The Benchmarks

Our tests use the synthetic benchmark suite SPECViewperf 7.0. It allows a rough classification of performance. Our application benchmarks Solidworks 2001 Plus, Solidedge V11 and 3D Studio Max R4.2, all issued by the recognized benchmark organization SPEC, reveal how the graphic cards behave in real conditions.

Viewperf 7.0 (synthetic)

The Viewperf 7.0 suite is based on these six individual tests: 3dsmax-01; light-05; drv-08; proe-01; dx-07; and ugs-01. The tests can be downloaded from the SPEC webpage.

The following criteria are measured:

• 3D primitives, including points, lines, line_strip, line_loop, triangles, triangle_strip, triangle_fan, quads and polygons;
• attributes per vertex, per primitive and per frame;
• lighting;
• texture mapping;
• alpha blending;
• fogging;
• anti-aliasing;
• depth buffering.

Viewsets from various applications are used. The underlying application is not used, however. A description of the individual viewsets follows.

• 3dsmax-01: based on 3D Studio Max 3.1, has three models with an average 1.5 million vertices; scenes are tested with various light sources.
• dx-07: based on the application IBM Data Explorer, has ten different tests.
• drv-08: based on DesignReview from Intergraph, has five different tests.
• light-05: based on the Discreet Lightscape Radiosity application, has four tests.
• proe-01: based on Pro/ENGINEER 2000i2, measures two models in three modes - shaded, wireframe and hidden-line removal (HLR).
• ugs-01: based on Unigraphics V17, tests a machine model containing 2.1 million vertices.