Let the test run for at least 15 minutes (it has been suggested that the longer the better let it run for a day or overnight for instance) while you run glxgears or a similar application to stress the cpu. Move around windows, surf the web, copy files, play music etc.

Note that the numbers reported in this test are extremely precise but not necessarily extremely reproducible. Results may vary by 1000 ns from one invocation to another (e.g., by a few microseconds).
If you want to add information to this page or add a new page, follow some BasicSteps.

So, what do the results mean? If your "Max Jitter" number is less than about 15-20 microseconds (15000-20000 nanoseconds), the computer should give very nice results with software stepping. If the Max Jitter is more like 30-50 microseconds, you can still get good results, but your maximum step rate might be a little disappointing, especially if you use microstepping or have very fine pitch leadscrews. If the numbers are 100 uS or more (100,000 nanoseconds), then the PC is not a good candidate for software stepping. Numbers over 1 millisecond (1,000,000 nanoseconds) mean the PC is not a good candidate for EMC, regardless of whether you use software stepping or not.

What can be done about improving latency? See these pages:
FixingSMIIssues
TroubleShooting
If you are going to use software stepping, then read this:
TweakingSoftwareStepGeneration

Hardware that works

Hardware that does not work