Futuremark proudly continues their tradition of presenting the new version of the most popular 3D benchmark program in the world every two years (give or take a couple of months). This developer first reached global popularity while under the name MadOnion, when they premiered 3DMark 2000, soon followed by 3DMark 2001 (SE), only to revert back to their original name, “Futuremark”, in 2002, taken way back in 1997. Besides this benchmark family, Futuremark is also famed for their PCMark, a complete system benchmark suite, but also 3DMark Mobile, a program for mobile devices. This time, we're reviewing the latest 3DMark 11, which implements all new technologies that DirectX 11 has to offer, and we have to admit that it looks impressive.3DMark 11 is based on DirectX 11, and according to Futuremark, uses most of the advanced techniques offered by that technology in order to simulate the hardware requirements of upcoming games and also conserve usability through years to come. It consists of six tests, four of which are exclusively graphics tests. The fifth is the “Physics test” which tests the CPU's capability of performing physics calculations, while the last is the “Combined test”, which simulates a situation in which each technique previously used is utilised to a certain extent. If you're familiar with 3DMark Vantage, you'll recall that it contained presets, i.e. pre-defined settings in order to cover the usual situations, but also create somewhat of a standard that would ease comparison with other users and their PCs. The new 3DMark uses the same system, except that presets are now separated according to purpose.
The first one is Entry, with minimum settings and a resolution of 1024x600, allegedly targeting netbook devices. We find this rather comical, since we can't imagine a netbook that would yield a usable 3DMark score even in two years' time. We do believe in Fusion and similar concepts, but have in mind that the new 3DMark really is an extraordinarily taxing benchmark. The second preset is 1280x720, aka 720p, with a medium detail level, covering the mainstream portion of the market, while the Extreme preset is exactly as it states, extreme, with maximum settings together with a Full HD resolution (1920x1080). In this mode, even GeForce GTX580, the strongest single-GPU card, has an incredibly hard time, making tests look more like a slideshow than a fluent animation.
In order to achieve a usable 3DMark 11 score, you have to go through six tests.
