Re: Ziff-Davis Benchmarking Operation
KCB
"Ted Jones" <ted....@caffeine.mor.test-labs.net> wrote in message
news:1183987872....@n2g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
Anyone aware of any decent, free video benchmarking utilities
available since the demise of the Ziff-Davis Benchmarking Operation
[ZDBop] ?
Evan Wade
The Video Chipset playing field isn't quite as diverse as it was back in
the old days....
On Mon, 09 Jul 2007 06:31:12 -0700, Ted wrote:
> Anyone aware of any decent, free video benchmarking utilities available
> since the demise of the Ziff-Davis Benchmarking Operation [ZDBop] ?
>
>
>
>
>
> ======
>
> ======
>
>
>
>
> Quick clicks about 3D WinBench 2000
> 3D WinBench 2000 measures a PC's 3D subsystem performance using the
> Direct3D interface. The purpose of 3D WinBench 2000 is to give you a way
> to test hardware graphics adapters, drivers, and the value of such
> enhancing technologies as MMX(TM), 3DNow!(TM), Streaming SIMD Extensions
> (SSE), and hardware accelerated transformation and lighting.
> Here's the least you need to know to get the most out of 3D WinBench
> 2000:
> • 3D WinBench 2000 lets you test hardware graphics adapters, drivers,
> and the value of such enhancing technologies as SSE and 3DNow!. It
> focuses on the 3D operations that you're likely to find in present and
> future games.
> • You must have DirectX(TM) 7 (or later) for 3D WinBench 2000 to
> operate. DirectX 7 operates on Windows 98/98 Second Edition or Windows
> 2000.
> • 3D WinBench 2000 provides two main suites of tests as well as other
> specialty suites you can use when checking specific 3D performance
> issues. In addition, 3D WinBench 2000 provides a number of individual
> tests you can run. (For a complete list of the 3D WinBench 2000 tests,
> see the Select Tests dialog box.)
> • Different tests return different results to help you learn about your
> system's performance. The 3D WinMark 2000 suite returns an overall
> result that summarizes the computer's performance in frames per second.
> The bigger the score, the better the performance. • You can also run
> individual 3D WinMark tests or additional scene tests not included in
> the suite to return a frames per second score. In addition, 3D WinBench
> includes some new features over 3D WinBench 2000 Version 1.0. Related
> topics
> Latest news as of 8/8/2000
> Requirements
> Running a test
> The main 3D WinBench 2000 tests
> License agreement
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> and Verite 2x00(TM) are trademarks of Rendition Incorporated.
> Copyrights
> WinBench 99 Version 1.0 © 1993-1999, Winstone 99 Version 1.0 ©
> 1993-1998, 3D WinBench 99 Version 1.0 © 1997-1999, Audio WinBench
> Version 1.0 © 1998, BatteryMark Version 2.0 © 1997, CD WinBench ©
> 1998-1999, Ziff Davis Media Inc. All rights reserved. PSAPI.DLL ©
> 1997-1996. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Acknowledgments
> Numerous people worked together to create 3D WinBench 2000 version 1.1.
> Members of the primary development team are: Dave Morey, Chief
> Technologist
> Jess Diard, Developer
> Bo Wilson, Developer
> Grady Ormond, Technical Specialist
> L. Louise VanOsdol, Technical Writer
> Thanks goes to NVIDIA and Intel Corporation for providing 3D models used
> in some of the 3D WinMark tests. We appreciate the following vendors who
> generously loaned equipment used during our benchmark testing period:
> 3dfx Interactive, Inc.
> 3Dlabs Inc.
> Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
> Alliance Semiconductor
> ARK Logic, Inc.
> ATI Technologies Inc.
> Chromatic Research, Inc.
> Cirrus Logic, Inc.
> Compaq Computer Corporation
> Creative Labs Technology
> Cyrix Corporation
> Dell Computer Corporation
> Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc.
> ELSA Inc.
> Gateway 2000, Inc.
> Hercules Computer Technology, Inc.
> IBM Corporation
> Intel Corporation
> Leadtek Research Inc.
> Matrox Graphics, Inc.
> Metabyte, Inc.
> Micro-Star International Co., Ltd.
> NEC Electronics, Inc.
> Number Nine
> NVIDIA Corporation
> OAK Technology
> Orchid Technology
> Premio Inc.
> Quantex Microsystems Inc.
> Quantum 3D
> Real 3D, Inc
> Rendition Incorporated
> S3 Incorporated
> Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation Spider Graphics Inc.
> STB Systems Inc.
> Trident Microsystems, Inc.
