14 DAY TRIAL // The next major iteration of 3DMark, labeled 3DMark 11, is right on track for availability in the third quarter of 2010, Futuremark has confirmed officially. Designed as the next-generation benchmark for real-time 3D graphics, 3DMark 11 is focused on DirectX 11, which Microsoft included by default in Windows 7, but also backported to Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2). The promise from the Helsinki-based developer of the gaming benchmark is that the 3DMark 11 will bring to the table a native DirectX 11 engine tailored on all the modern graphics technologies the Redmond company built by default into Windows 7.
When measuring the performance of DirectX 11 gaming computers, 3DMark 11 will be testing new graphics features including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Futuremark provided a sneak peek at the future of 3DMark, with the release of a trailer from the 3DMark 11 tech demo labeled "Deep Sea." The trailer is available for your viewing pleasure at the bottom of the screen, along with a few screenshots provided by Futuremark.
"For over 10 years 3DMark has shown gamers what to expect from the next generation of real-time 3D graphics," Jukka Mäkinen, Futuremark CEO, noted. "So we are especially excited to announce 3DMark 11 and show the possibilities of DirectX 11 with the release of the Deep Sea trailer."
According to the gaming benchmark vendor, the Deep Sea demonstration is designed to take advantage of the full range of features that DirectX 11 has to offer. In this context, Futuremark revealed that it had leveraged DX11 technologies such as Tessellation, Depth of field, Volumetric lighting, DirectCompute, and Multi-threading. "Volumetric lighting illuminates the seabed with tessellation used to add rich detail to the rock, coral and manmade structures. Post processing delivers depth of field and other lens effects. The music is an original composition," the company explained.
A specific availability deadline for 3DMark 11 wasn’t delivered, with Futuremark only pointing to Q3 2010 for a release date. "3DMark 11 will be offered in a range of editions to meet the different needs of consumers such as gamers and hardware enthusiasts through to commercial business users, test engineers and manufacturers. The cost of each edition will be set individually and these prices will be announced at a later date. A free edition that allows unlimited runs will be available," the company promised.
3DMark 11 Deep Sea Tech Demo Trailer is available for download here.
