- Friday, 13 November 2009
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If sex sells products, does bad sex sell bad products? - The Chicago Savant
Futuremark ready to engage with Vista
NEVER FAR FROM a controversy, Futuremark has revealed that it is prepping a new version of its PC benchmarking software, PCMark.
The slightly ugly kid brother of 3DMark, used by geeks the world over to measure their masculinity, PCMark has never quite garnered the same level of usage that the graphics benchmark has, but Futuremark is hoping that this will be all change for the latest version.
Dubbed 'Vantage', the new release will work only on Vista, but will offer both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Readers with brains like sieves may not remember that Futuremark technology powers Vista's built-in 'game experience' evaluationThe minimum specs require 1GB of RAM and a minimum of a 3GHz Intel P4 processor. A gaming test is included which recommends 256MB of graphics RAM, suggesting that it will be based off some common 3DMark tech.
The minimum specs have had some suggesting that any PC that can meet them doesn't really require benchmarking, but it's sure to be a hit in the high-end hardware communities. Watch out for this one landing in the near future, although no solid release date yet. ยต
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Experience suggests that the given minimum specs describe what is needed to get to the logon screen.
Bringing up Notepad requires another 1GB of RAM.
Trying to work in Office '07 requires three more cores, another Ghz of CPU speed, and 2 more gigs of DDR4 RAM clocked too hot for you to touch the things.
As for PCMark, it's min specs are thus set to :
- Vapo-chilled 10Ghz Core 2 Quad Extreme
- 12GB of DDR4 RAM @ 6Ghz (24Ghz in marketspeak)
- 5TB of SATA3 HDD space
- Quad-SLI with 735MB 8800GTX SupraExtremeL33tHawtGodItsHotInHere cards clocked at insane levels to overcome the crappy driver, each card watercooled with a 12-liter radiator

If you don't have that setup, don't even try benchmarking - you'll only be disappointed.
As a matter of relative curiosity, does the PCMark Driver drive a Vantage? To get a Real Feel for the Environment to Lift the Game?

IT is a Horses for Courses Game, after All.
...all the typical MS/Windows/Vista-bashing go? Usually INQ is dripping with emotionally biased drivel, hatred and superinflated (invented) flaws about anything MS. If anti-MS was a vegetable it would be INQ. Don't go floppy on the sloppy.
I recieved a very nice Acer laptop reciently (59020G) and quite quickly UPGRADED to Windows XP from Windows Vista. This had the effect of doubling my FPS and overall game performance. Would the reason for not releasing this app for XP be that it would show up VIsta too much?
Those min specs are about the same for the new Apple OSX 10.5 Leapord. Yep, that's about right. You see what most PC stupid ppl happen to forget is that Apple made folks have a very expensive and powerful computer for years and years now just to run their 64-bit OS. Well, guess what? Now Microsoft OS users are complaining because they now have an OS that requires identical software. Sure Vista isn't perfect, but neither is a Mac. And believe it or not, when a Mac breaks its a heck of a lot harder to fix than a PC. Just my two cents for you to think about.... Bottom line: don't believe the hype!
Before publishing a new benchmark, it would be far more useful if they could fix the errors in the current ones. Both 3DMark06 and PCMark05 has issues with current hardware and software...