If you are a PC gamer or enthusiast, you may have heard of 3DMark, the popular benchmarking tool that tests the performance of your graphics card and CPU. 3DMark has been around since 1998, and it has been updated regularly with new tests and features to keep up with the latest technologies and trends in PC gaming.
One of the most recent additions to 3DMark is Port Royal, the world's first real-time ray tracing benchmark for gamers. Ray tracing is a rendering technique that simulates the way light behaves in the real world, creating realistic reflections, shadows, and lighting effects. Ray tracing can make games look more immersive and lifelike, but it also requires a lot of computing power.
Port Royal was released in January 2019 as an optional upgrade for people who bought 3DMark before that date. If you bought 3DMark after January 8, 2019, you already have Port Royal included in your purchase. Port Royal is also available as part of the 3DMark + PCMark 10 + VRMark bundle, which gives you access to all the benchmarks and tests in 3DMark, PCMark 10, and VRMark.
Port Royal is a benchmark that measures how well your PC handles ray tracing effects in real-time. It uses Microsoft DirectX Raytracing (DXR), a graphics API that enables developers to add ray tracing to their games. Port Royal is designed to test graphics cards that support DXR, such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX and AMD Radeon RX 6000 series cards.
Port Royal runs a short scene that features a futuristic city with ray-traced reflections, shadows, and ambient occlusion. The benchmark reports your average frame rate and a score that reflects your PC's performance. You can compare your score with other users on the 3DMark website or on Steam Leaderboards. You can also use Port Royal to see how overclocking affects your ray-tracing performance.
In addition to the Port Royal benchmark, the upgrade also includes several feature tests that let you explore different aspects of ray tracing and other technologies. These are:
If you bought 3DMark before January 8, 2019, you can get Port Royal as an upgrade for $2.99 from UL or Steam . If you bought 3DMark after that date, you already have Port Royal included in your purchase. You can also get Port Royal as part of the 3DMark + PCMark 10 + VRMark bundle for $59.47 from UL or Steam .
To run Port Royal, you need a PC with Windows 10 October 2018 Update or later and a graphics card with drivers that support DirectX Raytracing. You can check the system requirements for Port Royal on the UL website.
Port Royal is a great way to test and compare the ray-tracing performance of your PC and graphics card. It also lets you explore different aspects of ray tracing and other technologies with its feature tests. If you are interested in ray tracing and want to see how it affects your gaming experience, you should definitely check out Port Royal.
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