3DMark06 offers some updated VGA tests... but the major change between this and older versions is the inclusion of the CPU score into the total score calculation. Released in early 2006, the CPU was still playing a major role in gaming performance. With Intel Netburst vs AMD Athlon K8 series going strong, having a fast CPU was crucial to get playable frame rates in games. 3DMark06 offered some indication of gaming performance... up until a few months later Intel released the Core 2 Duo. With that release the CPU was almost removed from the "performance" equation when it came down to gaming.

So now using Core i7 running at 3.2Ghz scores massively in the 3D06 CPU benchmark, skewing the overall score, despite the fact that in games we don't see the same happening, as games rely a lot more on the video card speed.