The Futuremark 3DMark 11 Advanced Edition Experience / Review

Futuremark just launced 3DMark 11 today and we’re finally able to talk about it since the embargo on review coverage has been lifted. 😀

Anyway before I go into the software, I must say that it’s been a really long time since I started using Futuremark. When? I started with 3DMark99 …… Ironically it’s now 11, a smaller number. 😀 I think the most memorable 3Dmark would be 3DMark2001 with The Matrix like scene.

So from 1998 (yes, 3DMark99 was released in 98, just as how 3DMark11 is now released in 10) until now, that’s more than a decade with Futuremark. 😀 Glad to finally also being recognized by Futuremark too.

Now on with the review. Let’s start off with some images from the DEMO.

Looks great huh? On Vantage we had Sapphire, now on 11 we have MSI and Antec. 🙂 By the way, the above are 2 graphic demos. The 2nd demo was choppy even on my GTX470 with AMD X3 425 @ 3.7ghz and 4GB RAM.

For the interface on 3DMark 11 AE, we have the BASIC and ADVANCED settings. I prefer to use the BASIC settings as they are standardized and makes comparisons easier.

Those intending to go into finer details of benchmarking can opt for the Advanced options.

Benchmarks

I’ve tested the 3D Mark 11 using Basic settings at 720p (I’m not using a 1080p monitor). I’ve decided to test the software on both stock and overclocked state of my processor, that means 2.7 Ghz vs 3.6 Ghz.

*There’s no typo in the above SCORE column. It’s a direct copy and paste from the results, no space between words.

The bottleneck part holds true, especially on higher performance graphic cards. It’s just like the results in the bottleneck test

As you can see, The scores were greatly affected by than 0.9 Ghz difference. The greatest difference is seen on the Physics score while the Graphics score shows much less variance.

Conclusion

Bye bye Vantage. 😛 I like 11. Download your copy here.

By the way, check out the 3DMark 11 Launch OC Challenge

When I told my friends I am testing out the 3D Mark 11, some thought it was a new camera! 😛 Notice how “3D Mark 11” does look very similar to “5D Mark II”?