3D Mark 06 Available 18 Jan 2006

[Ruslan74]

check it out here! (http://www.gamespot.com/promos/2006/3dmark06/index.html)

time to upgrade again? :p

I suppose i will download the basic edition overnight... wonder if TG will read this... :rolleyes:

[doobiwan]

Yay, a new slideshow for my new video card!

[stoke]

Na - this will just depress me.
I recon that this 3D Mark product sells more video cards than all the games combined.

[Ruslan74]

so i suppose by the weekend we'll be comparing our 3 digit scores in the Basic version of 3D Mark 06... :p

[rainy]

No use for me. My overclocked system gives me about 300 points in 3DMark05... :p So no 3 digit scores for me with this one...

Seriously, 3DMark is overrated. It' become a vehicle to create demands for high-end hardware. I go back to 3DMark2000, and that one was closer to an actual benchmark than anything after that. It ran decently even on low to midrange PCs, so you could actually get an idea of your PC's performance.

But the main problem is that 3DMark is a synthetic benchmark. The only thing the late editions are good for is to tell how your box will perform with certain special effects, like pixel shaders etc. Other than that, they basically just give you the finger if your system is not high-end.

[doobiwan]

But isn't that exactly the point? Each 3dm is design for the NEXT 2 years, not the last. it's to give you an idea of how your rig will perform using effects that designers aren't ready to put in games.

[rainy]

And which gaming PC that you buy today survives the next 2 years without any upgrades?

Pointless, I say. The best benchmark is the game you want to play. If your box doesn't perform with it, you are in need of an upgrade. It doesn't get simpler.

[doobiwan]

I haven't seen 06 scores, but guys that bought X800's and 6800's a year and change ago, based on the '05 score sure don't need to upgrade yet.

But anyone who bought a video card based on the playability of UT2004 would be crying now. (experience . . . ;) )

[Ruslan74]

just wait till UT2007 is out... i bet more will cry even more.. eish...

[rainy]

Well, I would never upgrade according to 3DMArk scores :)

[Ruslan74]

alas i did when i saw my FX5900XT chugging along at single digit speeds in 3D Mark 05... it was worth it since at that time Far Cry, HL2 and a few other hot games came out!

[Darnit696]

I buy the quipment that plays the game klaar! This whole "I got 25649. Whats your score?" is kinda like the "mine is bigger than yours" thing in the changeroom. What actually counts is how your hide gets shredded six ways to Sunday in the game...then you'll see whos got the rig that counts. 3dmark leans heavily in the direction of graphics performance, but there are plenty of other factors that count. Ever got into a game only to find that your side only had 1 flag left and the other team were all over it? Its not just cause they all had pretty SLi graphics setups (Sorry TG :D ).

Case in point. I've got a PCi-Express ATi x800 something or another (I chucked the box and I aint opening up to look and the driver thingy doesnt tell me) its got 512mb on it and it can run the game on a really good video setting. But (there's always a but) I like to frag more than I like to get fragged soo (perhaps this belongs in the tips and tricks post) I run everything especially the shadow and texture settings on the lowest setting. The only thing I have set up is the res to 1280x1024 since the LCD runs best in that res.(It also allows for better aiming.) Why do I do this? Cause then I have no problem seeing peeps in the shadows. Snipers are a lost cause. They stand out like sore thumbs. Set everything on high and guys (not just snipers) can hide in the shadows. Snipers blend in with the pretty grass ect and I get fragged to bits. Try it sometime. Around the hotel at Karkand. Its like night and day...literally. :)

[Brawler]

I will skip the embarrarment of runing 3dmark06 on my cirrent pC:d

[Ruslan74]

i am just in for the eyecandy... for what i know you can only get any decent scores if you really overclock and sodomize a rig with liquid nitrogen to be noticed amongst the millions of PC users.

[rainy]

I just don't have the money to get myself a rig good enough to be noticed among millions of PC users :) Oh well, if I win the lotto this Friday I will get one ;) *dream on*

[doobiwan]

I don't need an uber rig, I like to be able to see how long my current rig will last.

Take the nvidia 5X00 series, games released at the time had to be optimized to make them look better. Heaven forbid you wanted to play something slightly obscure, they sucked (still do I'm afraid) '05 came out and showed them up for the tanks they were.

[Bass]

Hmmm Darnit - I also do exactly the same thing - I saw that first in Far Cry - turn up environment detail and suddenly there is so much grass everywhere you can't see a thing ... turn it down and you can see guys a mile off !!!

It actually makes it rather pointless having a wonderful screen card when you can't turn the lighting up to full detail with nice shadows, only to be penalised by the game (because now guys can hide in shadows) ... :(

[doobiwan]

Heh heh it's so true! My BF2 is on almost lowest everything, probably the only thing that keeps me alive :)

[rainy]

I have no other choice anyway than to put everything on low :)

[stoke]

Yea - i've often thought that that was happening when the sniper can see me easily, and when I go where he was - I cannot see anything at all.