> VideoLogic Limited
> Additional eTesting Labs staff who helped make 3D WinBench 2000 possible
> are:
> Elizabeth Barnes
> Joe Benardello
> Bill Catchings
> Lee Dorrier
> Jeff Downey
> Jo Drake
> Jennie Faries
> Tom Franz
> Beth Geibig
> Eric Hale
> Laura Higgins
> Peter Howard
> Chadd Hudson
> David Keim
> Libby Keim
> John Knaus
> Scott Lane
> James Lee
> Kasey Lee
> Chris Lemmons
> Nadine Maloney
> Gina Massel-Castater
> Melissa Michael
> Eric Ogburn
> Barry Shelton
> Lew Shiner
> Gary Smith
> Keith Turner
> John Upchurch
> Mark Van Name
> Randi Vieberg
> Allyn Vogel
> James Ward
> Laura H. White
> Jennifer Wollin
> Many people in different units of Ziff Davis Media contributed to the
> design, testing, and production of 3D WinBench 2000. They are: David
> Bardes
> Lulit Bezuayehu
> John Blackford
> Steve Buehler
> Lloyd Case
> Michael Caton
> Peter Coffee
> Rich Fisco
> Giorgio Gobbi
> Laurence Grayson
> Ibrahim Gul
> Edward Henning
> Bob Kane
> Jim Louderback
> Michael Miller
> Mark Mitrani
> Patrick Norton
> Daniel Robinson
> Jeff Sacilotto
> Dave Salvator
> Kai Schmerer
> Christoph Scholze
> Nick Stam
> Kelvyn Taylor
> Jae Yang
> Chris M. Yates
> Purpose of 3D WinBench 2000
> 3D WinBench 2000 is concerned mostly with the 3D that you might find in
> games and less with the 3D you might find in CAD, VRML, or presentation
> applications. 3D WinBench 2000 provides you with objective performance
> scores and measures, such as how quickly an adapter renders a scene. It
> also leaves space for subjective impressions:
> • Is the fogging effect smooth?
> • Are objects rendered with correct perspective effects? • Are textures
> mapped to objects accurately? Game players find these important
> considerations. 3D WinBench 2000 helps you distinguish a superior
> product from its competitors. 3D applications and adapters are a rapidly
> emerging market, and very few applications or adapters exploit all the
> possibilities and options available within Microsoft's Direct3D
> specification. 3D WinBench 2000 aims to measure both the current and the
> future state of hardware 3D accelerator performance.
> The main 3D WinBench 2000 tests
> 3D WinBench 2000 contains numerous suites and tests that help you
> evaluate your PC's 3D performance.
> You can find tables that summarize many of the new features plus various
> complexity measurements of the 3D WinMark tests via the 3D WinBench Web
> site (http://www.3dwinbench.com).
> NOTE: For a complete list of these tests, go to the Select Tests
> dialog box.
> Here are two key tests that you will want to run (in the order that you
> need to run them):
> 1. 3D Quality suite contains 69 tests that measure different Direct3D
> functions. You need to answer Yes or No after each test to indicate
> whether the PC displayed the function correctly. (If you run these tests
> in automated mode, 3D WinBench supplies the answers for you.) These
> tests help the benchmark and you know the hardware's capabilities.
> The Quality tests fall into two groups: 3D Quality/WinMark, which
> includes only those quality features required by the 3D WinMark suite,
> and 3D Quality/Additional, which contains the remaining Quality tests.
> You must run at least the 3D Quality/WinMark group before you can run
> the 3D WinMark suite.
> 2. 3D WinMark suite contains scene tests that vary in both complexity--
> the number of triangles they use to form their images--and the number of
> quality-enhancing options (such as trilinear filtering and specular
> highlights) they employ.
> Each test requires a set of features. Use the Quality tests to see if
> these features have been implemented correctly. If they're not, the test
> won't run. Most of the time, if a test fails because a feature is
> missing, 3D WinBench 2000 does not display an error message. Each test
> flies through a scene using a predefined path and measures the rendering
> speed in frames per second. This suite returns an overall 3D WinMark
> result summarizing the computer's performance. The 3D WinMark result is
> the average of the individual test results. It is reported as a
> frames/second value.
> Running 3D WinBench 2000
> Once you have installed 3D WinBench 2000, you can easily run its tests
> and get results. The key test suite is the 3D WinMark. However, that
> suite requires that you first run the 3D Quality suite. This is an
> overview of a typical test scenario: 1. Start 3D WinBench 2000.
> 2. Run the 3D Quality suite first so 3D WinBench can determine the
> hardware's Direct3D capabilities. You must run the 3D Quality suite (or
> at least the 3D Quality/WinMark suite) before you can run the 3D WinMark
> suite.
> 3. Run the 3D WinMark suite.
> The detailed steps are:
> • Step 1: Start 3D WinBench 2000
> • Step 2: Select a test
> • Step 3: Run the 3D Quality suite
> • Step 4: Run the 3D WinMark
> • Step 5: Save the results
> • Step 6: Compare your results to other PCs' • Step 7: Exit 3D WinBench
> 2000
> To see all of the benchmark's test suites and individual tests, open the
> Select Tests dialog box. In addition to running the suites that come
> with 3D WinBench 2000, you can also create custom test suites that run
> the tests you specify.
