Giroro :
bit_user :
Giroro :
if I were designing a freeware program designed to put 100% load on a GPU, then I would totally make it mine me some altcoins.
People would figure it out pretty quickly, at which point your reputation would be irreparably damaged.
I've uninstalled benchmarking apps that were unexpectedly draining my battery and I'll never put them back. Bad review filed, as well.
Would it really damage your reputation though? Are PC users so entitled and vindictive that they would rather spin their wheels doing nothing while running a benchmark instead of supporting the creator of some free software?
If you're running the GPU at full load regardless, why not have it doing some actual work in the process?
It's not about being vindictive - it's about the program not fulfilling its purpose. The goal of a graphics benchmark is to inform hardware purchasing decisions and let people know how well games & VR content will run on their device. It can't do a meaningful amount of crypto-mining without compromising that goal.
Moreover, crypto-mining costs people money in the form of electricity costs and decreased battery life. So, it's not a free lunch.
Finally, yes, if I download and run a program claiming to be a benchmark, but it's actually a distributed crypto-mining vehicle, that's misrepresentation and basically qualifies it as a trojan horse. That definitely warrants negative reviews and potentially removal from various app stores.
Nobody told them it had to be free. If I had the option to pay a few $ for it, I would. Making it free doesn't legitimize having it crypto-mine without disclosing that fact.
Giroro :
Also, why is it surprising that running a benchmark would drain your battery?
more than necessary to accomplish its stated purpose, I mean.