That's like graphics level cheating. Grrrrr. Baad EA ... Baad EA.

[fivel]

Becomes a very expensive download as this monster weighs in at 580mb....

[Ruslan74]

yeah saw it last night but didnt get to leave for an overnight download... over the weekend perhaps... heard some guys got a score of 1605 but dont know with which card...

[Ruslan74]

a nice article on the whole 3D Mark 06 shebang can be found here. (http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/3dmark_06/)

Snippet :

"Return to Proxycon is once again a part of the 3DMark benchmark as a Shader Model 2.0 test. To maintain its effectiveness as a benchmark tool with today’s faster GPUs, FutureMark has increased the resolution, the number of objects and lights. Additionally, all of the tests in 3DMark 06 use a new type of depth shadow map called Cascaded Shadow Maps in which there is are five 2048x2048 shadows maps used. One of the lights in Return to Proxycon uses the CSM approach. Traditional point lights with 1024x1024x6 cube depth maps/shadow maps are used for everything else. There are a total of 26 light sources."

ouch... 2048.x2048 shadows?

*me wonders if card will crawl in this test*

:p

[rainy]

/me knows his card would just collapse and refuse to go any further...

[Bass]

So has anyone downloaded it yet ? - or know of any local sites where it's hosted ?

[Ruslan74]

i am busy downloading it currently, just the lines have been sloooooow and should complete it over the weekend... i start-stop-resume-restart-resume etc....

[Brawler]

Geek hows your sli monster handle it?

[TG]

Haven't bothered to download it. Considering I'm over my 5gbs and into my topup gigs. I don't think so.

[Brawler]

lol.
All that bf2 hey>?

[TG]

Actually, it's been fedora updates (I have a local mirror of the updates), and movie trailers that has wiped me out this month. ;)

[doobiwan]

sgs has it now :)

[Bass]

Aha .. thnx .. will go grab it shortly .. :)

[Ruslan74]

my score @ 1280x1024 was 3618 3D Marks

cant set any other options since the basic version is locked until you buy it.

i was kinda expecting worse though... :p

[TG]

4933 at default driver settings.
4910 at high quality setting.

Going to enable 'alternate frame rendering' (as opposed to single GPU rendering) to see what happens.

4914 with high quality and alternate frame rendering.
4932 with std quality and AFR

[doobiwan]

1090 :(
I'll just sit quietly in the kiddie corner . . .

[Ruslan74]

TG... did you buy the full edition or.... ?

[TG]

No..it's basic.

[TG]

Sorry - I was referring to DRIVER settings, not program settings!

[Ruslan74]

maybe the advanced edition has more settings for SLI setups.... what to similar setups score on their website?

[TG]

Dunno. Couldn't be bothered to check :p

[TG]

Just scored 4965 with version 83.40 WHQL drivers that I found here (http://www.tweaksrus.com). I had to run driver cleaner though, otherwise I kept getting blue screens. Seems to be fine now though.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=89113

[StaticS]

Gee ur comp is a dam monster i tell u!!!!!I only get like 1230 on my 2x Geforce 6600 GT's

[rainy]

Just to show how 'credible' the 3DMark actually is:

I 3DMarked my system before and after each upgrade. In sequence that was the GFX upgrade first, the CPU upgrade second. I used 3DMark05 though, but the principle is the same.

First config: Celeron 2.4, Geforce FX5500, 1GB RAM - about 300 points in 3DMark05.

Second config: as above, swapped FX5500 for 6600GT - close to 3000 points in 3DMark05.

Third config: swapped Celeron 2.4 for Sempron 3000+ - just above 3000 points in 3DMark05.

As comparison: my FPS rate in BF2 has tripled after the CPU upgrade...

3DMark concentrates too much on the GFX hardware and leaves other system factors out of attention. That's why it doesn't really make a credible (and consistent) system benchmark.

[Brawler]

3dmark06 has a seperate CPU test which kills just about any CPU.

I get 4364 on 3dmark06.
http://img473.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3dmark20065oq.jpg
I havent had time to do any real tweaks or anything, let alone overclock but will get to that.

[StaticS]

Dam brawler!!!!!! Thats one FRIKKING FRIKKING NICE COMP!!!! Must of cost u an arm and a leg ! literally!!:bow:

[doobiwan]

:woot: a tweak here, a nitrocooller there, and I can squeeze 1024 in 3DMark '06 :p

[rainy]

Dam brawler!!!!!! Thats one FRIKKING FRIKKING NICE COMP!!!! Must of cost u an arm and a leg ! literally!!:bow:

http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20010515

BTW, the CPU test is fucking bull. According to 3DMark06 there is no difference in performance between my old Celeron 2.4 and the Sempron 3000+.

Test result: 1333 points. Again just slightly more than with the old CPU...