New 3DMark available for Windows
Futuremark today (finally) released a new version of 3DMark for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. Following the current trend of ditching numbering conventions, Futuremark is calling this new version simply '3DMark'.
The benchmark tool contains three demos: 'Fire Strike', which is designed to run on high-end DirectX 11 PCs; 'Cloud Gate' supports DirectX 10 graphics cards; while 'Ice Storm' is made for the lower-end DirectX 9 cards.
As usual, there is a free version available where users can run all three demos and compare their results with other users online. For more functionality, users can buy an Advanced Edition of 3DMark, which allows users to run each benchmark individually, and also bundles an 'extreme' version of the 'Fire Strike' demo. The special edition also offers interactive graphics, and the ability to save the results offline. It cost $24.99; Steam is offering it for 25% for a week.
There is also the 3DMark Professional Edition for the deep pocketed among us (or for companies, more like). This $995 version adds an image quality tool, command line automation, and an option to save results offline and export them as XML file.
Unfortunately, there is no word on a Mac or Linux version, however Futuremark has only said that Windows RT (why?), Android, and iOS versions are in the works.
