The 7z LZMA benchmark runs dummy compression and decompression tasks to measure the overall performance of the system. It reports measurements in MIPS (million instructions per second) which give an idea of the computer's raw processing power counting all factors.
7z LZMA compression is a multi-threaded work-load. This means that it can utilise multiple cores and system's with more cores will tend to perform better in the test.
Since the program measures the overall performance of the system, it is affected by multiple hardware components including:
1. CPU clock
2. CPU core count
3. Hyperthreading support
4. RAM speed/bandwidth (depends on channels and clock frequency)
Improving the capacity of any of above hardware aspects will increase the benchmark score of the 7z LZMA tests, as we shall see in the following sections where we test multiple different machines.
Running the benchmark is extremely simple. Just run the following command and it will run the test and report.
7z b
By default the command runs in multi-core mode and uses all the cores by creating multiple threads. This gives use the multi-core score. It detects and creates as many threads as the system can support. So if you have a 4 core / 8 thread cpu , it will create 8 threads. And if you have a 4 core/4 thread cpu , it will create only 4 threads.
Alternatively it can also run in single core/thread mode which gives us the single core performance of the cpu.
In the following tests we shall run both single and multi core tests.
Benchmarking
We shall be using the following machines. The hardware specs are already known and the performance difference can be reasonably guessed just by looking at the specs.
| System | CPU | Total RAM | Channels | Clock frequency (Mhz) | DDR Speed (MT/s) | Total Bandwidth (MT/s) |
| Acer Swift 3 Laptop | i5-1135G7 (4c/8t) | 8G+8G | 2 | 2133 | 4267 | 8534 |
| Ubuntu desktop | i5-7400 (4c/4t) | 16G+16G | 2 | 1200 | 2400 | 4800 |
| Asus TUF A17 | 5800H (8c/16t) | 8G+8G | 2 | 1600 | 3200 | 6400 |
| Acer Aspire 5 | 5500U (6c/12t) | 8G | 1 | 1600 | 3200 | 3200 |
1. Acer Swift 3
This is the first machine which has dual channel ram, running at 4267 MT/s in each channel. The cpu is i5-1135G7 which is quite capable for a ultra-portable laptop.
Multi core test:
acerlight@acerlight-laptop:~$ 7z b
7-Zip [64] 16.02 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-05-21
p7zip Version 16.02 (locale=en_IN,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,64 bits,8 CPUs 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz (806C1),ASM,AES-NI)
11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz (806C1)
CPU Freq: - - - - - - - - -
RAM size: 15794 MB, # CPU hardware threads: 8
RAM usage: 1765 MB, # Benchmark threads: 8
Compressing | Decompressing
Dict Speed Usage R/U Rating | Speed Usage R/U Rating
KiB/s % MIPS MIPS | KiB/s % MIPS MIPS
22: 29002 677 4166 28214 | 266786 780 2919 22756
23: 27468 699 4002 27987 | 261267 776 2914 22609
24: 26734 689 4172 28745 | 258671 777 2921 22703
25: 26731 731 4176 30521 | 256064 781 2918 22789
---------------------------------- | ------------------------------
Avr: 699 4129 28867 | 778 2918 22714
Tot: 739 3523 25791
$
Avg Compression MIPS: 28867 Avg Decompression MIPS: 22714
Single Core
acerlight@acerlight-laptop:~$ 7z b -mmt1
7-Zip [64] 16.02 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-05-21
p7zip Version 16.02 (locale=en_IN,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,64 bits,8 CPUs 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz (806C1),ASM,AES-NI)
11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz (806C1)
CPU Freq: 64000000 - - - 128000000 - - - -
RAM size: 15794 MB, # CPU hardware threads: 8
RAM usage: 435 MB, # Benchmark threads: 1
Compressing | Decompressing
Dict Speed Usage R/U Rating | Speed Usage R/U Rating
