Talk:3DMark

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[edit] Performance

The first link to performance should point to Performance testing

[edit] Just video cards?

The article suggests that 3dmark is used solely to evaluate video cards. In fact, the 3dmark score you get is an overall value of the whole system - when a new 3dmark comes out (eg 06) the video card tends to be the bottleneck, and therefore the dominant factor, but the idea is always to get a score that represents the system as a whole. Anyone care to correct this or prove me wrong? 16:05, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Claims of boosterism by card manufacturers

Some makers of 3D video cards also shiped their cards with custor drivers that detected if a test was in progress and ignored some operations to make the test report higher numbers. This ofcourse led to larger drivers and that the cards were actually slower for most usage.

  • I've moved the paragraph above here until it can be verified and a source cited. As of now, it's too vague. Specifically, which video card manufacturers and models attempted to inflate benchmark stats? Which tests were being manipulated? If possible, always cite an external source when making a controversial statement. —RaD Man (talk) 17:21, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Google is your friend:

[edit] Merging

There is also an article called 3dmark. // Liftarn

There was also one called 3dMark, which now links here

[edit] old versions

do older versions still have a use, or should you ONLY use the new ones? The old ones now redundant? I don't know JayKeaton 20:01, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Redirection

Should I make things like 3DMark06 redirect to this article? If someone wonders what 3DMark05 is and they type it in, they might not think to type in just 3DMark. Geekosaurus 22:04, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

It makes sense, and there is no harm in doing so either. ~~ Peteb16 22:11, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 3DMark Performance Evaluation/Old Versions

Two previous topics mentioned here are 3DMark performance and using old versions. First, 3DMark does evaluate more than just the video card performance. At one point during the benchmarks, 3DMark synthesizes 3D video performance by using the CPU to perform the 3D tasks. When this test is performed, there is no variation in the frame rate value. Adam Kemp 01:10, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

In 3DMark03 and 3DMark05, the CPU tests perform the vertex shading on the CPU; the rest of the 3D rendering is performed by the graphics card. In 3DMark06, all of the rendering is done by the graphics card. No version of 3DMark does all of the graphics work on the CPU. (Neeyik 23:41, 22 March 2007 (UTC))


Second, there was a question as to whether older versions of 3DMark should be used for video testing. The answer is yes, as each version is tailored to evaluate a certain version of DirectX. It is a good idea to match the version of 3DMark with the approximate age or generation of the video GPU. After all, many gamers prefer using many different benchmarking programs to give them an idea of the performance of their video card. Adam Kemp 01:10, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Specifically, 3DMark2001 is useful for evaluating DX7 and early DX8 GPUs; 3DMark03 for DX8, DX8.1 and early DX9 GPUs. 3DMark05 is for DX9 (SM2.0 only), whereas 3DMark06 is DX9 (SM2.0 and SM3.0) (Neeyik 23:41, 22 March 2007 (UTC))