Futuremark released a new stress-test mode for the popular 3DMark suite, which lets you test the stability of your machine, after all the overclock/volt wizardry is done. What this mode does is runs a continuous 3D scene from the bench of your choice ("Fire Strike" (standard, Extreme, and Ultra,) and "Skydiver"), in a continuous rendering, without stopping for any loading screens or other breaks. This is different from the "loop" custom test setting, which runs each test over and over again, with pauses to reload the scene.

In the free edition, you can stress for up to 10 minutes. The Professional Edition key lets you scorch your hardware for up to 40 hours. Stressing your hardware is not all that this mode does, there's also a stability-test component, which checks for frame-rate stability through the defined cycles of your stress. The app would flag your hardware as "passed" only if it can achieve a frame-rate stability of at least 97% (it should tell you if your overclock is not sustainable as it runs into a thermal throttle). Simply update your 3DMark installation to the latest version, to use this feature.

NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card, which NVIDIA is pinning its summer upgrade revenue on, is shaping up to be faster than the previous-generation enthusiast GeForce GTX TITAN X. 3DMark FireStrike numbers scored by VideoCardz reveal that averaged across three popular resolutions - 1080p (FireStrike standard), 1440p (FireStrike Advanced), and 4K (FireStrike Ultra), the GTX 1070 is about 3 percent faster than the GTX TITAN X.

At FireStrike (standard), the GTX 1070 scored 17557 points, versus 17396 points of the GTX TITAN X; 8327 points at FireStrike Advanced against 7989; and 4078 points at FireStrike Ultra against 3862, respectively. The performance lead is highest at 4K Ultra HD. Based on the 16 nm GP104 silicon, the GeForce GTX 1070 features 1,920 CUDA cores, 120 TMUs, and 8 GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 8.00 GHz (256 GB/s). The MSRP for this SKU is set at $379, although its reference design board will be sold at a $70 premium, for $449, when the card goes on sale this 10th June.

Some of the first 3DMark performance numbers of NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card made it to Futuremark's online database. The results page hint at samples of the GTX 1080 running on early drivers, on two separate machines (likely from two different sources). The first source, who ran the card on a machine with a Core i7-5820K processor, scored P19005 on 3DMark 11 (performance preset). The second source, who ran the card on a machine with a Core i7-3770K processor, scored 8959 points on 3DMark FireStrike Extreme. Both scores point at GTX 1080 being faster than a GTX 980 Ti.

The new AMD Radeon Pro Duo, announced earlier today, takes the crown for being the world's fastest graphics card. According to the company's internal testing, in which it compared the card to its previous-generation flagship Radeon R9 295X2, and NVIDIA's fastest card, the GeForce GTX TITAN Z, on 3DMark FireStrike, at resolutions of 1080p, 1440p, and 2160p; the Pro Duo was found to be as much as 51 percent faster than the GTX TITAN Z. The three cards were tested on a machine with a Core i7-5960X processor, 16 GB of quad-channel DDR4 memory, Windows 10, v15.301 driver for the AMD cards, and GeForce 361.91 drivers for the NVIDIA card.

At 1080p, the Radeon Pro Duo scores 20150 points, compared to 16717 points of the R9 295X2, and 14945 points of the GTX TITAN Z, the Radeon Pro Duo leads the GTX TITAN Z by 34.8 percent in this resolution. At 1440p, the Radeon Pro Duo scores 11466 points, compared to 9250 points for the R9 295X2, and 7740 points of the GTX TITAN Z; the Pro Duo leads the GTX TITAN Z by 48.13 percent. Finally, at the resolution which really matters for this product, 4K Ultra HD, the Radeon Pro Duo scores 6211 points, compared to the 5121 points of the R9 295X2, and 4099 points of the GTX TITAN Z.

At a media event held in China, graphics card maker GALAX revealed Futuremark's next big 3D graphics benchmark. The unnamed next-gen 3DMark suite will include DirectX 12 game tests, including one titled "Time Spy." This game test (GT) features a museum-like 3D scene, rich in eye-popping lighting effects, and GT scenes from previous-generation 3DMarks serving as miniature exhibits within the test.

From the looks of it, your DirectX 12 compatible GPU is in for a trial by fire, in what promises to be an exciting next-gen 3D benchmark. The benchmark renders at 1080p, 1440p, or 4K, and is said to be "5 times" heavier on your GPU than "Fire Strike," Futuremark's DirectX 11 test that featured in the 2013 release of the suite. What's more, the benchmark will explicitly require Windows 10 64-bit, since it requires Direct3D 12 API support, and needs >2 GB of memory. Futuremark mentioned an "early" Q1-2016 launch for this benchmark.A video presentation follows.

