How to Benchmark Your CPU with Cinebench

If you just picked up a powerful new CPU, like one of the Ryzen 7 family, such as the 5800X or 5900X, then lucky you! The best way to really put your new CPU through its paces is to benchmark it. There are various tools you can use, but Cinebench is the go-to for most enthusiasts.

In a relatively fast 10-minute test, Cinebench uses a unique image-rendering process that maxes out all your CPU cores, giving you the perfect picture of the power inside your PC. Its tests give you a far more accurate “real-world” benchmark reading than most other benchmarks which tend to be more synthetic.

Also read: CPU Core Count vs. Clock Speed – Which Is More Important?

Cinebench R15, R20 or R23

If you look into Cinebench, you may find there are a few different versions floating around. For all intents and purposes, the latest version (R23) is the best one to use. It’s the most accurate tests, has new features, like easily testing single-core performance, and will automatically disable itself if your PC doesn’t have the required RAM to run it.

So stick with R23, and let’s crack on.

Also read: How to Fix “Windows Modules Installer Worker” High CPU Usage

How to Use Cinebench R23

Once you’ve downloaded and installed Cinebench R23, it’s time to start benchmarking.

With Cinebench R23 open, you’ll see it’s a little different if you’ve used previous versions. The default options at the top-left corner are now a Multi Core and Single Core test. Also note that due to the new algorithms, benchmark scores can’t be compared with previous versions.

Clicking either of these will run the new 10-minute thermal throttling test.

But before you do this, you should set up a way to measure the temperature of your CPU during the benchmarks. This is important, as the benchmark will put your CPU under a lot of stress, and you’ll want to know it’s not overheating.

One of the more accurate tools for measuring CPU temperature is HWiNFO, which is generally a great tool for keeping an eye on all the moving parts inside your PC.

Once you’ve installed HWiNFO, open it. (You can check the “Sensors Only” box.)

In the main screen, scroll down to the CPU section, find “CPU CCD 1 (Tdie)” and left-click it to highlight it. (Optionally, you can right-click it and click “Show Graph.”)

Leave HWiNFO open and click Reset (the clock icon) just before you run the benchmark in Cinebench to monitor the temperature throughout the test.

Next, back in Cinebench, click the benchmark you want to run (Single Core or Multi Core), and 10 minutes later you’ll have your results.

Take a look at the “Maximum” temperature in HWiNFO64 to see how hot the benchmark gets your CPU running. Maximum recommended CPU temperatures vary, but you really don’t want to be going over 80°C in a Multi Core test.

As you can see, my mildly tweaked (and undervolted) Ryzen 5800X just outperforms the same CPU running at its default clock settings, so I’m happy with that!

There are other things you can do with Cinebench. Go to “File -> Advanced Benchmark,” and you get to change your test duration to 30 minutes, which will be more of a system stability test.

This is obviously more strenuous, but if something goes wrong during the test (like your PC crashing), then you may need to make adjustments to your CPU in the way of thermals, undervolting and so on.

Now that you’ve put your CPU through its paces, why not stress test your GPU too? Also, take a look at our GPU buying guide to see what to look for in a graphics card this year.