3DMark 06 Benchmark Results

3DMark is a computer benchmark by Futuremark (formerly named Mad Onion) to determine the DirectX 9 performance of 3D game performance with graphics cards. 3DMark06 uses advanced real-time 3D game workloads to measure PC performance using a suite of DirectX 9 3D graphics tests, CPU tests, and 3D feature tests.

3DMark06 tests include all new HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, SM2.0 graphics tests, AI and physics driven single and multiple cores or processor CPU tests and a collection of comprehensive feature tests to reliably measure next generation gaming performance today. Some enthusiasts may note that Benchmark Reviews does not include CPU-bound tests in our benchmark battery, and that only graphic-bound tests are included.

Here at Benchmark Reviews, we believe that synthetic benchmark tools are just as valuable as video games, but only so long as you're comparing apples to apples. Since the same test is applied in the same controlled method with each test run, I believe 3DMark is a very reliable tool for comparing graphic cards against one-another.

More visitors to Benchmark Reviews operate at 1280x1024 resolution than any other, as it represents the native resolution of 19" LCD monitors. Using this resolution as a starting point, the maximum settings were applied to 3dMark06 which for these tests include 8x Anti-Aliasing and 16x Anisotropic Filtering. Low-resolution testing allows the graphics processor to plateau maximum output performance, which thereby shifts demand onto the system components to keep up. At the lower resolutions 3DMark will reflect the GPU's top-end speed in the composite score, indicating full-throttle performance with little load. This makes for a less GPU-dependant test environment, and is helpful in measuring the maximum output performance in the test results.

Our 3dMark06 results indicate that the Palit GeForce 9800 GT Super+ 1GB performs slightly behind the Radeon HD 4850, and slightly ahead of the Palit GeForce 9600 GT 1GB Sonic NE/960TSX0202 in shader model 2.0 results.

Going into the shader model 3.0 results at 1920x1200, the Palit GeForce 9800 GT Super+ performs much closer to the 9600 GT Sonic than the Radeon HD 4850. The 4850 actually performs slightly ahead of the Foxconn GeForce 9800 GTX OC, while nothing in the group could compare with the Sapphire Radeon HD 4870.

In our next few tests, we compare performance results in Half-Life 2 and Forged Alliance.

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