3DMark Future and Closing Thoughts

The Future for 3DMark

While the imagery and results of the new 3DMark FireStrike test are impressive for PC enthusiasts to get their hands in the free version, the really important part of this release is actually on the Ice Storm test and its ability to run cross-platform.  Even though the x86 version uses DirectX and the Android and iOS apps will use OpenGL, Futuremark believes they have as close to a feature match as possible between them.  There are already some tests that run on both Apple devices and Google OS hardware, very few tests are able to run on the new sets of x86-based Clovertrail (and future Intel SoCs) as well to get a useful datapoint.

In our interview with Oliver Baltuch, President of Futuremark, about the new 3DMark release he did indicate that getting the other versions available in "a couple weeks" should allow us another opportunity to gather results!

We interviewed the President of Futuremark, Oliver Baltuch, over the weekend and asked some questions about this new direction for 3DMark, how mobile devices were going to affect benchmarks going forward and asked about the new results patterns, stuttering and more.  Check out the video below!

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Closing Thoughts

As I said in my opener, your opinion on 3DMark and other synthetic benchmarks for GPUs and PCs will likely not change with the release of this version, but for those of you that see the value in this additional data point, the new 3DMark improves technology and moves things forward.  Our talk with Futuremark's Oliver Baltuch did present an interesting argument in support of using tests like 3DMark in a well-rounded GPU analysis. 

Essentially, while games will very rarely press towards the edges of GPU technology in order to make sure they can run on a variety of systems, synthetic benchmarks can include multiple tests (like graphics tests 1 and 2 in Fire Strike) that can push towards very specific, and very different, edge cases and give you more information.  And while some people may debate his assertion that benchmarks like 3DMark can help predict performance in real-world games in 24-36 months time, I am all about getting as much information as possible to our readers.

You can download the free version of 3DMark over at the Futuremark website and give it a shot yourself – let us know what you think in the comments below!

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