KiB/s % MIPS MIPS | KiB/s % MIPS MIPS
22: 5396 100 5250 5250 | 54375 100 4643 4643
23: 4818 100 4910 4910 | 53939 100 4669 4669
24: 4486 100 4824 4824 | 53254 100 4675 4675
25: 4252 100 4855 4855 | 52167 100 4644 4643
---------------------------------- | ------------------------------
Avr: 100 4960 4960 | 100 4658 4657
Tot: 100 4809 4809
acerlight@acerlight-laptop:~$
Avg Compression MIPS: 4960 Avg Decompression MIPS: 4657
2. Ubuntu desktop
This is a Ubuntu desktop machine with i5-7400 cpu (4-core/4-thread)
Multi-core test
$ 7z b
7-Zip [64] 16.02 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-05-21
p7zip Version 16.02 (locale=en_IN,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,64 bits,4 CPUs Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7400 CPU @ 3.00GHz (906E9),ASM,AES-NI)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7400 CPU @ 3.00GHz (906E9)
CPU Freq: - - - 64000000 - - - - -
RAM size: 32017 MB, # CPU hardware threads: 4
RAM usage: 882 MB, # Benchmark threads: 4
Compressing | Decompressing
Dict Speed Usage R/U Rating | Speed Usage R/U Rating
KiB/s % MIPS MIPS | KiB/s % MIPS MIPS
22: 14973 332 4384 14566 | 145604 380 3269 12422
23: 14734 343 4383 15013 | 146773 388 3275 12700
24: 14627 351 4483 15727 | 145373 389 3277 12762
25: 14178 351 4609 16188 | 142950 389 3268 12722
---------------------------------- | ------------------------------
Avr: 344 4465 15374 | 387 3272 12651
Tot: 365 3868 14013
enlightened@enlightened:~$
The number of interest is the "Rating MIPS" under the "Compressing" and "Decompressing" column. Higher is better.
Avg Compression MIPS: 15374 Avg Decompression MIPS: 12651
Single-core test
$ 7z b -mmt1
7-Zip [64] 16.02 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-05-21
p7zip Version 16.02 (locale=en_IN,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,64 bits,4 CPUs Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7400 CPU @ 3.00GHz (906E9),ASM,AES-NI)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7400 CPU @ 3.00GHz (906E9)
CPU Freq: - - - - - - - 1024000000 -
RAM size: 32017 MB, # CPU hardware threads: 4
RAM usage: 435 MB, # Benchmark threads: 1
Compressing | Decompressing
Dict Speed Usage R/U Rating | Speed Usage R/U Rating
KiB/s % MIPS MIPS | KiB/s % MIPS MIPS
22: 4117 100 4013 4005 | 39906 100 3407 3407
23: 3920 100 3995 3995 | 39599 100 3428 3428
24: 3739 100 4022 4021 | 39110 100 3434 3434
25: 3596 100 4107 4106 | 38478 100 3425 3425
---------------------------------- | ------------------------------
Avr: 100 4034 4032 | 100 3424 3423
Tot: 100 3729 3728
enlightened@enlightened:~$
Avg Compression MIPS: 4032 Avg Decompression MIPS: 3423
3. Asus TUF A17
The next machine is an Asus TUF A17 Laptop, with Ryzen 7 5800H cpu and 16G of ram.
$ 7z b
7-Zip [64] 16.02 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-05-21
p7zip Version 16.02 (locale=en_US.UTF-8,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,64 bits,16 CPUs AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with Radeon Graphics (A50F00),ASM,AES-NI)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with Radeon Graphics (A50F00)
CPU Freq: 64000000 64000000 64000000 64000000 128000000 256000000 512000000 1024000000 2048000000
RAM size: 15456 MB, # CPU hardware threads: 16
RAM usage: 3530 MB, # Benchmark threads: 16
Compressing | Decompressing
Dict Speed Usage R/U Rating | Speed Usage R/U Rating
KiB/s % MIPS MIPS | KiB/s % MIPS MIPS
22: 49059 1486 3211 47725 | 742860 1587 3992 63359
23: 45872 1469 3183 46738 | 713923 1573 3927 61770
24: 43841 1473 3200 47139 | 692892 1583 3843 60819
25: 41736 1469 3245 47653 | 662160 1569 3756 58930
---------------------------------- | ------------------------------
Avr: 1474 3210 47314 | 1578 3880 61219
Tot: 1526 3545 54266
$
The score on this machine is significantly higher than the Ubuntu desktop because of a more powerful CPU.
