Score Analysis and Conclusions
Results Page – Scores and subscores
The results on this version of 3DMark are very similar to what you have seen before – you are given both a final overall “3DMarks” score as well as individual scores for all the game tests, features tests and more. This time Futuremark has also provided individual “GPU” and “CPU” scores. Also note that before the 3DMark score there is a letter to indicate which preset was used for the test – in this case the score of “P4129” indicates that the “performance” preset was used.
For those of you interested in the actual weighting of graphics and CPU tests as well as how the individual game tests and CPU tests all add up; one interesting note is that as we move up from Entry to Extreme the amount that Futuremark has weighted the CPU score decreases. This is an interesting side note in the current GPU/CPU debate as Futuremark seems to be saying that in lower end systems the CPU is much more important than in the extreme gaming PCs.
Pricing
Users that have seen and tested their system with PCMark Vantage will find the new 3DMark Vantage testing methods very familiar. The free version of 3DMark Vantage will only run on your system ONE TIME and will present an overall 3DMark score as well as allow for uploading of your results to the Futuremark servers. If you want to run the test an unlimited number of times the cost is $6.95 for the Basic version.
The Advanced version is $19.95 and will allow you to access to the different presets (only Performance is available on the Basic version) and the ability to make custom runs. You do need to be online to see your score results in both the Basic and Pro versions – something that could be a real pain for some users.
The Professional version allows access to the advanced features including technical support, the ability to view results while offline and benchmarking automation and command line controls.
Obviously most users will be splurging for only the Basic or Advanced versions depending on the importance you put on the 3DMark Vantage test on your system.
Why no benchmark scores??
I am sure that most of you are curious to see how the current line up of graphics cards performs on the new 3DMark Vantage software – so are we. However, due to some issues I wasn’t able to put the time necessary into the project as of yet. I didn’t get the final version of the benchmark until Thursday afternoon and as of Monday morning only NVIDIA had provided me with a driver recommended for the application.
We’ll be including 3DMark Vantage in our coming CPU and GPU reviews in the same context that we have been using 3DMark06 over the past years so expect a complete barrage of test results very soon!
Preview Thoughts
Overall the addition of the 3DMark Vantage software into our collection of benchmarking tools is a welcome one. The ability to see how both current CPUs and GPUs perform in these gaming-related tasks including the game tests, AI and physics tests and of course the feature tests, makes for invaluable information in our analysis of PC technology. We still need to spend more time with the individual tests to see how the current line up of processors and graphics cards stack up to one another so we have a baseline for the future but I imagine that 3DMark Vantage will be around for years to come.
UPDATE: You can now download 3DMark Vantage from FileShack.
Be sure to use our pricing engine to find the best prices on NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards and anything else you might need:
