The first thing anyone does after booting into a custom PC that they built is to run a benchmark test. While running a benchmark test is simpler on Windows, every benchmarking website provides an EXE file that you can easily install and run the benchmark on your PC or laptop. On Linux, however, things are a little bit complicated. You can’t just install an EXE file of a benchmarking tool through a compatibility layer like WINE or Proton and expect it to perform perfectly as if it is running natively.
Therefore, you will have to install a native application that will accurately show you how well your system performs. Fortunately, Geekbench, which is one of the most popular benchmarking tools, has a native Linux port. In this tutorial, we will install this benchmarking application as well as demonstrate how to run this tool on your Linux PC/Laptop.
Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Geekbench on Linux
Geekbench is a popular benchmarking tool that offers a native Linux port for accurate system performance measurement. This comprehensive guide walks you through two methods of installing Geekbench on Linux: via Flathub and directly from the source. Once installed, you can run the benchmark tests directly from the terminal. The results are then uploaded to a web address, which can be accessed through your browser for detailed analysis. Geekbench provides a reliable way to gauge your Linux system’s capabilities, including single-core and multi-core performance.
Let’s get started with the step-by-step method for installing Geekbench on Linux. Now, we’ll be covering two methods here. Let’s start with Method 1.
Method 1: Installing Geekbench via Flathub
The easiest way to install Geekbench on your Linux device would be to use the Flatpak version. Through this method, an application and all its residual folders can also be uninstalled and removed later very easily because Flatpak applications run in a sandboxed environment. Just make sure that you have installed and enabled Flatpak and the Flathub repository on your system. Then, simply type the following commands in your ‘Terminal’ application and press enter:
flatpak install flathub com.geekbench.Geekbench6
Once installed, we can begin benchmarking by running the application.
Method 2: Installing Geekbench from Source
Visit the official Geekbench website and then download the Tarball from there
Once downloaded, extract it using either GUI extractor or just type this command in your Termial window:
# Enter your downloads directory
cd ~/Downloads
# Extract the Tarball
tar -xvf Geekbench*.tar.gz
Now you’re ready to run the benchmark.
How to Start Benchmarking with Geekbench on Linux
Because this is a command-line application, we will have to run it directly in the Terminal itself by running the CLI tool. If you have installed the Flatpak version, then you can run the following command:
flatpak run com.geekbench.Geekbench6
If you are running the Tarball, then you can execute the benchmark by typing the following command:
# Enter into the extracted directory
cd Geekbench*/
# Run the executable
./geekbench_x86_64
If you are running this on a laptop, then make sure that you are plugged in to get your benchmark on the highest settings. Also, if you are running the GNOME desktop, then make sure to turn on the ‘Performance’ mode from the Power Profiles Daemon (located just below your Wi-Fi configurator on the top bar).
Once the benchmarking is complete, you will receive a web address in the Terminal where the result is uploaded. Either type that URL in your Browser or just press Ctrl on your keyboard and then click on the URL field.
You can also add various devices or CPUs to compare your results with their score.
Wrapping Up
Geekbench scores have been a standard in the tech community to measure how well any CPU is performing. Along with several other applications like Blender etc., you can measure how your GPU, VRAM, and RAM perform and figure out which component of your PC is acting as a bottleneck.
If you really do not like using the command line interface, then maybe you can give KDiskMark application a try. It is developed by the KDE community, which also develops the KDE Plasma desktop for Linux-based systems.