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Compression Rate
| Data Compressors |
Original Size (bytes) |
Compressed Size (bytes) |
Space Saved (bytes) |
WinRK |
200,009,231 |
172,471,365 |
27,537,866 |
Squeez |
200,009,231 |
175,234,069 |
24,775,162 |
WinAce |
200,009,231 |
175,389,641 |
24,619,590 |
7-Zip |
200,009,231 |
175,663,088 |
24,346,143 |
SBC Archiver |
200,009,231 |
175,963,901 |
24,045,330 |
WinRAR |
200,009,231 |
176,932,803 |
23,076,428 |
StuffIt |
200,009,231 |
177,915,552 |
22,093,679 |
bzip2 |
200,009,231 |
178,572,464 |
21,436,767 |
WinZip |
200,009,231 |
178,580,526 |
21,428,705 |
gzip |
200,009,231 |
178,651,889 |
21,357,342 |
ARJ32 |
200,009,231 |
190,868,975 |
9,140,256 |
Even when it comes to PDF files, WinRK was the best at compression. It was ahead of the rest of the pack by reducing the fileset size to just over 172MB, which is a reduction of 13.8%. The runner-up, Squeez, managed to reduce the fileset size by almost 25MB or 12.4%.
The other data compressors did almost as well, compressing the files by about 11-12%. ARJ32 was the only notable exception. It only managed to compress the PDF files by a paltry 9MB (4.6%).
Compression Speed
| Data Compressors |
Original Size (bytes) |
Time (s) |
Speed (KB/s) |
ARJ32 |
200,009,231 |
5.61 |
35652.3 |
gzip |
200,009,231 |
12.46 |
16052.1 |
WinZip |
200,009,231 |
12.51 |
15987.9 |
WinRAR |
200,009,231 |
13.10 |
15267.9 |
StuffIt |
200,009,231 |
21.10 |
9479.1 |
bzip2 |
200,009,231 |
49.26 |
4060.3 |
SBC Archiver |
200,009,231 |
79.78 |
2507.0 |
Squeez |
200,009,231 |
89.68 |
2230.3 |
7-Zip |
200,009,231 |
105.77 |
1891.0 |
WinAce |
200,009,231 |
170.00 |
1176.5 |
WinRK |
200,009,231 |
519.11 |
385.3 |
When it came to compression speed, however, ARJ32 was king. It only took 5.6 seconds to compress the 200MB fileset. It was 2.2X faster than its nearest competitors, gzip, WinZip and WinRAR.
WinRK was, again, the slowest compressor tested. This time, it was especially long. It actually took over 8 minutes to complete the test!
Compression Efficiency
The compression efficiency rating is a simple way to evaluate the efficiency of each data compressor. This way, we can see which compressor can save the most space in the least time.
Please note that a higher efficiency rating does not mean the compressor is better. It just means the compressor has a better compression-to-speed ratio. A more efficient compressor is, of course, always more desirable than a less efficient one.
The most efficient data compressor when it comes to this bunch of assorted documents was WinRAR. Its moderately fast compression speed with its good compression ratio allowed it edge past gzip and WinZip to become the efficiency champion for PDF files.
The PDF compression king, WinRK, ended up as the most inefficient compressor in this comparison due entirely to its slow performance. The extremely long time it took to compress the fileset completely offset the amount of space saved.
