Handset makers Samsung and HTC suffered massive dents in their reputation after benchmarking service Futuremark removed several of their devices from its scoreboard for breaching its rules.

Futuremark removed Samsung and HTC devices from its scoreboard after finding the two manufacturers were artificially boosting CPU and GPU performance of their devices to obtain higher scores.

An investigation by the maker of the 3DMark cross-platform benchmarking application revealed that the two companies had made changes with certain pieces of code which removes the CPU and GPU safety harnesses when benchmarking tools like AnTuTu or 3DMark is started to get scores that don't actually reflect real-world usage.

Confirming the move, Futuremark said in a statement, "When a device is suspected of breaking our rules it is delisted".

The benchmarking service added people rely on benchmarks to create precise and impartial results. It added that it had clear rules for hardware and software developers that stipulate how a platform should interact with its benchmark software.

The list of Samsung and HTC devices that have been delisted by Futuremark includes all models of the Galaxy Note 10.1, and the Galaxy Note III, the HTC One, and the HTC One Mini.