> Related topics
> Hardware and software requirements
> Before you run a test
> Test settings
> Results
>
> Hardware and software requirements
> These are the requirements for 3D WinBench 2000: • Microsoft Windows 98,
> Windows 98SE (Second Edition), Windows Me, or Windows 2000 SP1 (or
> later).
> 3D WinBench 2000 will not run on Windows NT 4.0 because that version of
> NT only supports DirectX 3.
> To verify that you have Windows Me, Windows 98, or Windows 98 Second
> Edition installed:
> 1. Right click the My Computer icon on the desktop and select
> Properties.
> 2. Click the General tab. The System information will state the version
> of Windows 98 or Windows Me running on your computer. • A Pentium or
> higher processor.
> • 128MB of RAM. (3D WinBench 2000 will run in less RAM, but it may
> produce invalid results due to paging activity.)
> NOTE: For more details on the memory requirements for 2D and 3D
> applications, see Memory requirements for 3D applications. • 81MB of
> free disk space for installation. An additional 10MB of free disk space
> in order to run the Quality tests. • A VGA graphics adapter supporting a
> resolution of at least 800X600 and at least 16-bit color pixels. We
> recommend a resolution of 1024 x 768 at 75Hz refresh rate. We also
> recommend a frame buffer memory of 8MB or more, although 3D WinBench
> 2000 will run with 4MB.
> NOTE: With certain adapters, you will need to perform some special
> steps.
> • DirectX 7 or greater (available from Microsoft at
> www.microsoft.com/directx).
> NOTE: While you must install DirectX 7 for 3D WinBench 2000 to run,
> it should work fine with most DirectX 6 display drivers. You may want to
> take a look at some additional notes on settings. Baseline features of
> display adapters To run any of the 3D WinMark tests, the display
> adapters must have the following baseline features:
> • Gouraud shading
> • Perspective correction of texture coordinates • Z buffering
> • Modulate texture blending
> • Nearest mipmap linear texture filtering (bilinear mipmapping) • Source
> alpha pixel blending
> Some 3D WinMark 2000 tests require the following features: • Specular
> highlights
> • Add pixel blending
> • Modulate (multiply) pixel blending • Modulate2x (multiply and then
> double) pixel blending • Linear mipmap linear texture filtering
> (trilinear mipmapping) Better performance if adapters support these
> features In addition, you might see better performance from the 3D
> WinMark 2000 tests if the adapters support the following features: •
> V-sync off
> • Palletized textures
> • AGP Execute Mode
> • DXT compressed textures
> • Hardware accelerated transformation and lighting • Single pass
> multitexture support
> Press the Esc key to stop any running test. 3D WinBench then displays
> the Abort/Retry/Ignore dialog box.
> If the adapter is not performing properly during a 3D WinMark
> performance test, press Ctrl + F to automatically fail the test. (To
> fail a test, the test must be running.) 3D WinBench will display a
> dialog box asking you to type an explanation of why you failed the test.
> After you click OK at this dialog, the Abort/Retry/Ignore dialog box is
> displayed.
> Press the Esc key to stop any running test. 3D WinBench then displays
> the Abort/Retry/Ignore dialog box.
> If the adapter is not performing properly during a 3D WinMark
> performance test, press Ctrl + F to automatically fail the test. (To
> fail a test, the test must be running.) 3D WinBench will display a
> dialog box asking you to type an explanation of why you failed the test.
> After you click OK at this dialog, the Abort/Retry/Ignore dialog box is
> displayed.
> The main 3D WinBench 2000 tests
> 3D WinBench 2000 contains numerous suites and tests that help you
> evaluate your PC's 3D performance.
> You can find tables that summarize many of the new features plus various
> complexity measurements of the 3D WinMark tests via the 3D WinBench Web
> site (http://www.3dwinbench.com).
> NOTE: For a complete list of these tests, go to the Select Tests
> dialog box.
> Here are two key tests that you will want to run (in the order that you
> need to run them):
> 1. 3D Quality suite contains 69 tests that measure different Direct3D
> functions. You need to answer Yes or No after each test to indicate
> whether the PC displayed the function correctly. (If you run these tests
> in automated mode, 3D WinBench supplies the answers for you.) These
> tests help the benchmark and you know the hardware's capabilities.
> The Quality tests fall into two groups: 3D Quality/WinMark, which
> includes only those quality features required by the 3D WinMark suite,
> and 3D Quality/Additional, which contains the remaining Quality tests.
> You must run at least the 3D Quality/WinMark group before you can run
> the 3D WinMark suite.
> 2. 3D WinMark suite contains scene tests that vary in both complexity--
> the number of triangles they use to form their images--and the number of
> quality-enhancing options (such as trilinear filtering and specular
> highlights) they employ.
