Benchmarking

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:35:47 +0000

Benchmarking

Various methods to test the speed of calculators

HP Museum Benchmarks

These pseudo-code examples need tweaking for each calculator, some have alpha register names, some numeric.

The handling of the <loop> is different in each calculator,too.

The Programs are run for 1 minute and the result (the number of loops completed) is found in register 2 (or wherever is used in the calculator being tested).

HP Museum Maths Benchmark

psuedo code

LBL <whatever>
0
STO 2
1.01234 EEX 6
STO 0
2.345
STO 1
<loop>
RCL 1
RCL 0
*
RCL 1
-
RCL 0
/
RCL 1
*
3.5
/
SQRT
1
STO+ 2
GTO <loop>

HP Museum Trig Benchmark

pseudo code

LBL <whatever>
56.26
STO 0
0
STO 2
<loop>
RCL 0
SIN
ASIN
COS
ACOS
TAN
ATAN
LN
e^x
1
STO + 2
GTO <loop>

Overall Results

sorted by Maths Benchmark

Date	Calculator	Serial No	Firmware	Maths Result	Maths % ¹⁾	Trig Result	Trig %²⁾	Comment
12/01/26	DM15L *	21350	lf15c_250408.hex	99,869	14,708%	17,306	43,265%	3rd Party Firmware
21/09/24	DM15L *	21350	lf15c_beta240920.zip	68,791	10,131%	14,159	35,397%	3rd Party Firmware
20/07/23	DM32	00812	2.03	46,265	6,813%	12,224	30,560%
26/05/22	DM42	06434	3.21	24,701	3,637%	3,741	9,352.5%
09/05/24	DM42 *	06434	C47 00.109.01.03a2	4,976	732.8%	210	525.0%	3rd Party Firmware
02/08/24	DM41X	01266	2.2	3,273	482%	627	1,690%	FAST/USB power
17/09/24	DM15L *	21350	lf15c_beta240916_2.zip	1,346	198%			3rd Party Firmware
26/05/22	DM41X	01266	2.1	1,117	164%	228	570%	FAST mode
02/08/24	DM41X	01266	2.2	1,038	152%	206	515%	FAST
14/01/26	DM41X	01266	2.3	900	132%	177	442%	FAST
23/01/26	DM15L	21350	DM15_M1B_34	790	116%	199	497%	48MHz
26/05/22	DM15L	21350	DM15_M1B_32	676	99%	185	462.5%	48MHz
26/05/22	HP35S	PHA9150KFF	n/a	292	43%	113	282.5%
23/12/25	DM41L	05121	DM41_34	261	38%	140	350%	48MHz
26/08/24	DM41L	05121	DM41_32	154	22%	108	270%	48MHz
26/05/22	DM15L	21350	DM15_M1B_32	150	22%	41	102.5%	12MHz
26/08/24	DM41L	05121	DM41_32	96	14%	40	100%	12MHz
26/05/22	DM41X	01266	2.1	93	13%	18	45%	SLOW mode (original HP41 Speed)
02/08/24	DM41X	01266	2.2	93	13%	18	45%	SLOW
28/07/22	HP11C	2219AO3710	n/a	37	5.45%	9	22.5%

Reference is HP9100 : Maths Score = 679, Trig Score = 40

Code

State Files for DM32

Maths : hpbmm : hpbmm.d32 : Run as XEQ A : Get result from RCL C

Trig : hpbmt : hpbmt.d32 : Run as XEQ A : Get result from RCL C

Maths Benchmark Listing for DM42

LBL "BM"
0
STO 02
1.01234E6 
STO 00
2.345
STO 01
LBL 02
RCL 01
RCL 00
x
RCL 01
-
RCL 00
÷
RCL 01
x
3.5
÷
SQRT
1
STO+ 02
GTO 02
END

Raw File : Maths Benchmark (bm) file for DM41X & DM42 bm.raw

Raw File : Trig Benchmark (bmt) file for DM41X & DM42 bmt.raw

Maths Benchmark Listing for DM41X

LBL ¬BM
0
STO 02
1.01234 E6
STO 00
2.345
STO 01
LBL 02
RCL 01
RCL 00
*
RCL 01
-
RCL 00
/
RCL 01
*
3.5
/
SQRT
1
ST+ 02
GTO 02
END

