Results of the throughput measurement using SPEC benchmark suites CINT92 and CFP92. With the throughput measurement method, several copies of a given benchmark are executed. The method is particularly suitable for multiprocessor systems.

The results, called SPEC rate, express how many jobs of a particular type (characterised by the individual benchmark) can be executed in a given time (The SPEC reference time happens to be a week, the execution times are normalized with respect to a VAX 11/780). The SPEC rates therefore characterise the capacity of a system for compute-intensive jobs of similar characteristics.

See also SPEC ratio.