> Each test requires a set of features. Use the Quality tests to see if
> these features have been implemented correctly. If they're not, the test
> won't run. Most of the time, if a test fails because a feature is
> missing, 3D WinBench 2000 does not display an error message. Each test
> flies through a scene using a predefined path and measures the rendering
> speed in frames per second. This suite returns an overall 3D WinMark
> result summarizing the computer's performance. The 3D WinMark result is
> the average of the individual test results. It is reported as a
> frames/second value.
> The latest 3D WinBench 2000 news
> (08/08/00) Changes in Version 1.1
> We describe the changes between Version 1.0 and Version 1.1 below.
> Performance measurements have not changed, so you can compare Version
> 1.0 scores Version 1.1 scores.
> Fewer files installed and less disk space required In Version 1.1, we
> consolidated the thousands of image and scene files installed in the
> \ZDBENCH\3DWB2000 directory into a small number of compressed ZIP files.
> The benchmark decompresses the image and scene files from the ZIP files
> on-the-fly, as needed. User-interface changes
> The user-interface will now remind the tester to reboot before running
> any tests. Various logos and company names have been changed to reflect
> recent reorganizations.
> Sample results
> The Sample 3D.ZTD and Sample 3D CPU.ZTD databases in the \ZDBENCH
> \RESULTS directory contain results from Version 1.0. Spurious queued
> frames warnings
> 3D WinBench 2000 Version 1.0 often reported spurious warnings about
> queued frames. For example:
> At the end of the named test, n frames seemed to be queued for drawing.
> The adapter was t seconds behind the application. For responsive game
> play, display devices should not queue more than two frames of
> information.
> Examine the notes attached to each result to determine if other tests
> also queued too many frames.
> Version 1.1 will only issue the warning when more that 10 frames appear
> to be queued at the end of a test. Status line garbled on Windows 2000
> The status line at the bottom of the quality tests is displayed
> correctly in Version 1.1 when using Windows 2000. Sun is "displaced" in
> Stations scene
> The sun in the Stations scene no longer has a dim "glow" around it in
> Version 1.1.
> Help file problem
> The Table of Contents in the 3D WinBench 2000 Help section, which was
> distributed with the product, no longer states "3D WinBench 3000." It
> now reads "3D WinBench 2000."
> The Compressed Textures quality test (number 59) may fail some
> implementations of DXT texture compression. In Version 1.0 we based the
> good image on the NVIDIA GeForce implementation (which was the only one
> that worked at the time the benchmark was released). The GeForce
> decompression is not completely accurate. Implementations that are
> inaccurate in the opposite direction (as the GeForce) failed to meet the
> automation accuracy requirements when compared to the good image from
> the GeForce. In Version 1.1 we use a good image from an accurate
> decompressor to solve the problem.
> D3DRENDERSTATE_COLORVERTEX is set to TRUE In Version 1.0 the benchmark
> did not change the value of the D3DRENDERSTATE_COLORVERTEX state, which
> defaults to TRUE. An application can use the TRUE state to indicate it
> uses per-vertex colors instead of material colors. However, the
> benchmark does not supply per-vertex colors. The display driver should
> use the material color in this case. The benchmark may confuse some
> drivers by leaving this render state set to TRUE and supplying a vertex
> format that does not have a diffuse color. Version 1.1 sets the state to
> FALSE to avoid any confusion.
> Twelve lights are temporarily enabled in the Lighting quality test
> Version 1.0 inadvertently enabled twelve lights when initializing the
> Lighting quality test (number 56). The enabled lights may cause a
> failure if the tester requests hardware accelerated transformation and
> lighting and the implementation supports fewer than 12 lights. Version
> 1.1 disables all lights as they are created to avoid the problem. Some
> of the performance tests do require up to hardware 8 lights at a time.
> Transformation and Clipping quality test fails on Rage Mobility based
> accelerators
> In Version 1.1. the quality test automation for the Transformation and
> Clipping test (number 55) no longer fails accelerators based on the Rage
> Mobility chipset.
