Review: SiSoft Sandra

Don Bradbury takes a look at SiSoft Sandra, a hardware report and testing program.

Product	SiSoft Sandra
Company	SiSoft
Web	www.sisoftware.demon.co.uk
Price	£free
We like
We don't like
Rating
Requirements

The modern personal computer is complex. Keeping track of its multitude of attributes and settings is quite a feat, and help is certainly needed if you want to test parts of your system for possible defects, inefficiencies, or simply bench-marking.

SiSoft Sandra (System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting
Assistant) has been produced in several versions, and the one suitable for you may be obtained in either limited-functionality form (for personal use) as freeware, or in a "professional" version in which more modules are available, but at a nominal price. Let's take a look at the freeware version first, since that's the one most of us will use, at least until we get the hunger to dig deeper.

Sandra's huge range of functions can appear a little daunting at first until you realize that you need only refer to the bit that interests you at the moment.

Download it

With your Browser open, go to www.sisoftware.demon.co.uk and locate the correct version for your needs. The Win32 x86 ANSI character set version for Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP will be the one for most. Select the free download, and pop the zip file on your Windows Desktop. Double-click this archive file and unpack it to a suitable folder. For neatness, I'd then move the items the download puts on your Desktop to the installation folder - to avoid desktop clutter.

Running the program puts a whole range of icons on your screen, some of which will report that they are unavailable in this freeware version. Just get the feel of what the program can do before you consider forking out for the full version. If you encounter a system problem, for instance, Sandra can highlight the difficulty and point you in the right direction for a cure or work-around.

System Summary

Load first the System Summary module. There you'll find details of the PC's central processor, mainboard, the crucial BIOS, the video system (monitor and video adapter), all your storage devices including removable drives, peripherals including their host controllers, multimedia devices, communications, and printers (including FAX drivers), the Operating System itself, and your installed network adapters.

That's a good first-base help if you think you have a problem. Everything should report for duty here, so check it out before you do anything else. Incidentally, just make sure that, for a correct report under the Logical Storage Devices section, you have a disk in each drive or you'll just get an N/A report given. The Sandra system needs something to look at, not just the bare drive mechanicals and electronics.

Mainboard

When considering a flash upgrade to your BIOS, it's vital that you identify the hardware correctly before you proceed. Sandra reports a wide range of mainboard information, and this should be an early check if faults are suspected or upgrades considered.

Crucial to correct functionality of a PC is the temperature at which the CPU and other components are running, and under Temperature Sensors in this heading Sandra reports the CPU, board, and power temperatures. These are spot tests, not varying while the report is on your screen, so you need to refresh it to see changes.

Our CPU fan speed was always reported to be exactly 4963rpm, a rather precise statement implying no more than 0.02% variability, so we wondered if it was simply reading a specification, not taking an rpm measurement. There is a Refresh button on the display, but that, too, lead to no changes being reported. Under "Fan Speeds", an extension screen says: "typically the CPU fan speed and other fans within the system are monitored. Smart fans (i.e. with tachometer) are required."

Incidentally, there is also a button you can click to switch off any of the reports a screen displays. That's useful if you want to concentrate on certain aspects of your system. But with such a testing and reporting array of features, SiSoft Sandra looks interesting. Even benchmarking against your choice of alternative hardware is featured. Sandra may take a minute or so to carry out the measurements, but it's all there.

In conclusion

There's lots more to discover about SiSoft Sandra, so next time we'll take a closer look at some other modules this program has to offer the intrepid PC explorer. With 20 out of the total of 63 test and report modules inactive in the free download version of Sandra Standard, you might be tempted to upgrade to the paid-for Pro version of Sandra straight away, so we'll take at a look at that next time.

 

Don Bradbury