Video of the new 3DMark tech demo now available

First video showcasing the upcoming 3DMark is out now in glorious 1080p. This is a slightly more polished version of the same scene that was shown on MSI stand at Computex 2012.

YouTube:

Official PR: http://www.futuremark.com/pressroom/pressreleases/60924/

HELSINKI, FINLAND – June 21, 2012 – Futuremark® today released its first trailer for the next version of 3DMark®. Designed for measuring the gaming performance of everything from tablets and notebooks to high-end desktop gaming systems, the next 3DMark for Windows will be the world's first unified graphics benchmark allowing testing of DirectX 9, DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 capable hardware through the DirectX 11 API. Expected to be released after the launch of Windows 8, this new 3DMark will also be compatible with Windows 7 and Windows Vista. The new trailer provides a preview of the DirectX 11 test and is now available online and in high definition for the first time at http://www.3dmark.com

FAQ - the new 3DMark trailer

Q: Wasn't this called "3DMark for Windows 8"?

A: Yes, when we first announced this new benchmark it had the working title of 3DMark for Windows 8. Now that we are further along in development we are happy to confirm that the benchmark will also be compatible with Windows 7 and Windows Vista. We are now referring to it as 3DMark for Windows, or simply the next 3DMark, though these are also working titles.

Q: So it isn't just for Windows 8?

A: Correct. While we aim for it to be the comprehensive gamer's benchmark for systems running Windows 8, it will also be compatible with Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

Q: The tech demo video shows DirectX 11 graphics. What happened to DirectX 11.1?

A: We may include DirectX 11.1 features in the benchmark if they prove relevant for measuring graphics performance, but the tech demo shown in the trailer is based on DirectX 11 features.

Q: So how will this highly complex test run on DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 hardware, as mentioned in the press release?

A: The demo shown in the video is part of the DirectX 11 level test. There will be other tests and scenes to measure the performance of DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 capable hardware.

Q: Wouldn't that imply that part of the benchmark could run on Windows XP?

A: No. The new 3DMark will use the DirectX 11 API, but that API can be used to target older hardware as well. If you want the technical details, you can look at Microsoft's documentation pertaining to Direct3D feature levels:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ff476876%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

Q: So DirectX 11 API and Vista or later operating system will be required but part of the benchmark could be run on very old graphics cards, something like GeForce 7900 GT for example?

A: We have not yet finalized the minimum hardware requirements but, in general, you are correct. Even DirectX 9 and 10 level hardware will be able to get a benchmark score.

Q: The press release states that this 3DMark will be able to benchmark everything from tablets to high end desktops. So it will be compatible with the new Microsoft Surface tablets and will it also run on Windows RT (on ARM-based tablets)?

A: The new 3DMark supports both x86 and ARM-based architectures and can be used in both the Metro UI and 'classic' Windows environments. Since Microsoft have not released full technical specs for their new Surface tablets we are not able to comment further on how 3DMark can be used on those devices.

Do you plan to include any GPGPU test, for example OpenCL? If so, will you include it in the scoring formula?

Do you plan to include any GPGPU test, for example OpenCL? If so, will you include it in the scoring formula?

Sorry, we haven't announced exact tests that will be included yet (and the main reason is that they are not all 100% firmly locked in yet). 3DMark 11 has one (partially) based on DirectCompute (combined test) and it does influence overall score there.