These are comparisons of phpBB 2.01, InvisionBoard and vBulletin for speed.

Tests done by timdorr on 800mhz, AMD 256mb WinXP machine running Apache 1.3.24 and Mysql 3.23.45-nt. All were the latest versions (1.0, 2.2.6, and 2.0.1) and all were based on a default install with no modifications except for one: floodcheck options set off. All tests were run for 3 minutes with 2 threads at 25 sockets each. All were recorded via WAST's record utility.

Now, onto the results.

Main forum view (e.g. http://www.webhostingtalk.com)

IB:
Number of hits: 1017
Requests per Second: 5.64

vB:
Number of hits: 903
Requests per Second: 5.01

phpBB 2.01:
Number of hits: 700
Requests per Second: 3.88

Test post on all boards that contained text, smilies, URL links, images, quotes, and code. WAST viewed the forums and threads alternatively.

IB:
Number of hits: 1079
Requests per Second: 5.98


vB:
Number of hits: 839
Requests per Second: 4.65


phpBB 2.01:
Number of hits: 677
Requests per Second: 3.76


WAST went to each create a new thread page, posted a new thread, viewed that thread, went to the replay page, posted a reply, and viewed the thread a final time.

IB:
Number of hits: 849
Requests per Second: 4.74


vB:
Number of hits: 845
Requests per Second: 4.69


phpBB 2.01:
Number of hits: 505
Requests per Second: 2.82


Conclusion:

The fastest forum software out of these three is InvisionBoard. vBulletin comes next, and then phpBB 2.01. As far as I can see, InvisionBoard is the best available, as it includes most, if not all of the features vBulletin does. The default template is aesthetically-pleasing and, best of all, it's free.

phpBB 2.01 doesn't have much going for itself, except a vast database collection which an enormous community has produced. That's the only perceived advantage.

UPDATE: .NET, a popular UK-based internet magazine, has rated InvisionBoard the #1 free forum software. Unfortunately, they didn't review pay forums.

Hey, always though phpBB sucked. wBB was my favorite then they went pay only, so now I use Invision Board and I would agree, that it is the best. The admin CP is by far the best IMO of any of the free boards.

Originally posted by inogenius
Hey, always though phpBB sucked. wBB was my favorite then they went pay only, so now I use Invision Board and I would agree, that it is the best. The admin CP is by far the best IMO of any of the free boards.

Indeed. I was told at the official phpBB forums that it was the fastest forum available, and had a very low impact on servers. Having signed up to a multitude of different forum-types, I knew the former wasn't true. The latter is true, though there are many other forums which have a lower impact, and take up less bandwidth. This includes InvisionBoard. :)

Can anyone else get to http://www.invisionboard.com/ (http://www.invisionboard.com/?features), wanted to download it to run a local copy here but it looks to be down?

Alan

Originally posted by ho247
Can anyone else get to http://www.invisionboard.com/ (http://www.invisionboard.com/?features), wanted to download it to run a local copy here but it looks to be down?

Alan

I can.

It comes up for me just fine, too.

yep fine for me too...
just in case timdorr reads this.. hi tim! :D
(yes, i know timdorr :D)

Thanks... it's working now, must have been my ISP here.

Alan

I vote for all 3. muahahha.

well vbulletin for a paid board.
phpbb for the free board :D
ALTHOUGH....Ive heard good things about invisionboard, but not enough yet to voice an opinion on it.

phpBB does the job fine. You should run those tests on a unix box, who uses XP in a live server enviroment ???

Was the phpBB template cache system on or is that an "add-on"?

phpBB for me

I'm working on a forum software myself with speed of execution and ability to withstand heavy DDoS attacks are the most considerations. But I'm still not sure if I should charge for it or release it for free.

I'll be the second to ask whether you enabled the template cacheing for phpBB 2.01 (either the file-based or dB-based). This leads to a considerable speed increase and there's no reason it shouldn't be used. In the distribution package, you'll find instructions on how to enable template cacheing in the CONTRIB folder.

phpBB 2.02, which should be released pretty soon, has some further performance-enhancing fixes (already available for the do-it-yourselfers). I'd love to see a rematch of phpBB (with template cacheing enabled!!!), vB, and invisionBoard on a Linux system.

There are a lot of variables to consider when doing benchmark tests though. But at any rate, I'm glad to see someone attempting benchmarks of the most popular forums. :)