> Transformation and Clipping quality test fails with a General Protection
> Fault under Windows 2000
> The Transformation and Clipping quality test (number 55) no longer fails
> with a General Protection Fault under Windows 2000. Large Textures
> quality test fails with "An exception occurred in BEND3DIM.EXE"
> The Large Textures quality test (number 58) no longer fails with the
> following error:
> An exception occurred in BEND3DIM.EXE. DotProduct3 quality test fails on
> Permedia3 based accelerators In Version 1.1. the quality test automation
> for the DotProduct3 test (number 24) no longer fails accelerators based
> on the Permedia3 chipset when using 32 bit color. The chipset does not
> compute the dot product very accurately in 32 bit color mode. Z
> Comparison and Z Bias tests fails with a GPF when anti-aliasing is
> forced on
> The automation for the Z Comparison and Z Bias quality tests (numbers
> 43-47) no longer fail with a General Protection Fault when anti-
> aliasing is forced on in the newer 3dfx Voodoo5 and NVIDIA GeForce
> drivers. Note that you should not run any 3D WinBench tests with anti-
> aliasing forced on as the automation for some quality tests will be
> confused and return incorrect results. Bump Mapping quality tests do not
> support 32 bit bump texture formats In Version 1.1, The Bump Mapping
> quality tests (number 51) will use a 32 bit bump texture format if
> available. Version 1.0 only used 16 or 24 bit formats. The ATI Radeon
> only supports 16 and 32 bit formats and would not work correctly in
> Version 1.0. Front only render mode with V-sync off fails with a bad
> refresh rate error message
> In Version 1.0, when using the "Front only" render mode with v-sync
> turned off, the benchmark would return an error indicating the refresh
> rate was incorrect. The front buffer/v-sync off combination works in
> Version 1.1."
> (11/04/99) Important new features in this version of 3D WinBench are: a
> choice of whether or not to use hardware accelerated transformation and
> lighting, two new WinMark scenes (Hangar and Speedway), visual and
> audible notifications on the completion of the rendering process, and
> additional Quality tests.
> Here's a summary of what we changed:
> • 3D WinBench 2000 supports hardware accelerated transformation and
> lighting. You can test devices that support this feature with the
> acceleration enabled or disabled.
> • The 3D WinMark is now the average of the results for nine tests. One
> of the tests requires trilinear mipmap filtering while the other eight
> require bilinear mipmap filtering. The nine tests cover a wider range of
> triangle or pixel complexity than tests from last year. • We've added
> new Quality tests to 3D WinBench 2000, bringing us to 69 Quality tests
> in all. The new Quality tests verify correct implementation of the
> following features: stencil buffers, transformation and clipping,
> lighting, anisotropic filtering, environment mapped bump mapping, large
> textures, compressed textures, dotproduct3 texture blending, and partial
> texture downloads. • We've improved the dithering, mipmapping,
> perspective correction, high triangle count, texture swapping,
> anti-aliasing and fog table Quality tests.
> • We've changed the standard out-of-the-box testing mode to 1024 x 768,
> 32 bpp color, 32 bit Z buffer, double buffered with flip and v- sync
> off. The benchmark detects whether your display driver supports v- sync
> off, and verfies that the option works correctly. If the display driver
> does not support v-sync off, use v-sync on and triple buffering.
> • The 3D WinBench 2000 Processor Test suite uses the Null device to run
> the entire 3D WinMark test. The tests use the guard band (which
> Microsoft set to +/- 2048 in DirectX 7) in the Null device. • 3D
> WinBench 2000 now supports DirectX 7 compatible stereo display devices.
> • We've improved the benchmark's texture management, thus eliminating
> the need for a system memory copy of most of the textures. Animated
> textures replace the forced reloading of textures that 3D WinBench 99
> used.
> • Finally, 3D WinBench detects whether the display driver is queuing too
> many frames of data. In order to remain responsive in actual games, the
> driver should not queue more than two or three frames of data.
> We've made the following improvements to the Test Settings menu: • We
> split the the 3D tab into two tabs (3D and Mode) to make room for more
> controls.
> • The new Capabilities (formerly the D3D HAL Problems) tab now lists
> capabilities for the device you've currently selected, instead of always
> displaying the capabilities for the HAL device. • The 3D tab sports a
> new slider bar that makes it easy to select a speed for the Quality Test
> Automation. In full automation, you'll have only 1 second to accept or
> reject the automated verdict. The slide bar allows you to vary length of
> the pause. The range is from Full to Manual.
> • Additional controls determine whether the benchmark should use v-
> sync, hardware accelerated transformation and lighting, and stereo
> display modes. You also have the option to set an audible alarm when the
> benchmark starts and stops its performance timers.
>
> Previous versions of 3D WinBench:
> 3D WinBench 99 Version 1.0 includes two upgrades: Version 1.2 and
> Version 1.1. These new versions include some enhancements and several
> bug fixes. In both versions, the changes affect at least some of the
> scores. As a result, we recommend you only compare scores from the same
> version of 3D WinBench.
> You can easily check out the changes in each version of 3D WinBench 99:
> • What's changed in Version 1.2 of 3D WinBench 99 (Release date: May
> 1999)
> • What's changed in Version 1.1 of 3D WinBench 99 (Release date: January
> 1999)
> • What's new in Version 1.0 of 3D WinBench 99 (Release date: November
> 1998)
> If you're having a problem, you might check out troubleshooting
> information.
>
> What's changed in Version 1.2 of 3D WinBench 99 (5/3/99) The primary
> changes in Version 1.2 affect the 3D Processing test scores and any test
> runs involving the Null device. (The 3D Processing tests render the same
> Chapel scene used in the fourth 3D WinMark test with the Null device.)
