3Dmark 2008 'Vantage' - to add or not to add

With futuremark releasing 3DMark Vantage today, we finally have a successor to the popular 3Dmark 2006. It looks incredibly smooth and is sure to tax your quad core, three way SLI system, but it does have its downsides.

The free version only allows one single benchmark run, which comes down to being completely useless for an overclocker. The cheap but not free basic version allows you to run vantage unlimited with the "performance" settings. You'll need the professional version to run vantage on all(*) settings. You'll also need Vista, as this benchmark is DirectX10 only.

The definite DirectX10 benchmark will ship in four editions:

 

* Trial (free)

* Basic ($6.95)

* Advanced ($19.95)

* Professional ($495)

 

The Professional version is intended for business and commercial use, while Basic and Advanced are limited to private use. A Free Trial key allows you to test the benchmark with a single run.

 

Full details on the differences between the available versions will be available at launch, but to give a rough idea, Basic (6.95$) version allows you to benchmark as many times as you like with the "Performance" preset, and you get a score with all the ORB features available. Advanced ($19.95) unlocks all four presets, six additional feature tests and allows you to customize all the settings. --- addition: 28/04 - 17:48 GMT+1, the "Advanced" version does not allow you to save your score. So your bench system has to be ONLINE to validate/submit!

One of the requirements a benchmark has to comply with in order to be available in the hwbot suite, is being free of cost, Futuremark has put us in a awkward position. Do we make an exception to our own rules, or do we stick by them and will 3Dmark Vantage be as unpopular as PCMark Vantage? Should we only add the "performance" version, which is affordable in cost and can be run on any pc but does not make full use of your quad core / sli system, or should we also add the high or extreme ranking?

We believe that adding Vantage Performance + Extreme, but not rewarding any points, would be the best solution for now, as we don't want to force people to buy Vista or a benchmark program.

What is your thought?

(*) All settings:

* Entry - 128MB DX10 Video Card and a monitor capable of displaying 1280x1024 resolution

* Performance - 256MB DX10 Video Card and a monitor capable of displaying 1280x1024 resolution

* High - 512MB DX10 Video Card and a monitor capable of displaying 1680x1050 resolution

* Extreme - 512MB DX10 Video Card and a monitor capable of displaying 1920x1200 resolution

I voted performance + without points because:

- Performance will allow more people to bench

- I don't think HWBot should oblige people to spend money on benchmarks to have more points. Let people spend money on hardware instead

I voted for performance with points.

I fully understand your point, but you have to buy a graphics card and the rest of the PC too in order to run any benchmark. With Vantage you have to spend what? 7 usd? That is nothing compared to what even the cheapest system costs. And Vista is as expensive as XP...

I voted for performance with points.

 

I fully understand your point, but you have to buy a graphics card and the rest of the PC too in order to run any benchmark. With Vantage you have to spend what? 7 usd? That is nothing compared to what even the cheapest system costs. And Vista is as expensive as XP...

+1

I voted for performance with points.

 

I fully understand your point, but you have to buy a graphics card and the rest of the PC too in order to run any benchmark. With Vantage you have to spend what? 7 usd? That is nothing compared to what even the cheapest system costs. And Vista is as expensive as XP...

Good point, but we're talking principles here. If 3DMark Vantage is a great succes, what will keep them from charging 15usd for the next 3DMark?

YOu also have to pay for games. I don't understand why you think it is bad. It took them more than 2 years to develope the benchmark which costs a lot of money. Charging 7$ for a key is more than just fair. Just because we were given the benefit of getting the older 3DMarks for free and most other benchmarks are open source makes us rebel about paying for Vantage now.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like spending money too, but thinking about how much time I spent with 3DMarks, even 20 $ are a good invenstment, considering I will use it for at least 2 years.

Add it, and award points.

The preset should be discussed thoroughly though before making a conclusion.

I'm currently finishing the review of Vantage, and I've done & still doing some tests to see what's affecting what in Vantage, which preset is most suitable for what, etc.

I'm testing CPU Cores scalling, RAM Timings & Performance scalling, and more.

Details later on, embargo is still in effect.

-- My vote/s and opinion shall be cast & expressed later on today --

I voted no, for one reason.

