3dmark06/8600GS proven its potential?

Hey guys,

I just ran 3dmark06 twice on my new Vaio and obtained two similiar but different results. Is this common? The only difference I can remember is that I had the power plans set differently.

The highest of my scores was 2788. I didn't overclock the card and used default drivers. I was pretty suprised at how good the score was since the Asus F3sv only scored ~ 2300. I was just wondering, is my 8600GS actually the 'proper' one instead of underclocked/undervolted one's which have been used on other laptops.
I was also suprised at my windows experience score for gaming graphics which is 5.3 -

Thanks,
Jam.

 

Power plan is important...

All benchmarks should be run in "performance" mode as that uses the highest default clocks for your card.

3dmark06 is ONE benchmark... do not base anything on ANY one benchmark.

Windows experience is not a gaming benchmark... it's a "can you run windows vista" benchmark... in other words, completely worthless.

 

try real game tests

 

Ah right I see. I got my highest score in 'Vaio optimisation' mode (sony's own power plan) compared with 'Performance' mode Is the best option to just select 'No power managment'?

Yeh, I was considering that. Since I haven't played any new games for five years, (previously had 7yr old desktop and ps2) could anyone suggest any demo's to try?

 

He's comparing his 8600m GS against other 8600m GS's running the same benchmark. It's very relevant.

 

3DMark'06 is so badly out of date and only the divine one (god or whatever) knows what they score the Windows Index Score on. Real games are your best bet, just use a console so you know what the FPS are. Please remember your FPS go up and down depending on stress, go from a nice quiet area to a really, really heavy fire fight or something.

 

Do you guys even read his posts or just take every chance possible to admonish 3DMark?

 

you can install the new crysis demo, hellgate london demo, need for speed: pro street demo.....there's plenty of em

also www.joinfear.com - you can download F.E.A.R. for FREE.

 

Thanks mate. I'll probably use FRAPS to get fps info and shall report back when ive done some gaming.

Btw, why is 3dmark being ripped apart in this thread when nearly all reviews on this NBR, judge part of the gaming potential, on this figure!!

Jam.

 

3DMark06 is OK, you just need to remember it is purely a synthetic benchmark, much like super Pi. It can give an idea of real world performance, but nothing is a good substitute for real world testing. Sometimes, playing a game is worth a lot more than some number generated through a synthetic benchmark.

The reason synthetic benchmarks are used here in reviews is becaues they are easy and quick to run when reviewing a notebook. Testing things in real world settings takes time, and is somewhat subjective, whereas a number generated in a synthetic benchmark is comewhat concrete in a sense.

Crysis would be the most demanding thing you could try to run right now. I think FEAR multiplayer would be great for you to download because it is free, fun, and would stress your card a bit.

 

Honestly, 3dmark06 has its flaws, but it really isn't that bad.
At least its the same for every system that runs it.

The only thing synthentic about 3dmark06 is the scoring after the fact which weights based on processor only.
The scores are based mostly on actual graphical rendering and FPS in those different tests which stress differing rendering techniques.

The problem with testing only ONE test (including a game like FEAR) is that some games intentionally market/develop for one type of GPU.

Run a COUPLE tests, one of which might very well be 3dmark06, and then make a decision.

Just don't trust the WEI for anything except running Vista.
(and only that with a grain of salt as well)