3DMark is a computer benchmarking application developed to assess the performance of your computer’s graphics card. The program is able to measure the hardware capacity of various devices, from tablets and smartphones to personal computers.
3DMark supports the latest graphics technologies (comprising DirectX 11 benchmarking capabilities), but is also able to work with DirectX 9 and 10 hardware. Bent on evaluating 3D graphics abilities, it’s safe to say that the targeted audience consists mostly of gamers.
Much like any other benchmarking application, 3DMark assesses and rates your graphics card with a score (high scores indicate better performance). What sets 3DMark apart from similar software is the possibility to compare scores across platforms (Windows, iOS and Android).
Benchmarking your hardware with 3DMark is fun and complication-free. The software includes three major tests, all of which are pleasant to explore, because of the stunning graphics bundled in each of them.
The first one, Fire Strike includes the most technical benchmark, with state-of-the-art showcase graphics. Its complexity makes is suitable for high-end, high-performance personal computers.
Cloud Gate, the second of the trinity, is built on the DirectX 11 engine, but also supports DirectX 10 hardware. Consisting of two graphical tests and a physics test, it’s aimed at notebooks and typical home computers.
The last of the tests, namely Ice Storm is designed for a wider array of devices, including smartphones and tablets and is able to test DirectX 9 graphics cards. As a side note, even though 3DMark supports DirectX 9 / 10 hardware, the device put to test needs to encase DirectX 11 compatible features.
All in all, 3DMark makes one of the best choices, considering its competitors. It’s specialized on assessing the performance of graphics cards, which makes it a must for gamers.
Limitations:
· In the Basic Edition, the Preset and Advanced Settings cannot be changed
What's New in This Release:
Improvements:
· Keyboard focus is no longer checked during the demo or when running the benchmark in a loop. Note that if the display switches to the desktop due to a popup window during the benchmark, the run will still be aborted as the display mode is no longer the same.
· 3DMark 11 now remembers the last custom resolution used.
· GPU count detection for multi-GPU systems is now correct even when SystemInfo is explicitly disabled.
· 3DMark 11 will now prevent Windows from entering Sleep during the test.
· The license key is now reset when the benchmark is reinstalled, allowing removal of invalid keys.
Compatibility:
· SystemInfo updated to version 4.15 for full Windows 8 compatibility.
· Updated DirectX redistributable.
· Now using static Visual C++ 2010 runtime libraries to fix rare installation issues on some systems.
· Removed dependency on EvaDotNet.dll and EvaDotNet.DirectX.dll for GPU enumeration to fix compatibility issues with some systems.
Bug fixes:
· Fixed display initialization...