3DMark Now Comes With 4K Fire Strike Ultra Preset

Futuremark has updated its 3DMark benchmarking suite with an improved user interface as well as a new preset benchmark option called Fire Strike Ultra.

The Ultra preset has a handful of predefined options, one of which is a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, or 4K. Although this benchmark will almost certainly bring your system to its knees, you don't actually need a 4K monitor to run it (although you won't see it in 4K then, either). What you do need is a graphics card with 3 GB of memory, or more.

Futuremark claims that this is the first comprehensive 4K benchmark. A preset benchmarking option is almost a requirement in the enthusiast community, as it ensures that everybody can have the exact same benchmark running, making it possible to compare performance numbers.

The Fire Strike Ultra option is only available on the Advanced and Professional versions of 3DMark, as is the older Fire Strike Extreme preset. Users of the Free version will have to stick to using the Fire Strike standard test, which "only" runs at a Full HD resolution. You can find the new variant available for download and purchase here.

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Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.