Maths Benchmark Listing for HP35S

LBL X
0
STO C
1.01234E6
STO A
2.345
STO B
RCL B  <-- loop in
RCL A
x
RCL B
-
RCL A
÷
RCL B
x
3.5
÷
√x
1
STO+ C
GTO X008  --> loop in

Maths Benchmark Listing for DM15L / HP15C

LBL E
0
STO 2
1
.
0
1
2
3
4
EEX
6 
STO 0
2
.
3
4
5
STO 1
LBL 2
RCL 1
RCL 0
x
RCL 1
-
RCL 0
÷
RCL 1
x
3
.
5
÷
√x
1
STO + 2
GTO 2
RTN

Maths Benchmark Listing for DM32

LBL A
0
STO C
1.01234 E 6
STO A
2.345
STO B
LBL B
RCL B
RCL A
X
RCL B
-
RCL A
/
RCL B
X
3.5
/
SQRT
1
STO+ C
GTO B
RTN

DM15L Memory Dump : Maths Benchmark = LBL A, Trig Benchmark = LBL B

DM15_M1B
00  05626000000001  01000000000000  01000000000000  00000000000000
04  04975000fff000  00000000000008  0000000000000c  00999999999eae
08  00000000000000  2a2f87beda1280  00000000bcaf80  00000000000000
10  05626000000001  02345000000000  00000000000000  04000000000001
14  f0000000000402  1b4c4c4c4c4c4c  000000000007f7  000000000007fe
18  00000000000000  0000000000007f  00000000a00000  01990000000002
1c  01387265622000  01579783596001  05000000000000  03000000000000
20  00000000000000  00000000000000  04000000000000  08000000000000
24  02100000000001  00000000000000  00000000000000  00000000000000
f4  00000000000000  00000000000000  00000000000000  b21282dff1cafd
f8  f5c0f3fc31fd30  fb31fc30310241  f5f4f3c0f240f6  c6f4f3f2f1f0c0
fc  f142f00ab21382  dff1cbbbb9c9b8  c8b7c7300342f0  40f6f2c0f6f50b
A: 04975000fff000  B: 04975000fffeae  C: 00999999999eae
S: 00000000000000
M: 04000000000000  N: 04975000000000  G: 06

The SAVAGE benchmark

From HPCC Datafile V37N1 pp38-42

Raw File : Savage Benchmark (svg) for DM41X & DM42 svg.raw

State File : savage for DM32 savage.d32 : XEQ S

Listing for self-timed version

LBL "SVG"
"SAVAGE"
AVIEW
RAD
2499
STO 00
1
ENTER
ENTER
ENTER
STO 01
TIME
X<> 01
LBL 01
X^2
SQRT
LN
E^X
ATAN
TAN
+
DSE 00 
GTO 01
TIME
RCL 01
HMS-
HR
3600
*
END

Listing for the simple (manual timed) version

No time calculation, it needs a stopwatch to measure the time… for calculators without TIME functions

LBL A
RAD
2499
STO A (for HP11C "STO I", for DM15L "STO 0")
1
ENTER
ENTER
ENTER
LBL B
X^2
SQRT
LN
E^X
ATAN
TAN
+
DSE A  (for HP11C "DSE", for DM15L "DSE 0" )
GTO B
RTN

DM15L Memory Dump

DM15_M1B
00  01000000000000  01000000000000  01000000000000  00000000000000
04  32499970322000  00000000000008  0000000000000c  40997997010eae
08  00000000000000  3ebeefb6e4228f  e79282e8bc2ac0  00000000000000
10  00000000000000  08000000000000  06000000000000  02498970322003
14  f0000000000504  1b2d2d2d2d2d2d  000000000001fc  00000000000000
18  00000000000000  0000000000007f  00000000a00000  06000000000000
1c  04000000000000  07000000000000  05000000000000  03000000000000
20  00000000000000  00000000000000  04000000000000  08000000000000
24  02100000000001  00000000000000  00000000000000  00000000000000
fc  000000000000b2  1b82fac9b9cbbb  caba0bc1c1c1f1  40f9f9f4f2e80a
A: 32499970322000  B: 32499970322eae  C: 40997997010eae
S: 00000000000000
M: 00000000000000  N: 02499970322003  G: 09

