Does 3DMark05 actually test the video card anymore?

[Sham B]

After running most games, I notice that the back vent of my 9800 pro gets hot, as expected (its a
9800 pro with an artic cooler attached). It gets very hot after playing stuff like Doom 3, where it
can get almost too hot to touch. After running 3DMark05, I'm noticing that the card isn't hot, and
is much the same temp as after it has been doing simple 2D work. That begs the question on whether
3DMark actually tells me how good my graphics card is. I suspect that the limiting factor is
actually the processor (XP2800+, 1GB) because the 9800 doesn't seem stressed at all going off the
temp. Anyone else seeing this sort of behaviour?

FWIW, I get 2647 3DMarks, whatever that means. I think I'll stick to in-game fps counts in future,
because 3DMark seems to have become... um... less than useful.

S

 

[Sham B]

I should add that its actually lukewarm throughout the tests, including the first 3 tests... I
realise that the last two tests are CPU tests

S

 

[Lou]

I should add that its actually lukewarm throughout the tests, including the
first 3 tests... I realise that the last two tests are CPU tests

S

I have not tried the 3DMark05 yet, but I noticed the heat was not real high
with earlier 3DMark tests either. I was trying to get my PC quiet and to do
so you slow the fan down as much as possible without letting the components
get too hot. This means monitoring the temp of things like the graphics
cards while under load. I tried using 3DMark to put the graphics card under
load, but like you said it gets hotter when playing certain games. What I
also found that was interesting was that just leaving the game at the main
menu screen of games like UT2004 and BattleFeild VN will generate more heat
then while actually playing the game.
I suppose the reason for this is that when at the menu screen the GPU is
constantly processing the screen and generating heat, but with 3DMark or in
certain game action screens there are breaks in the action (like when the
next test is loading in 3DMark) just long enough for the hsf to cool of the
card.

BTW I test the fps using Fraps and really just check to see how much I can
turn up the graphics settings and not drop below a minimum frame rate that I
think would be playable.

Lou

 

[Glzmo]

I have not tried the 3DMark05 yet, but I noticed the heat was not real
high with earlier 3DMark tests either. I was trying to get my PC quiet
and to do so you slow the fan down as much as possible without letting the
components get too hot. This means monitoring the temp of things like the
graphics cards while under load. I tried using 3DMark to put the graphics
card under load, but like you said it gets hotter when playing certain
games. What I also found that was interesting was that just leaving the
game at the main menu screen of games like UT2004 and BattleFeild VN will
generate more heat then while actually playing the game.
I suppose the reason for this is that when at the menu screen the GPU is
constantly processing the screen and generating heat, but with 3DMark or
in certain game action screens there are breaks in the action (like when
the next test is loading in 3DMark) just long enough for the hsf to cool
of the card.

BTW I test the fps using Fraps and really just check to see how much I can
turn up the graphics settings and not drop below a minimum frame rate that
I think would be playable.

Lou

Another thing I noticed with Radeon cards that they tend to get alot hotter
in OpenGL games than Direct3D games (may apply to other cards as well, but I
have only noticed it with my Radeon 9700 Pro, 9600 Pro and X800 Pro as I
haven't really had any others to test ). It seems like OpenGL stress the
videocards much more, for whatever reasons, no matter if older or newer
games. I tested games that support both Direct3D and OpenGL and OpenGL heats
up the cards more, altough I don't know the exact reason for it.

 

[First of One]

No. 3DMark 2005 does some calculations and tells you exactly what card to
buy* to get xxxx 3D Marks.

*subject to change weekly depending on sponsor cash flow