Avg Compression MIPS: 47314 Avg Decompression MIPS: 61219
Single-core test
$ 7z b -mmt1
7-Zip [64] 16.02 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-05-21
p7zip Version 16.02 (locale=en_US.UTF-8,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,64 bits,16 CPUs AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with Radeon Graphics (A50F00),ASM,AES-NI)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with Radeon Graphics (A50F00)
CPU Freq: 21333333 64000000 64000000 64000000 128000000 128000000 512000000 1024000000 2048000000
RAM size: 15456 MB, # CPU hardware threads: 16
RAM usage: 435 MB, # Benchmark threads: 1
Compressing | Decompressing
Dict Speed Usage R/U Rating | Speed Usage R/U Rating
KiB/s % MIPS MIPS | KiB/s % MIPS MIPS
22: 6843 100 6657 6657 | 64387 100 5497 5497
23: 5671 100 5779 5779 | 63788 100 5522 5522
24: 5052 100 5433 5432 | 63104 100 5540 5540
25: 4724 100 5395 5394 | 61806 100 5501 5501
---------------------------------- | ------------------------------
Avr: 100 5816 5816 | 100 5515 5515
Tot: 100 5666 5665
$
Avg Compression MIPS: 5816 Avg Decompression MIPS: 5515
4. Acer Aspire 5
Multi-core:
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ 7z b
7-Zip [64] 16.02 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-05-21
p7zip Version 16.02 (locale=en_US.UTF-8,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,64 bits,16 CPUs AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphics (860F81),ASM,AES-NI)
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphics (860F81)
CPU Freq: 64000000 64000000 64000000 64000000 128000000 128000000 512000000 512000000 1024000000
RAM size: 7291 MB, # CPU hardware threads: 16
RAM usage: 3530 MB, # Benchmark threads: 16
Compressing | Decompressing
Dict Speed Usage R/U Rating | Speed Usage R/U Rating
KiB/s % MIPS MIPS | KiB/s % MIPS MIPS
22: 24283 1164 2030 23623 | 460633 1163 3378 39288
23: 22285 1158 1960 22706 | 427576 1153 3210 36994
24: 20751 1144 1950 22312 | 419790 1177 3131 36847
25: 18870 1154 1867 21546 | 390070 1141 3044 34715
---------------------------------- | ------------------------------
Avr: 1155 1952 22547 | 1158 3190 36961
Tot: 1157 2571 29754
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$
Avg Compression MIPS: 22547 Avg Decompression MIPS: 36961
Single-core test
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ 7z b -mmt1
7-Zip [64] 16.02 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-05-21
p7zip Version 16.02 (locale=en_US.UTF-8,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,64 bits,16 CPUs AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphics (860F81),ASM,AES-NI)
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphics (860F81)
CPU Freq: 64000000 64000000 64000000 32000000 64000000 256000000 512000000 1024000000 2048000000
RAM size: 7291 MB, # CPU hardware threads: 16
RAM usage: 435 MB, # Benchmark threads: 1
Compressing | Decompressing
Dict Speed Usage R/U Rating | Speed Usage R/U Rating
KiB/s % MIPS MIPS | KiB/s % MIPS MIPS
22: 4304 100 4187 4187 | 52658 100 4496 4496
23: 3934 100 4009 4009 | 51998 100 4501 4501
24: 3739 100 4021 4020 | 51008 100 4478 4478
25: 3551 100 4056 4055 | 50144 100 4464 4463
---------------------------------- | ------------------------------
Avr: 100 4068 4068 | 100 4485 4485
Tot: 100 4277 4276
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$
Avg Compression MIPS: 4068 Avg Decompression MIPS: 4485
Comparison
Now its time to compare the score. The MIPS numbers for all machines have been put together below.
| Machine | MIPS Compression (Multi-Core) | MIPS Decompression (Multi-core) | MIPS Compression (Single-core) | MIPS Decompression (Single-Core) |
| Acer Swift 3 | 28867 | 22714 | 4960 | 4657 |
| Ubuntu Desktop | 15374 | 12651 | 4032 | 3423 |
| Asus TUF A17 | 47314 | 61219 | 5816 | 5515 |
| Acer Aspire 5 | 22547 | 36961 | 4068 | 4485 |
The multi-core scores vary greatly when there is a big difference in the number of cores/threads. This is simply because compression algorithms benefit directly from more cores.
However the single-core scores are decently close.
When running the tests, all cpu cores are pushed to 100% usage which shows that the program is heavily multi-threaded.
Tell us your score
Go ahead and run the 7z benchmark on your system and paste the benchmark report below in the comment box below. This will help other readers get an idea of how their system compares against other systems.
There is an official list of scores of various different systems maintained at https://www.7-cpu.com/, but the list contains very outdated hardware and machines.
To learn more about the benchmark command check this page and the man page for 7z.