> Because the changes in Version 1.2 have a dramatic effect on the
> relative performance of various CPU architectures, you should not
> compare your scores between Version 1.2 and Version 1.1. We believe the
> Version 1.2 results are a better reflection of the performance
> differences than Version 1.1.
> These changes do not have a significant impact on the 3D WinMark 99
> scores for a graphics accelerator when using recent fast CPUs and the
> standard testing resolution of 1024 x 768. However, the 3D WinMark 99
> scores for Version 1.2 are generally higher than the 1.1 scores when
> using slower CPUs with faster graphics accelerators. Here's a summary of
> what we changed in Version 1.2. • Version 1.2 uses a different method to
> draw the status information triangles (the alpha blended text and
> logos). This change eliminates the need for Direct3D to check the
> triangles for clipping against the screen edge. In Version 1.1, Direct3D
> had to check to see if any of the triangles in the status information
> intersected the screen edges multiple times for each frame.
> • When running a test that uses the Null device, Version 1.2 disables
> the large guard band of +/- 32768 that the Null device exposes. Current
> hardware does not expose a guard band, except for the NVIDIA RIVA TNT.
> It exposes a guard band of +/- 2048. • Version 1.2 contains new object
> bounding box code that is more efficient than the code in Version 1.1.
> Version 1.1 used the Direct3D TransformVertices function to perform the
> bounding box check. It did not take the guard band, if any, into
> account. Version 1.2 uses an optimized matrix multiply with early
> detection of z and y axis rejections. Version 1.2 also uses the guard
> band (except when using the Null device). 3D WinBench determines object
> rejections using the viewing frustum. Version 1.2 determines the need
> for object clipping using the guard band frustum. Only objects that
> cross both the guard band and viewing frustum extents are marked for
> potential clipping. • We shrank the bounding boxes for some objects in
> the Chapel scene (this scene is used by the 3D Processing tests). Some
> of the bounding boxes in Version 1.1 were larger than they could have
> been. • We also made a small change in the 3D Quality test automation.
> The Source Alpha Pixel Blend and Alpha Transparency quality test
> automation now accepts the ARK Logic ARK8100 or ARK8800 chipset.
>
>
> What's changed in Version 1.1 of 3D WinBench 99 (1/29/99) Version 1.1
> includes two changes that affect the scores of 3dfx Voodoo2-based
> adapters when you use 3dfx's new DirectX 6 drivers. These changes do not
> affect the scores for other adapters. Here's a summary of what changed
> in Version 1.1. • The Voodoo2 adapter now creates the background for the
> StationsB2 and StationsB3 scenes in a single pass instead of two passes.
> The fifth, sixth, and eighth 3D WinMark 99 tests use multitexture
> operations to create composite backgrounds for these scenes. We intended
> for these tests to take advantage of the Voodoo2's two texture units.
> However, we coded the operation incorrectly and inadvertently forced the
> Voodoo2 to make two passes to create the composite background. Because
> 3dfx did not have multitexturing DirectX 6 drivers available for us to
> use at the time we created the test, we didn't catch this bug. We have
> fixed this problem in Version 1.1. (This change also affects adapters
> based on the soon-to-be-released Voodoo3 chipset.)
> • We've changed the locking procedure for the tests to support the
> Voodoo2's locking rules and penalize the adapter by the amount of time
> it takes to do one refresh if the first lock of the back buffer does not
> work. While the Voodoo2 supports triple buffering with a Z buffer, it
> does not support buffer locks on all three of its frame buffers. It
> can't lock the third buffer that an application allocates, nor can it
> lock the buffer that is not currently the front or the back buffer. 3D
> WinBench Version 1.0 locked all three frame buffers at the end of each
> test to ensure that the adapter had drawn all triangles before the
> benchmark stopped timing the test. We changed Version 1.1 to lock only
> the back buffer. If the adapter fails to lock the back buffer, the test
> performs another flip and tries again. Applications need to lock the
> frame buffer when they want to read it back. Typically this is only done
> for screen captures.
> Bug fixes in Version 1.1
> • If the Source Alpha Pixel Blending quality test fails, or if your
> adapter does not support source alpha pixel blending, you won't be able
> to run any of the 3D WinMark 99 tests and the 3D WinMark test score will
> be zero. Previously, up to three tests might have run. • 3D WinBench 99
> now displays an explanatory message if you run a 3D Scene/User Defined
> test without first specifying the name of the .SDL file containing the
> scene you want the test to use. You select this file at the User Scene
> tab of the Test Settings dialog box. • We've fixed some minor bugs in
> the 3D WinBench-specific user interface, such as the tab order of the
> controls in the Quality test dialog box.
> • We corrected the spelling of "Nearest" in the name of two of the tests
> in the Filter performance test suite (we had "Neareast" in Version 1.0).
> Quality test improvements in Version 1.1 • The Mipmap LOD Bias quality
> test automation now works correctly on adapters that have lower mipmap
> levels than those found in the good image.
