Futuremark release 3DMark 06

Futuremark has just released a new version of its very popular benchmark program 3DMark. Just as the previous had when it was released this one has demands that are somewhere between staggering and extreme, which is of course a given considering what the software is intended for. We can tell you that Marcus “Kinc” Hultin has already acquired a copy and as  Kingpin recently stole the 3DMark 05 record from him we can look forward to some very interesting results from him both with the old 3DMark 05 and the new 3DMark 06. Some of the news with 3DMark 06 are HDR and Shader Model 3.0 which alrady there excludes a lot of today’s cards . Those of you who are eager to test the new program can download if from our archive.

Cut from Futuremark’s pressrelease:

Key Features 3DMark06 provides a host of standard features. All editions (basic, advanced and professional) include:

* DirectX 9 3D game performance benchmarking,
* Separate tests for graphics cards and CPUs,
* Workloads that simulate next-generation gaming requirements,
* Advanced 3D gaming engine that supports HDR rendering with SM2.0 and SM3.0 Shaders,
* Two HDR/SM3.0 game tests and two SM2.0 game tests,
* Threaded CPU performance testing based on AI and physics workloads applied to a variety of processor environments.

The advanced edition of 3DMark06 has these additional features:

* Full control over benchmark display configuration,
* 3D graphics feature tests that include Fill Rate, Pixel Shader, Vertex Shader, SM3.0 tests, and Batch Size tests,
* Professional tools, including image quality analysis and graph creation of runtime statistics,
* Importing of results from MS Excel for easier result management and report creation, and
* Access to the Pro-Online ResultBrowser,
* Playable mini-game based on CPU test, and
* Full demo.

The professional edition has these exclusive features:

* Command line functionality for test automation,
* Batch-run functionality for automated testing,
* Licensed commercial use of 3DMark06, and
* Demo Loop option.

:: Download 3DMark 06 (576MB)