Since the dawn of computing, hardware engineers have had one goal that's stood out above all
the rest: speed.
Sure, computers have many other important qualities (size, power consumption, price and so on), but
nothing captures our attention like the never-ending quest for faster hardware (and software to power
it). Faster drives. Faster RAM. Faster processors. Speed, speed and more speed. [Insert manly
grunting sounds here.]
What's the first thing that happens when a new CPU is released? Benchmarks to compare it against the
last batch of processors.