Google Chrome the "Speed King," According to New Study
Posted 11/25/08 at 03:15:33 PM | by Paul Lilly
Early on in the browser wars, one of the key advantages Mozilla's Firefox held over Microsoft's Internet Explorer was performance. Most would agree that Firefox remains the snappier browser out of the two, but it's Google's recently released Chrome browser that can boast the title of Speed King, according to benchmark results published by ExtremeTech.
What's interesting to note is that Chrome didn't just whiz by the competition in a single benchmark, but edged out Firefox, IE, Opera, and Safari in a multitude of tests covering web loading times, JavaScript, Flash, overall compatibility, and more. With few exceptions, Chrome kept coming out ahead, sometimes by a significant margin.
"Google uses its own knowledge of search and browsing habits to optimize Chrome, but Chrome is still in early development," ExtremeTech wrote in its conclusion. "It's also clear from our testing that Microsoft really needs to get IE8 out the door—IE7 not only has compatibility issues, but is substantially slower in many ways."
ExtremeTech goes on to note that Firefox 3.1 should show improved benchmark scores, but for the time being, Chrome is king, at least when it comes to speed. But who are we kidding - until Google can deliver on its promise to deliver extension support, it might not matter how fast Chrome cruises to the finish line.
Comments
Print
Email
I dig Chrome but...
Submitted by phicar2 on Wed, 2008-11-26 13:49
It crashes and hangs when Firefox does not. In just the week I had to close Chrome 4 times becuase it crashed or hung up. With Firefox this happend maybe once a month. I dig Chrome but I'll have to wait awhile for it to become more stable...and a few web sites, like bankofamerica.com don't load correctly in chrome...
Lack of extension support
Submitted by theplustwo on Wed, 2008-11-26 05:27
I agree about the lack of extension support being a deal-breaker. I love how fast Chrome is, I like the spartan design a lot (it's great for my laptop with limited vertical resolution), and it just "feels" better when using ajax-heavy apps than Firefox. However, I can't live without Adblock Plus and, ironically enough, GMail Notifier.
Okay people this...
Submitted by WolfdaleX86 on Tue, 2008-11-25 20:43
Okay people this is what I get for my Q6600 based machine....
Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 aka "Minefield" (Today's Nightly Build with TraceMonkey enabled.)
Sunspider- 1189.6 ms +/- 0.5%
Acid 3- 93/100 (With ALL the add-ons disabled because Adblock Plus for example drops the score.)
Firefox 3.0.5
Sunspider- 2770.8 ms +/-1.0%
Acid 3- 71/100 (No add-ons.)
Opera 9.62
Sunspider- 3477.2 ms +/- 1.7%
Acid 3- 85/100 with a Fail
IE8 Beta 2
Sunspider- 7443.0 ms +/- 0.7%
Acid 3- 21/100 with a Fail and a LinkTets Failure
Chrome Beta (0.4.154.25)
Sunspider- 1048.0 ms +/- 0.9%
Acid 3- 79/100 with a LinkTest Failure
So at least on my machine, Chrome would be the "Speed King". But I'll still be sticking with Firefox 3.1 Beta as my default browser.
But if anyone is interested with Firefox 3.1 Beta. Here's the link.
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/
Awsome work Wolfdale. I
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Wed, 2008-11-26 05:20
Awsome work Wolfdale. I actually use Opera, Chrome, Firefox3 and on rare occasions when necessary IE7. I actually like the scores for Firefox beta. It's really fast (2nd Best) and appears to be really accurate. But some websites like the TV listings for www.cox.net don't work properly the way they work in Opera, Chrome, and IE7. That's why I end up using all of them because some things don't work right in one and works fine in the other. There needs to be a solid standard that browsers have to meet. If there is an acepted standard then why isn't it enforced?
Chrome
Submitted by zeringue on Tue, 2008-11-25 18:30
That dot in the logo is the eye of google as they watch everything you do online and record all of your tracks. To much google in your life may not be a good thing. gmail, google apps, chrome, google mortgage, google car loans, google os, google life insurance. google is fast becoming the wal-mart of the internet. Do like the Dems said and spread the wealth around and not use everything from one company.
Web Browser Benchmarks
Submitted by dankers on Tue, 2008-11-25 17:04
Sunspider Javascript Benchmark
Firefox(3.1 beta w/tracemonkey enabled): 1653.2ms +/- 6.6%
Google Chrome: 2033.4ms +/- 1.8%
Opera: 5444.4ms +/- 1.3%
Internet Explorer: 72414.6ms +/- 1.5%Acid 3 Test (Standards Compliancy)
Firefox: 89%
Opera: overall 85% (test was not smooth and therefore a failure)
Google Chrome: 79% (Linktest Failed)
Internet Explorer : Test would not complete on default settings
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Tue, 2008-11-25 18:24
I've got the latest Firefox 3 in WinXP SP3 with all the latest patches and all I get is an Acid 3 score of 71/100
Google chrome is correct
And IE7 in WinXP I couldn't even see the score.. LOL....
I wonder what is up with Firefox... Are you running the latest version or is it something on my end? Are you running Vista or XP? It seams to me that we should be getting the same scores with Firefox.
Submitted by Digital-Storm on Tue, 2008-11-25 19:26
71 here with default settings. He cheated somehow.
Submitted by dankers on Thu, 2008-11-27 08:52
It was Firefox 3.1 beta 1, sorry i forgot to include that in the second half of my benchmark. No cheating on my part.
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Tue, 2008-11-25 19:39
unlikely i remember getting that same score a few months ago in vista ultimate64. it should be the same score though so something is going on.
perhaps the latest firefox is suckier than the version that was available a few months back but that makes no sense.
RESOURCE CENTER
KICK ASS OFFERS
MOST COMMENTED ARTICLES
NewsComcast Filtering-For-Profit: A Three-Phase Plan to 'Right-Size' Consumer Bandwidth
1 NEW COMMENT(S) | 54 TOTAL COMMENTS
MOST RECENT COMMENTS
THIS MONTH's ISSUE 
FEATURE Awesome Upgrades: The best PC upgrades in every price range.HOW TO Connect your PC to your surround-sound audio systemProtect Your PC We put 10 of the most popular antivirus programs to the test to see which will protect you best. Android Revealed Find out how the Google-powered HTC G1 stacks up against its rivals.
Technology News
Computer Cooling Fans
Computer Cases
PC Game Controllers
PC Games
Computer Hardware
Headphones
MP3 Players
Stream Video
Computer Mouse
Monitors
Motherboards
NAS Storage
Networking
Laptop Computers
DVD Burner
Digital Cameras
Portable Storage
Computer Accessories
Smartphone
Antivirus Software
Sound Cards
Speakers
Computer Systems
Thumb Drives
Video Cameras
Video Card Reviews
Water Cooling
Gadgets
- Keyboards
© 2008 Future US, Inc. All Rights Reserved.