark methodology and understanding your scores documentation for more.

Free and upgrade features

Every test in Novabench remains free. The full benchmark suite, stress testing, network tests, basic online comparison, and shareable result links are available to all users, with or without an account.

For monitoring trends over time, deeper diagnostics, or managing results across multiple devices, our Plus and Pro plans add the features you need.

For existing subscribers, your current plan carries forward at its original terms.

Novabench for Work

Novabench Team plans are built for desktop engineering, procurement, and IT teams that need to establish and enforce performance baselines across a fleet.

Application tests are the headline addition for work users in v6. Unlike hardware benchmarks, application tests run real operations inside real software: word processing, spreadsheets, photo and video editing, code compilation, web browsing, local LLM models, and many more categories. The result is a practical performance picture that reflects what your users experience day to day.

Baselines tie this together. Define minimum hardware scores or application performance targets per role or team, then test devices against those baselines for an instant pass/fail.

Validate and Resolve complete the device lifecycle: regression-test updates before rollout, and continuously monitor fleet health in production. Learn more about Novabench for Work.

Get started

Novabench 6 is available now as a free download for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Run your first benchmark in minutes.

Novabench 5 LTS remains available for download for Plus and Pro customers who need it.