LF15C Memory Dump

Results

On Battery:

Calculator	Firmware	Seconds	Mins/seconds	Comment	Displayed Result
DM15L *	LF15c_beta250217b	3.862 seconds	0 mins 3.862 sec	Timed by internal function “runTime”	2500.00000000118
DM15L *	LF15c_beta250215	3.969 seconds	0 mins 3.969 sec	Timed by internal function “runTime”	2500.00000000118
DM15l *	LF15C_250408	4.008 seconds	0 mins 4.008 sec	Timed by internal function “runTime”	2500.00000000118
DM15L *	LF15c_beta241006	5.9510 seconds	0 mins 5.951 sec	Timed by internal function “runTime”	2500.00000000118
DM15L *	LF15C_beta240928	6.3 seconds	0 min 6.3 sec	manually timed	2500.00000000118
DM32	2.03 & 2.06	6.3 seconds	0 min 6.3 sec		2500.00000000
DM42	3.22	14.9 seconds	0 min 14.9 sec		2500.00000000
DM41X	2.3	143.69 seconds	2 min 26.69 sec	FAST mode / USB Power	2499.970322
DM41X	2.1	207.03 seconds	3 min 27.03 sec	FAST mode	2499.970322
DM41X	2.2	244.2 seconds	4 min 4.25 sec	FAST mode	2499.970322
DM15L	DM15_M1B_34	247.3 seconds	4 min 34.3 sec	48MHz	2499.970322
DM41X	2.3	284.15 seconds	4 min 44.15 sec	FAST Mode	2499.970322
DM15L	DM15_32	288 seconds	4 min 48 sec	48MHz	2499.970322
DM41L	DM41_34	513.73 seconds	8 min 33 sec	48MHZ	2499.970322
DM41L	DM41_32	758.67 seconds	12 min 38.67 sec	48MHz	2499.970322
HP35S	n/a	877 seconds	14 min 37 sec		2499.99939863
DM41L	DM41_34	1285.93 seconds	21 min 25.93 seconds	12MHz	2499.970322
DM41X	2.1	2652.37 seconds	44 min 12.37 sec	SLOW mode	2499.970322
HP11C		5160 seconds	1 hour 26 min 0 sec		2499.970322

On USB Power :

DM41X : 58.1 seconds (FAST mode) (F/W/ Version ?)
DM42 : 5.56 seconds

N-Queens

https://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-bin/articles.cgi?read=700

Raw File : N-Queens file (nqu) for DM41X & DM42 nqu.raw

State File : nqu for DM32 nqu.d32

Listing for HP41/DM41X/DM41L/HP42/DM42

// for HP41 / HP 42  ... DM41X, DM41L, DM42
// shows run-time on completion

LBL "NQU"   
CLRG
TIME
STO 20
8 
STO 11
LBL 00  
RCL 00 
RCL 11
X=Y? 
GTO 04
ISG 00 
DEG
STO IND 00
LBL 01 
ISG 10 
DEG
RCL 00 
STO 09
LBL 02  
DSE 09 
DEG
RCL 09 
X=0? 
GTO 00
RCL IND 00 
RCL IND 09 
-
X=0? 
GTO 03
ABS 
RCL 00 
RCL 09 
-
X<>Y? 
GTO 02
LBL 03  
DSE IND 00 
GTO 01
DSE 00 
GTO 03
LBL 04 
RCL 10
TIME 
RCL 20
HMS-
HR
3600
*
RTN

Listing for DM15L with LF15C firmware

LBL 88
CLEAR REG
8
STO 10
LBL 80
RCL 0
RCL 10
X=Y?
GTO 84
1
STO+ 0
RCL 0
STO I
RCL 10
STO (i)
LBL 81
1
STO+ 11
RCL 0
STO 9
LBL 82
1
STO- 9
RCL 9
X=0?
GTO 80
RCL 0
STO I
RCL (i)
RCL 9
STO I
RDN
RCL (i)
-
X=0?
GTO 83
ABS
RCL 0
RCL 9
-
X<>Y?
GTO 82
LBL 83
RCL 0
STO I
1
STO- (i)
RCL (i)
X<>0?
GTO 81
1
STO- 0
RCL 0
X<>0?
GTO 83
LBL 84
RCL 11
runTime
RTN

