3DMark06 is concentrated on measuring the performance of the latest DirectX 9 generation of 3D hardware using the technology of next-generation games. Earlier 3DMark versions have usually been launched with the introduction of a new Microsoft DirectX version and with the introduction of a new generation of hardware. This has somewhat limited how much 3DMark has utilized the new hardware features. At the time of this writing, DirectX 9 was introduced nearly three years ago, and there is now DX9 generation hardware available from the very high end to value and mobile parts. 3DMark06 can fully utilize 100% of the features of DirectX 9. DirectX 9 hardware with support for shader model 3.0 is required to run all the tests of 3DMark06, resulting in the ultimate tool for DirectX 9 hardware performance comparison. DirectX 9 graphics cards limited to ShaderModel 2.X are still capable of running most of the tests and getting a perfectly valid and comparable 3DMark result.

3DMark06 highlights:

Two HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, requiring DirectX 9 hardware with support for SM3.0, 16-bit floating-point textures, and 16-bit floating-point blending.

Two SM2.0 graphics tests, requiring DirectX 9 hardware with full SM2.0 support.

Two completely new CPU tests, both supporting threading and multiprocessors, requiring DirectX 9 hardware with SM2.0 support.

Feature tests focusing on key characteristics of graphics performance.

The 3DMark06 demo the ultimate display of real-time 3D graphics featuring an original soundtrack.

A wide range of benchmark settings and professional tools for image quality inspection, texture filtering quality testing, automated batch runs, and a lot more.

A mini-game based on the CPU test for users to run the game-engine used in the CPU test.
Note: The results and final score of 3DMark06 are not comparable with any previous version of 3DMark.

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