> • The Dithering test no longer fails an adapter running in true-color
> mode (34 or 32 bits per pixel), as long as the adapter renders the
> colors requested.
> • The Z Accuracy Gauge quality test now works on chipsets that perform
> highly accurate triangle rasterization. • Version 1.1 includes a new
> Perspective Correct Fog quality test, which verifies that the adapter
> interpolates per vertex fog values in a perspective-correct manner
> across a triangle. • The Version 1.1 mipmap quality test automation
> works better than the Version 1.0 automation on cards that always dither
> colors, even when the application has turned the render state off. In
> addition, we have updated the checks for correct mipmap level changes to
> reflect OpenGL's limits (Direct3D is silent on this matter). We also
> include new good images for the mipmap tests that use OpenGL's preferred
> mipmap level calculation.
> • The Z Bias quality test automation now works no matter what triangle
> rasterization rules the adapter uses. Remember, 3D WinBench 99 allows
> quality test images to be off in their triangle rasterization by a
> single pixel (except on the Triangle Rasterization quality test itself).
> In Version 1.0, the Z Bias quality test failed images that were off by
> single pixel; in Version 1.1 this test passes those same images.
> • Version 1.1 has an additional bad image for the Texture Fidelity
> quality test that illustrates the effect of S3 texture compression. We
> designed this test to find out if an adapter compresses textures in a
> lossy manner without a specific request to do so. • The Quality Test
> wizard now includes a control that tells you both the color (in R, G,
> and B values) of the image pixel currently under your cursor and its
> location (in x and y values). This information can be very useful when
> comparing good and bad images or difference images. It lets you quantify
> exactly how much an image varies from the correct instance.
> General improvements in Version 1.1
> • Version 1.1 includes an updated database of sample results (Sample
> 3D.ZTD). We've added results for a Voodoo2 SLI configuration with beta
> DX6 drivers. These results are only reference points. The best source of
> official results continues to be the Ziff Davis Media publications.
> • In the 3D Scene/User Defined test, 3D WinBench 99 now uses DirectX 6's
> three filtering modes: magnification, "minification," and mipmap texture
> filtering. Each of these modes offers three value settings, for a total
> of 27 different value combinations. The magnification and minification
> modes support the anisotropic setting. Version 1.0 used DirectX 5's
> single filtering mode (with its total of six values) in the 3D
> Scene/User Defined test. You select the settings you want at the User
> Scene tab in the Test Settings dialog box. NOTE: We have not found any
> hardware that performs anisotropic filtering correctly at the time of
> this release. The Reference Rasterizer in DirectX 6, a software emulator
> that you can use in place of HAL to run the benchmark, does support
> anisotropic filtering. • Version 1.1 now identifies the correct display
> adapter when you have a PowerVR PCX2-based adapter installed, but
> disabled. The PCX2 is an add-on card that draws into the frame buffer of
> a host adapter. In Version 1.1, if you disable the PCX2, you'll see the
> host adapter's name in the 3D tab of the Test Settings dialog box; in
> Version 1.0 the panel said "PCX2." In addition, 3D WinBench 99 now saves
> the quality test results under the name of the host graphics adapter. In
> Version 1.0, it would save them under PCX2, even if you'd disabled that
> adapter.
> • If you run 3D WinMark 99 tests using the quality mode, the benchmark
> now displays the number of triangles it sends to Direct3D (in thousands
> of triangles per second, or KTPS). Keep in mind that this is the number
> of triangles the test sends, not necessarily the number the adapter
> displays.
> • The Restore Defaults dialog box (which you get to from the 3D tab of
> the Test Settings dialog box) now includes instructions for DirectX 5
> and DirectX 6 Voodoo2 drivers as well as PowerVR PCX2 adapters.
> Improvements common to all the PC benchmarks All the PC benchmarks use a
> common user interface (UI), which includes the PC Benchmarks Results
> Viewer. When you install a new version of a benchmark, such as Version
> 1.1 of 3D WinBench 99, you're also installing the common UI. This
> version of the UI replaces the existing version. So you'll benefit from
> these UI updates even if you're also running Version 1.0 of one of the
> other PC benchmarks, such as Audio WinBench 99 or Winstone 99. Here are
> the common changes to the benchmarks that take effect in Version 1.1: •
> The PC Benchmark Results Viewer now opens read-only files. • The PC
> Benchmark Results Viewer lets you open a database file with spaces in
> its name by double-clicking on the name. Previously, you had to open any
> file name containing spaces from within the viewer. • Double quotes in
> the comment field of a results database file no longer cause problems.
> Before, the viewer corrupted any file that contained double quotes in
> that field. • The graphics test screens now display on top of the main
> benchmark window when you run 3D WinBench 99 on Windows NT 2000.
