14 DAY TRIAL // Futuremark is working to add a new benchmark for gaming laptops and mid-range PCs to its flagship 3DMark solution in order to help customers determine the performance of DirectX 11 hardware.
The software company said in a short update on its website that the new benchmark, which is going to be called Sky Diver, is likely to be launched “soon” and will be offered as a free update to all those running 3DMark right now, regardless of whether they are running a free or a paid version.
“3DMark Sky Diver is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming laptops and mid-range PCs. Use 3DMark Sky Diver to benchmark systems with mainstream graphics cards, mobile GPUs, or integrated graphics. It is especially suitable for DirectX 11 systems that cannot achieve more than single-digit frame rates in the more demanding Fire Strike test. Sky Diver is only available in the Windows editions at this time,” Futuremark explained.
The new Sky Diver test is a DirectX benchmark for mainstream PCs, the company said, and includes graphics, physics, and combined tests to determine the performance of your hardware. It includes what Futuremark calls a “breathtaking demo” with an original soundtrack.
As mentioned, the new benchmark will be delivered to computers running 3DMark right now as a free update, no matter if they have the free or the paid product.
As far as Windows is concerned, 3DMark is available in the three different versions, namely Basic Edition, Advanced Edition, and Professional Edition.
As Futuremark states on its website, the freeware version includes Fire Strike, Cloud Game, and Ice Storm tests, and allow users to determine the performance of basically everything from tablets to gaming PCs. You can compare scores across a number of platforms, including Windows, Android, or iOS.
The Advanced Edition, on the other hand, comes with a number of advantages, including the Fire Strike Extreme test that's specifically aimed at multi-GPU systems. You can also test tablets with Ice Storm Extreme and Unlimited and use benchmark looping for stability purposes. In-depth interactive performance graphs are also being offered for this particular version which costs $24.95 (€18.5).
The Professional Edition is what Futuremark calls “the industry standard” and is licensed for business use. It features command line automation, an image quality tool, private offline results option, settings to export results to XML format and priority customer support. Pricing is a little bit surprising, with one license available for $995 (€730).
