We start with the Photoshop CS3 image rendering benchmark. In this speed test, 6 complex filters are applied to a large 96 MB TIFF file; the resulting time is the score. Faster is better of course!

It takes the mid-range system just under 2 minutes to finish the benchmark.

Now, on to the 3d image rendering benchmarks; the first uses 3dStudio MAX 9:

This looks like a very quick result for a 1920x1200 render with motion blur applied. I'm really interested in seeing the comparison between the low-cost and high-end systems using this benchmark, because all CPUs in the marathon are quad-core and 3dStudio Max 9 is a heavily multi-threaded application.

This scene is rendered in just under two and a half minutes.