LF15C Memory Dump

Listing for DM15L / HP15C

LBL A
CLR_REG
8
STO .0
LBL 0
RCL 0
RCL .0
TEST 5
GTO 4
1
STO+0
RCL 0
STO I
RCL .0
STO (i)
LBL 1
1
STO+.1
RCL 0
STO 9
LBL 2
1
STO-9
RCL 9
x=0
GTO 0
RCL 0
STO I
RCL (i)
RCL 9
STO I
R_down
RCL (i)
-
x=0
GTO 3
ABS
RCL 0
RCL 9
-
TEST 6
GTO 2
LBL 3
RCL 0
STO I
1
STO-(i)
RCL (i)
TEST 0
GTO 1
1
STO-0
RCL 0
TEST 0
GTO 3
LBL 4
RCL .1
RTN

DM15L Memory Dump

DM15_M1B
00  08000000000000  08000000000000  00000000000000  00000000000000
04  065140fffff000  00000000000008  0000000000000c  00000000999eae
08  00000000000000  22af8d9e7e0080  00000000000000  00000000000000
10  08000000000000  08000000000000  01000000000000  01000000000000
14  f0000000000537  1b2d2d2d2d2d2d  000000000007f7  00000000000000
18  00000000000000  0000000000007f  00000000a00000  04000000000000
1c  01000000000000  03000000000000  06000000000000  02000000000000
20  07000000000000  05000000000000  00000000000000  08000000000000
24  08760000000002  00000000000000  00000000000000  00000000000000
f4  00000000000000  00000000000000  00000000000000  b25104137030a0
f8  dff1117086bddf  f19730031276fb  3930b313ecfb86  c4973986973010
fc  ec39a9dff10249  3091dff1019650  973080dff11475  50300060f8a50a
A: 065140fffff000  B: 065140fffffeae  C: 00000000999eae
S: 00000000000000
M: aaaaaaaaaaaaaa  N: 06514000000000  G: 04

Date	Calculator	Serial No.	Firmware	Seconds	Mins : Secs	Comment
12/01/26	DM15L*	21350	LF15C_250408	0.992 seconds	0:0.992	Self-timed with runTime function
14/04/26	DM32	00812	2.11	3.02 seconds	0:03.02	Manual Timed. Battery
14/04/26	DM32	00812	2.11	1.3 seconds	0:01.30	Manual Timed. USB Power
28/01/26	DM42	06434	3.23	7.30 seconds	0:07.30	Battery
14/01/26	DM41X	01266	2.3	49.55 seconds	0:49.55	FAST mode / USB Power
10/01/26	DM41X	01266	2.3	101.29 seconds	1:41.29	FAST mode / battery
23/01/26	DM15L	21350	DM15_M1B_34	202.16 seconds	3:22.16	48MHz, manually timed
10/01/26	DM41L	05121	DM41_34	509.19 seconds	8:29.19	48MHz
11/01/26	DM41L	05121	DM41_34	870.58 seconds	14:30.58	12MHz
10/01/26	DM41X	01266	2.3	1008.60 seconds	16:48.60	SLOW mode / battery

* Running 3rd party firmware https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-20046.html

Tony's Benchmark

From http://www.thimet.de/CalcCollection/CalcPerformance.html

Code

Listing for the benchmark

LBL A  (For DM41X and DM42 : LBL "AA")
10
STO A  (For DM41X and DM42 : STO 00 )
LBL B
1
+
4.567E-4
-
70
+
69
-
7
x
11
/
RCL A (RCL 00)
1
-
STO A (STO 00)
X≠0?
GTO B
R↓
LOG
SIN
SQRT
SQRT
RTN


LBL C  (For DM41X and DM42 : LBL "TBM")
XEQ A  (XEQ "AA")
RCL C  (RCL 03)
1
-
STO C (STO 03)
X≠0?
GTO C (GTO "TBM")
RTN

For multiple loops store a Loop Count in C (or in Register 03)

