<p>I use an sql server regularly and have recently been getting frustrated by the performance. It would be difficult for me to get direct access to find out the hardware so:</p>

<p>Is there a direct way in management studio to assess performance or find out the exact hardware.</p>

<p>Alternatively does someone have a set of test sql procedures I could try and ideally compare to other results to get an idea of it's performance.</p>

<p>So far I have setup a few quick queries on my local machines sql express server just as test these seem to run quicker than the sql server on the network which is meant to be high performance although no one knows when it was last upgraded I have a feeling it hasn't been for 6 or 7 years. Obviously these test don't account for the possibility of others querying at the same time or network transfers of results... Hopefully someone has a better solution.</p>

You can't just ask your server guys? Seems like there's a fair bit of mistrust if you can't get hardware metrics. Count of CPUs, total memory, etc.
If there's that amount of mistrust, even if you found the answer from the database server, rectifying it would be impossible. If you can't get the current parameters, how could you get a change of hardware passed the server guys?
Start building rapport. The best line in the world to get someone on your side is, "I'm in trouble and I need your help..." You've elevated them and subjugated yourself, you've put them in a position to save you. You'd be amazed at how much you can get out of people that way.
As far as standard queries. You could look at
TPC
queries.