3DMark - Versions

Versions

Version Description Released Operating System DirectX API Status
3DMark99 The first 3DMark was one of the first 3D benchmarks to be aimed directly at the 3D gaming community, rather offering a generic overview of a PC's capabilities. The graphics tests use an early version of Remedy Entertainment's MAX-FX engine, which was later used in the game Max Payne. October 26, 1998 Windows 95
Windows 98		 DirectX 6.0 Discontinued after the release of 3DMark99 MAX
3DMark99 MAX 3DMark99 MAX is a content update to 3DMark99. March 8, 1999 Windows 95
Windows 98		 DirectX 6.1 Unsupported
3DMark2000 The second generation 3DMark, making use of key features from DirectX 7 (such as hardware accelerated transform and lighting).

The east and west are inverted in the games tests.

December 6, 1999 Windows 98 DirectX 7 Unsupported
3DMark2001 The third generation 3DMark and the first 3D benchmark that supports DirectX 8, using key features such as vertex and pixel shaders, and point sprites. March 13, 2001 Windows 98
Windows 98 SE
Windows Millennium
Windows 2000
Windows XP		 DirectX 8.0 Discontinued after the release of 3DMark2001 SE
3DMark2001 SE 3DMark2001 Second Edition is an updated version of the third generation 3DMark2001 (the core benchmark tests are as in 3DMark2001, but there is an additional Feature test and broader hardware support). 3DMark2001 SE is the last version of 3DMark to use the MAX-FX engine. February 12, 2002 Windows 98
Windows 98 SE
Windows Millennium
Windows 2000
Windows XP		 DirectX 8.1 Unsupported
3DMark03 The fourth generation 3DMark. It is the first version that supports Microsoft DirectX 9.0 and introduces several new features. The graphics tests cover a range of rendering techniques and DirectX 9 features, expanding on a similar system used in 3DMark2001. 3DMark03 does not use a 3rd party engine for any of the tests; light DirectX wrappers are used instead.

The final score is a weighted sum of the game tests. The results of CPU and other tests are not taken into account.

As a complete package, 3DMark03 consists of:

  • 4 game tests:
    • GT1: Wings of Fury - SM1.1 vertex shaders are used alongside fixed function pixel processing.
    • GT2: Battle of Proxycon - SM1.1 vertex shaders / SM1.4 or 1.1 pixel shaders / stencil shadows
    • GT3: Trolls' Lair - SM1.1 vertex shaders / SM1.4 or 1.1 pixel shaders / stencil shadows
    • GT4: Mother Nature - SM1.x and SM2.0 vertex and pixel shaders
  • 2 CPU tests - low resolution versions of GT1 and GT3, using software vertex shaders to provide the CPU load
  • 4 Feature tests:
    • Single and multi-texturing fill rate - fixed function rendering
    • Vertex shader - SM1.1 vertex and pixel shaders
    • Pixel shader 2.0 - procedural texturing
    • Ragtroll - ragdoll physics and SM1.1 rendering
  • Sound tests - a sequence of graphics tests that uses 0, 24 and 60 sound sources
 February 11, 2003 Windows 98
Windows 98 SE
Windows Millennium
Windows 2000
Windows XP		 DirectX 9.0 Partially Supported
3DMark05 The fifth generation 3DMark. Like 3DMark03, it is based on DirectX 9 but all of the graphics tests require a minimum hardware support of Shader Model 2.0. While the tests only make use of Shader Model 2.0, by default the highest compilation profile supported by the hardware is used, including 3.0.

The final score is an a geometric mean weighting the game tests equally. The CPU results are not taken into account.

In the free version only the part 1, "Return to Proxycon", of the demo is shown now.

 September 29, 2004 Windows 2000
Windows XP (SP2)		 DirectX 9.0(c) Partially Supported
3DMark06 The sixth generation 3DMark. The three game tests, renamed "graphics tests", from 3DMark05 were carried over and updated, and a fourth new test "Deep Freeze" was added.

The scoring formula was changed to incorporate CPU tests results: "For the first time in its history, the CPU result affects the final 3DMark score. This was done due to the fact that there are more and more games using complex AI algorithms and complex physics calculations."

Some of the graphics tests have the following features:

  • HDR rendering
  • Shadow mapping is used for all objects (specifically cascaded shadow mapping, with the depth textures filtered via hardware PCF)
  • Water surfaces are created using pixel shaders with HDR refraction, HDR reflection, depth fog and Gerstner wave functions
  • Atmospheric effects are generated via the use of heterogeneous fog, light scattering and cloud blending
  • Material surfaces use either Blinn-Phong shading model or Strauss lighting model and subsurface scattering in some cases

The CPU tests in 3DMark06 are different to those found in previous 3DMark versions - instead of using software vertex shading to provide the CPU workload, path-finding, physics and engine routines are used instead, across multiple threads.

The free version only show the part 1, "Return to Proxycon", of the demo.

January 18, 2006 Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8		 DirectX 9.0c Supported
3DMark Vantage Futuremark released 3DMark Vantage on April 28, 2008. It is a benchmark based upon DirectX 10, and therefore will only run under Windows Vista (Service Pack 1 is stated as a requirement) and Windows 7. Unlike all of the previous versions there is no more demo mode in 3DMark Vantage.

Initially the 3DMark Vantage range included a free trial which allowed a single run, the Basic Edition priced at US$6.95 and the Advanced Edition priced at US$19.95. On March 15, 2011 Futuremark released an update for 3DMark Vantage that discontinued the trial edition and made the Basic Edition free to download.

 April 28, 2008 Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows 8		 DirectX 10 Supported
3DMark 11 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. It was released on 7 December 2010. It will install on a system with a DirectX 10.1 (or lower) card, but will not run on it (DirectX 11 hardware is stated as a requirement). Demo mode is back in this version (wasn't included in Vantage). December 7, 2010 Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows 8		 DirectX 11 Supported
3DMark for Windows
(working title)		 Development of a new version of 3DMark for Windows was announced on 14 November 2011. 3DMark for Windows is being designed to enable gaming performance measurement and comparison across all Windows 8 devices from tablets to notebooks to desktops and will support both x86 and ARM-based architectures. In development Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8		 DirectX 11 Supported

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