Hello, everyone!

I've put together a compilation CD of retro games demo versions with built-in benchmarks (W98/3DFX era). It saved me quite a bit of time when testing hardware, so I decided to share it with the community.

I hope it will be useful for your retro PC adventures, benchmarking, and hardware experiments!

ISO download link: https://archive.org/details/benchmarks-v-1

Feedback, suggestions, and bug reports are welcome.

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README file (mixed with screenshots):

Are you tired of manually typing commands every time you want to benchmark your freshly built retro PC? Can't remember where you put those game CDs that you know came with built-in benchmarks? Don't feel like hunting down installers online and then figuring out how to actually run the benchmark?

If you answered YES to any of those questions — this compilation is for You!

The disc (or, if you prefer, just copy the installers to a USB stick) contains demo versions of various games with built-in benchmark options. Some of these demos originally didn't include benchmarking functionality — but I added it anyway. With a hammer.

Another goal was to automate the whole process so that, ideally, all you have to do is launch the appropriate shortcut for the resolution you want to test. That wasn't always possible, but I managed to make it work for most games.

One title deserves a special mention: Unreal. The demo version requires the CD, and it doesn't allow EXE parameters or INI file modifications to launch the benchmark. However, I modified it so that the CD is no longer required and the benchmark starts automatically when you launch the game.

On top of that, most of the games come with installers I created from scratch. This allowed me to add all the shortcuts needed for automation while also saving quite a bit of space — my installers are noticeably smaller than the originals and still remain friendly to low-end retro PCs.

This compilation was primarily designed for Windows 98, but both the autorun menu and the installers also work on every Windows version starting with Windows 95. Yes — even Windows 11 can install these benchmarks. The games themselves probably won't run (well... most of them), but the installers will work. 😀

The menu application may not work on a clean installation of Windows 95. The required patch (Msvbvm50.exe) can be found in the W95PATCH folder.

For most games, the process is simple:

Launch "GAME TITLE Setup" to configure the graphics (API, resolution and other settings). Exit the game/configuration tool, then launch either:

A. The game shortcut with your desired resolution, or
B. "GAME TITLE Benchmark".

If the benchmark results don't appear immediately, press ~ (tilde), or check the game's folder for a text file containing the results (for example: fps.txt, timedemo.txt, etc.).

The autorun menu was created using CDMenuCreator v1.2. This version normally plays background music, but since there's no option to disable it, I simply replaced the music file with silence. If you'd actually like some background music, you'll find the track "1KB - NEPTUNIUM237" in the MENUDATA\alt_music folder. Just move it into the MENUDATA folder and burn the disc again.

The creators of CDMenuCreator v1.2 apparently never considered adding an option to move the menu around. 🙁 It'll always be centered — or stuck in a corner if you launch a game at a higher resolution than your desktop.

The CD_COVER folder contains artwork you can use to create a physical disc and cover.

Besides the games, the collection also includes:

• Patches for full retail versions of games that are required to enable benchmarking (without these patches, those games simply can't run their benchmark).
• Popular (some would say legendary) maps and demos for various full-version games.
• "How to benchmark" guides for games that include built-in benchmarks, but whose demo versions don't allow them to be run.
• Well-known and well-loved benchmarking utilities.
• Various small tools that come in handy when benchmarking old PCs.

Important information:

• Don't compare results from the demo versions included in this compilation with results from the full retail games! The differences aren't huge, but the purists will cry.
• Before installing a game, read the INFO section... or complain that something doesn't work. Your choice.
• Don't forget to disable V-Sync!
• Have fun 😀