3Dmark Vantage!=other 3Dmark

This is not because of the price(7 usd is affordable), this is because 3D mark was utility with only ONE default benchmark and ONE final/total score.That is essence of all 3D mark until now.3D mark Vantage is not like the previous, it is something like baby 3D mark.They at futuremark doesn't have guts to choose one preset as default one(information from the first post), and this looks something like they is not sure about "legality" of the scores achieved by 3D mark Vantage, and that is why they choose presets.

This is my opinion of it, and maybe I'm not right about my last statements, but it looks like that to me.

Maybe timming of this question is not right, because 3D mark Vantage is not out yet.If 3D mark Vantage is widely accepted(not like PC mark Vantage) and if scores achieved by it is valid than you can choose to add all presets to make HWbot points.

add all three catagories. the more benches the better, The cost issue is negligible and shouldn't affect whether or not it is used as a tool to test performance. People already spend hundreds of times that much on their equipment.

I also feel PC mark Vantage should have points awarded. there is alot of skill and tweaking needed to get to the top.

Vista Only is reason enough for me never to install it.

I voted againt adding it.

And yeah I know dx10 is vista only hence the reason for vantage being Vista only as well.

This is where I draw the line, gfy MS

The performance preset is the default benchmark. The other presets are made for reviews, so you don't have to enabled FSAA, AF, high res by yourself, which makes benching a zillion video cards less time consumpting.

Furthermore Performance is the only mode basic users can see a score, so adding performance and reward points for it would be the only option that makes sense if you want to add Vantage. Without rewarding points, you can as well add all presets, because nobody will care anyway.

I don't understand why you think it is bad.

You just want to post your ST benches! Just playing, I agree with you.

The preset should be discussed thoroughly though before making a conclusion.

I look forward to your review BZ, and I think you make a very good point here. With CFX/quad SLI it seems almost mandatory to make the Extreme preset available, it's the only way to see scaling.

Btw I voted add + hwboints (Performance) and Extreme without hwboints.

Voted performance with boints. This bm is just way too important to leave out.

IMO there should be two ranking categories, one "reasonable" for single cpu socket + single gpu, and the other "extreme" for all the other setups. Otherwise one would prolly need SkullTrail (or sth crazier) for any competitive scores.

Using performance preset for both these categories would be my choice, especially given the screen resolution requirements. Performance preset for the "reasonable" category, and extreme for "extreme" might also do well.

Preformance with points... the rest without points.

PS: with the correct SDK's and Modifications i can run DX10 on XP, so maybe also Vantage

Well how many have monitor capable of 1920x1200 resolution?

Dunno it's even neccesary...

I give my voice to performance with points

CPU Cores Scalling, CPU Frequency Scalling, RAM Performance & Timings scalling, and more charts coming in 57 minutes

Howsabout adding it without points for a while just to see what the uptake is on it. If it looks like a lot of results are being submitted then add the points later.

You can find the charts here:

http://www.benchzone.com/Charts/3D_Mark_Vantage

The review shall be online in 1 hour or so.

Just performance with points...even if I haven't got Vista installed...

Add all 3...no reason not to. $20 for the advanced is not a big deal. The presets are there to shift the bottleneck from CPU to GPU which is a nice touch. Different rigs will do better on different presets, so it makes sense to award points to all 3. It is like running 3 different benchmarks.

The "not forcing people to buy" argument makes absolutely no sense, hwbot does nothing but force people to buy hardware as it is. Scores always take money; that's just a part of life.

Let's then make a new "benchmark" category at hwbot :

everyone goes to their bank

ask the lady to print their bank balance

take a pic

submit and compare

Benchmarks that need you to pay money are simply a "NO!!!!!!" because they put everyone in unfair conditions.

If it continues - then they'll prompt you to throw 25c coin if you want to continue benching (just like in an arcade game machine)

Why not just add the Performance setting? Having 3 WRs for a single 3DMark is kind of strange. Furthermore you need a Full HD monitor to run the Extreme preset.

Btw, I tested about every DX10 video card with Vantage and a lot of CPUs. See the XS news for more info:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=186009

The Advanced is only 19.95 so why not add it its minimal and for the guys who will be posting world records and running skulltrail then the 19.95 is chump change.

its nice and all, but vista only? no thanks, thats not how the target market they are throwing it at works.

It can buy everybody this Benchmark to itself and test his hardware with it. Everybody can compare his results. For what does one need in addition hwbotpoints?