3DMark06 Advanced Performance
3DMark06 Advanced is the latest version of this popular 3DMark series of gaming benchmarks from Futuremark, and is the first to showcase new HDR/SM3.0 and SM2.0 graphics tests, as well as offering multi-core tailored CPU tests. The Feature tests have also been enhanced for the newest 3D support, and helps provide reliable measurements for game hardware of today and tomorrow. This is one very serious performance test, which punishes cards that do not fully support HDR/SM3.0 or SM2.0, and really puts video hardware to the next-generation test. In this review, we will be concentrating on the individual benchmark tests covering fill rate, vertex and pixel shading, SM2.0/SM3.0 results, and the individual Shader Particles and Perlin Noise SM3.0 tests.
3DMark06 Advanced Fill Rate Performance
The first part of our 3DMark06 Advanced testing utilizes the Feature Test portion of the benchmark (at the standard 1280x1024 resolution), and concentrates on the Fill Rate performance. This chart shows the cards ranked by Fill Rate performance, with the number displayed representing MTexels/second.
The Fill Rate benchmark tests show the Albatron GeForce 8600 GTS competing extremely well against the other mainstream competitors, outpacing both the GeForce 7600 GT and Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB cards in the multi-texturing benchmark. The GeForce 7900 GT and 7950 GT are significantly faster in these tests, owing to their more robust pipeline architecture.
3DMark06 Advanced Vertex and Pixel Shader Performance
The 3DMark06 Advanced Pixel and Vertex Shader benchmark is where we start getting into the Albatron GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB's wheelhouse, and while the Pixel Shader scores are good, the Vertex Shader results are by far the best on the chart.
3DMark06 Advanced SM2.0 & SM3.0/HDR Performance
The SM2.0 & SM3.0/HDR benchmark results offer more of the same, and the Albatron GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB continues to perform well above the mainstream range. Its SM2.0 score is just a hair behind the Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB, while its HDR/SM3.0 result is not that far back of the GeForce 7950 GT 512MB.
3DMark06 Advanced Shader Particles & Perlin Noise SM3.0 Performance
The final 3DMark section includes the Shader Particles and Perlin Noise benchmarks, which are both SM3.0 shader tests. The Albatron GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB posts adequate scores in the Perlin Noise benchmark, but smokes the field in the Shader particles test. Please note that the ATI Radeon X1000 cards cannot complete the Shader particles testing.
