CrossFire-X, eXplored

3DMark06

3DMark06 still remains the number one utility used for a system benchmark. We find that it is mostly useful for tracking changes within a single system. There are four “mini-games” that it uses for benchmarking graphics, as well as two CPU tests. The scores are weighed and added together to give an overall “score” and there is a further frame rate breakdown possible with these mini games that we are charting for you.

Here is a scene from the demo in 3DMark06 which is not used to benchmark performance. These tests will still give your PC a real workout even though its default resolution is only 1280×1024.

Here are the results of our 3DMark06 benchmark comparison using the benchmark at its default settings:

The results are just scores. Often a little variability will occur by just running the tests over and over.  Now the mini-game frame rates:

‘Playing’ the 3DMark06 Mini-games on the HD4890 would clearly edge out play with the HD4870 and the overclocked HD4890 scales nicely. The overclocked Diamond HD4890-XOC is slightly faster than the stock HIS HD4890 in these synthetic mini games and the overclocked HD4890 CrossFire is slightly faster than TriFire except in the SM 3.o test.   So, let’s move on to our second synthetic benchmark, Vantage.