Futuremark Synthetic 3D Benchmarks

These synthetic 3D benchmarks from Futuremark allow you to evaluate the expected performance of a system with different generation games. As each 3DMark uses different feature and quality settings, it allows you to get an idea of how a video card will perform in games. But be aware that since Futuremark takes DirectX guide lines to build their stress tests with all features available, performance can differ from real world games when those games don’t fully support/implement all DX features. So take these results with a grain of salt, and always compare them to our game benchmarks.



Let’s start with the most taxing 3DMark of them all, 3DMark06. Default settings are 1280x1024 resolution Anisotropic Filtering enabled, in short: all but the highest end VGA cards can run this benchmark fluently.



This benchmark makes heavy uses of Shader for graphical effects; the 8600 GT cards with their dedicated Shaders really excel here, the older 7600 GT units trail behind. The higher clocked DDR3 memory on the Sparkle card puts in front of the Club 3D which has 512Mb DDR2 onboard but clocked lower at 500Mhz .

Onto the 3DMark05 benchmark which also features a lot Shader heavy sessions, but runs at a lower resolution of 1024x768 with AA/AF and no HDR effects.



The 3D05 benchmark has the Club 3D in front, repeating the benchmark did not change the result, the extra memory on the card has a positive effect here.

Next up is the 3DMark03 benchmark, no more heavy Shader action here, time for the 7600 GT to shine?



The 7600 GT is able to best both other cards here with a nice margin, the Club 3D trails the Sparkle by a few %.

Last one is the now very old 3DMark2001SE DX8.1 benchmark:



The Sparkle and XFX are tied here, with the Club 3D not far behind; let’s if this situation changes when we run through our game tests ->