(1000 STO C) and then XEQ C

For single loop (slow calculator) simply XEQ A

Result is the time to complete the loop(s) and deliver the answer 0.264577

Performance Index is calculated as

Loops x 34 / Time

For 1000 loops in 13 seconds:

1000 x 34 / 13 = 2615.38

Results

Date	Calculator	Serial No	Loops	Time	Performance Index	Comments	Result
22/11/23	DM42	06434	1000	8 sec	4250	USB Power
22/11/23	DM32	00812	1000	13 sec	2615	f/w : 2.06	0.26457749818
22/11/23	DM42	06434	1000	21 sec	1619	Battery Power	0.26457749818
21/09/24	DM15L *	21350	1000	42.8 sec	794	3rd Party Firmware : LF15C_beta240921	0.26457749817596
21/09/24	DM15L *	21350	100	4.5 sec	756	3rd Party Firmware : LF15C_beta240921	0.26457749817596
22/11/23	DM41X	01266	20	6 sec	113	FAST mode / USB
09/05/24	DM42 *	06434	30	9.6 sec	106	3rd Party Firmware : C47 00.109.01.03a2
22/11/23	DM15L	21350	10	12 sec	28	48MHz	0.264577498
22/11/23	DM41X	01266	10	10 sec	24	FAST mode / Battery	0.264577498
22/11/23	HP35S	PHA9150KFF	5	25 sec	6.8
22/11/23	DM15L	21350	10	54 sec	6.3	12MHz	0.264577498
22/11/23	DM41X	01266	10	118 sec	2.8	SLOW mode/ Battery
22/11/23	HP11C	2219A03710	1	21 sec	1.6

Fingerprinting

Each calculator handles the calculation of functions (SIN, COS etc) differently - different algorithms, different degrees of precision etc.

One way of spotting similar underlying hard/firmware is to carry out a fixed chained calculation on each calculator and to observe the result.

One common test is a sequence of SIN COS TAN ATAN ACOS ASIN on a relatively low starting number - such as 9

9SINCOSTANATANACOSASIN gives a number (hopefully) very close to the starting value of 9 - and the variance from 9 is a fingerprint that can be used to spot similarities between different models.

Calculator	Displayed Result ³⁾	Error (Result - 9)	Firmware
HP11C	9.000417403	4.17403e-4
DM15L	9.000417403	4.17403e-4	DM15_32
DM41X	9.000417403	4.17403e-4	2.1
DM41L	9.000417403	4.17403e-4	DM41_32
HP35S	8.99999986001	-1.3999e-7
DM15L *	8.99999999983416	-1.65842e-10	3rd party LF15C_beta240916 17/09/24
DM42	9.00000000000	-6.2466e-29	DM42 3.22 / Free42 3.0.15
DM32	9.00000000000	-6.2466e-29	2.06

I also found a different version of the same idea at https://tangentsoft.com/rpn/wiki?name=Ballpark+Accuracy#results

Instead of subtracting 9 from the result this test divides the result by 9 and then finds the LOG₁₀ of this fractional error

9SINCOSTANATANACOSASIN 9 / LOG

Here are some of these results

Calculator	Displayed Result	Error=(Result / 9)	Log₁₀(Error)	Comments
DM41X	9.000417403	1.000046378	2.0141242e-05	f/w 2.3
DM41L	9.000417403	1.000046378	2.0141242e-05	f/w DM41_34
DM15L*	8.99999999983416	0.999999999981573	-8.0027125631e-12	3rd Party F/W LF15C_250408
DM42	9.00000000000	1.00000000000	3.01430771055e-30	DM42 3.26 / Free42 3.3.10
DM32	9.00000000000	1.00000000000	3.01430771055e-30	DM32 2.11

Page Info

Page created Thu May 26 07:58:36 2022 by John Pumford-Green

Page last updated: 14/04/26 14:35 BST

Further Information

calculator

¹⁾

versus HP9100 : 679

²⁾

versus HP9100 : 40

³⁾

at max. display resolution

John's Vademecum - public:calculator:benchmarking

Benchmarking

Benchmarking

HP Museum Benchmarks

HP Museum Maths Benchmark

HP Museum Trig Benchmark

Overall Results

Code

The SAVAGE benchmark

Results

N-Queens

Tony's Benchmark

Code

Results

Fingerprinting

Page Info

Further Information