The new mark includes three different tests, each designed for a specific type of hardware ranging from mobile devices to high-performance gaming PCs. Unlike previous versions, the new 3DMark does not offer an overall score but rather focuses on individual scores for each test in order to make the results as comparable as possible.
The Ice Storm test is aimed at mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, ultra-portable notebooks or entry-level PCs and includes two graphics test that focus on GPU performance and a physics test for CPU performance. On Windows it uses DirectX 11 engine limited to Direct3D feature level 9 making it ideal for all DirectX 9 compatible devices while other version like Android and iOS, will use OpenGL ES 2.0.
Cloud Gate is aimed at notebooks and typical and mainstream home PCs. It also includes two graphics tests and a physics test. It uses DirectX 11 engine limited to Direct3D level 10 in order to pull a maximum from that DirectX 10 capable hardware and will be initially limited to the Windows version of the 3DMark.
Last but not the least is the Fire Strike test, a full DirectX 11 benchmark aimed to make those high-performance PCs to cry. Futuremark call it their "most ambitious and technical benchmark ever", featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. 3DMark Advanced and Professional Editions will also include an additional Extreme preset for high-end systems with multiple GPUs and Fire Strike will also be available only in the Windows version initially.
As always, the 3DMark will be available in three Editions, Basic, Advanced and Professional Edition. The Basic one will be free and include all three tests (except the Extreme preset for Fire Strike of course) and will be able to test everything from tablets to gaming PCs. It will be connected with a free online account in case you want to manage your results.
The 3DMark Advanced Edition will be sold for US $24.95 and will be able to run each test individually, have that Extreme Preset in the Fire Strike benchmark, custom settings, benchmark looping for stability testing, interactive peformance graphs and an ability to save your results offline. The 3DMark Professional Edition is aimed for business and commercial use and will, of course, feature all the goodies from the Advanced Edition as well a command line automation, image quality tool, privat offline results option and ability to export the results as XML. It will be sold for US $995.
To celebrate the launch of the new 3DMark, Futuremark also prepared a couple of special offers that include 25 percent off deal for those that already own 3DMark 11 Advanced Edition at the Futuremark store and a 25% off deal for the Advanced Edition on Steam for the first week only. The new 3DMark will also be available as a bundle with selected MSI brand motherboards and video cards as well as some Galaxy Brand components.
Source: Fudzilla | 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark Reviewed