>
> What's new in Version 1.0 of 3D WinBench 99 You'll find a number of
> changes in 3D WinBench 99 that will improve your testing and save you
> time. Here are the highlights of 3D WinBench 99's new features.
> • Automated quality tests. With these tests, you can specify that 3D
> WinBench 99 automatically determine whether a machine passes or fails a
> test. If you use partial automation (the default mode), 3D WinBench
> passes the quality tests that perform correctly, but waits for you to
> confirm any test that fails to meet its criteria. (You can also run
> these tests in manual mode, if you like.) • 3D WinBench 99 uses the new
> Vertex Buffer interfaces in DirectX 6. (While the benchmark will still
> work with DirectX 5 device drivers, you must have DirectX 6 installed.)
> • 3D WinBench 99 uses triple (or double) buffered rendering instead of
> the front buffer-only rendering 3D WinBench 98 used. This change allows
> 3D WinBench 99 to include buffer flips in the performance measurement.
> • New scenes give the 3D WinMark(TM) 99 a more game-like appearance and
> function. The scenes include more pixel blending, multitexture
> rendering, and less gouraud lighting than those in 3D WinBench 98. All
> 3D WinMark 99 tests require bilinear mipmapping and source alpha pixel
> blending as baseline features. All new 3D chipsets can run all of the 3D
> WinMark 99 tests.
> • The triangle complexity of the tests in 3D WinMark 99 is wider ranging
> than in 3D WinMark 98. The new Chamber and Rust Valley scenes extend the
> low end of the complexity curve and the new Canyon scene extends the
> high-end.
> • You can run the tests with either Z buffering or W buffering. Select
> this feature on the 3D tab in the Test Settings dialog box. (The type of
> buffer you use, if any, may affect results. Generally, W buffers work
> better for outdoor scenes, while Z buffers work with indoor scenes.)
> • Software emulation is no longer a fall-back in cases where the HAL
> doesn't support a feature. In general, a HAL is much more feature- laden
> than a software emulator. In addition, the software emulator is simply
> too slow to be useful in real-time games. • You can now chose the
> software emulator, the reference rasterizer, the Null device, or the HAL
> to be the display device. (The Null device is useful for determining the
> maximum possible 3D WinMark 99 score.) • 3D WinBench 99 adds palletized
> textures. The benchmark uses a mix of 16-bit RGB textures and palletized
> textures on display adapters that support both. About half of all opaque
> textures are created as 16-bit RGB textures; the other half are created
> using 8-bit palletized format.
> • The 3D WinMark 99 tests now measure the performance of texture
> loading, no matter how much texture memory is available. The test
> reloads textures after they're used about 30 times. This simulates the
> reloading of textures that occurs in games as the player moves around
> the game world.
> • 3D WinBench 99 treats anti-aliasing as a resolution setting. You can
> now run the entire 3D WinMark 99 with or without anti-aliasing. As a
> result, you can compare the performance cost of anti-aliasing. You can
> also compare a higher resolution with anti-aliasing to a lower
> resolution without it. The 3D WinMark tests no longer require sort-
> independent anti-aliasing.
> • 3D WinBench 99 replaces the old processor test with two new ones that
> run the Chapel scene using a Null device included in DirectX 6. The
> Lighting and Transformation Test measures the processor's ability to
> transform and light vertices. The Transformation Test measures
> transformation only. With these tests, you can measure the performance
> of the CPU on the transformation and lighting portions of the graphics
> pipeline.
> • The quality tests now let you magnify the good, bad, and current
> images up to 8 times. This way you can examine individual pixels of the
> image. This feature is especially useful when you are examining
> anti-aliasing and dithering tests.
> • The quality tests let you display an image that shows the difference
> between the good and current test images or the bad and current test
> images. You can use the difference image to identify areas that aren't
> correct. For example, the difference images will often include
> silhouette edges around objects or regions of solid color, which is
> frequently due to incorrect triangle rasterization rules. • If you're
> running a performance test, you can press CTRL + F to fail the test if
> you notice screen corruption or incorrect rendering. 3D WinBench will
> then prompt you to enter a comment explaining why you failed the test.
> • When a performance test uses pixel blending, it now displays status
> information in the upper left corner of the screen. This display tells
> you:
> o The test name.
> o The resolution, color depth, Z or W buffer depth, buffering mode, and
> anti-aliasing mode.
> o The name of the DirectDraw device being used. o The 3D device being
> used: RGB Emulator, Reference Rasterizer or Hardware.
> o The frame rate, averaged during the last 1/4 second. o An
> instantaneous frame rate meter.
> o A texture meter where:
> a. a. The vertical line tells you how many texture bytes have been used
> since the beginning of the test. b. b. The upper bar indicates the
> number of texture bytes used in the last frame.
> c. c. The lower bar shows how many texture bytes were loaded in the last
> frame.
> • 3D WinBench 99 no longer contains the 3D Triangle Tests suite.