EVGA and Vince "K|NGP|N" Lucido have once again teamed up to achieve three new 3DMark World Records, with Vince running his EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti K|NGP|N Edition graphics card at over 2200MHz GPU clock on liquid nitrogen cooling. The EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti K|NGP|N Edition graphics card has been meticulously designed from the ground up for overclocking, and feats such these new world records are further proof that EVGA products are #1 for overclocking. Vince recently had this to say about the graphics card design:

"K|NGP|N GTX 980 Ti once again represents EVGA's dedication to the enthusiast inspired hardware, bullet proof engineering and bleeding edge performance."

AMD's upcoming $650 Radeon R9 Fury X could have what it takes to beat NVIDIA's $999 GeForce GTX Titan X, while the $550 Radeon Fury (non-X) performs close to the $650 GeForce GTX 980 Ti, according to leaked 3DMark 11 and 3DMark (2013) benches by Korean tech publication ITCM.co.kr. The benches see the R9 Fury X score higher than the GTX Titan X in all three tests, while the R9 Fury is almost as fast as the GTX 980 Ti. The cards maintain their winning streak over NVIDIA even with memory-intensive tests such as 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra (4K), but buckle with 5K. These two cards, which are bound for the market within the next 30 days, were tested alongside the R9 390X, which is not too far behind the GTX 980, in the same graphs. The R9 Nano, however, isn't circulated among industry partners, yet. It could still launch in Summer 2015.

Futuremark is excited to introduce our new 3DMark API Overhead feature test - the world's first independent test for measuring differences in DirectX 12, DirectX 11 and Mantle API performance. It's also the very first public application to use DirectX 12 full stop. This is cutting edge stuff! Developed with input from AMD, Intel, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and the other members of our Benchmark Development Program, the 3DMark API Overhead feature test lets you compare the performance of DirectX 12, DirectX 11, and Mantle.

The purpose of the test is to compare the relative performance of different APIs on a single system, rather than the absolute performance of different systems. The API Overhead feature test is not a general-purpose GPU benchmark, and it should not be used to compare graphics cards from different vendors. (We are working on a DirectX 12 benchmark with game-like workloads, which we expect to release soon after the public launch of Windows 10.)

DOWNLOAD: Futuremark 3DMark v1.5.884

Ahead of its January 22nd launch, Chinese PC community PCEVA members leaked performance figures of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 960. The card was installed on a test-bed driven by a Core i7-4770K overclocked to 4.50 GHz. The card itself appears to be factory-overclocked, if these specs are to believed. The card scored P9960 and X3321 in the performance and extreme presets of 3DMark 11, respectively. On standard 3DMark FireStrike, the card scored 6636 points. With some manual overclocking thrown in, it managed to score 7509 points in the same test. 3DMark Extreme (1440p) was harsh on this card, it scored 3438 points. 3DMark Ultra was too much for the card to chew, and it could only manage 1087 points. Looking at these numbers, the GTX 960 could be an interesting offering for Full HD (1920 x 1080) gaming, not a pixel more.

The MSI X99S XPOWER AC, one of MSI's new Intel X99 based OC motherboards, just obliterated the 3DMark - Fire Strike world record with scoring a staggering 40052 marks together with a 4-way MSI GTX 980 GAMING 4G setup. MSI, with the help of overclockers 8 Pack from OC UK and Pepinorang, is the first manufacturer scoring over 40000 marks in 3DMark Fire Strike. Meanwhile, the MSI X99S XPOWER AC also put out amazing scores with 109069 marks in 3DMark Vantage and 44538 marks in 3DMark11.

Among other reasons like support for DDR4 memory modules and being invulnerable to water, the ability to break new records constantly is why ASRock's OC Series motherboards are awesome for overclocking. A couple of weeks ago, Nick Shih overclocked an Intel Core i7 5960X (Haswell-E) on ASRock X99 OC Formula to 6620.73 MHz, and now the skilled overclocker John Lam has set another new record by running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) on the same winning combination to achieve a mind exploding 2950 marks! Moreover, overclocker 8 Pack also broke two more new records on an ASRock's Z97 OC Formula and GeForce GTX 980 - 3DMark06 57742 marks and 3DMark05 75123 marks!

In its latest update to 3DMark (2013), version 1.4.775, Futuremark rolled out what it claims to be the first comprehensive benchmark for systems with 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) displays. The suite's high-end graphics benchmark, FireStrike, now comes with a third variant, besides the standard (1920 x 1080), and Extreme (2560 x 1440) ones; called FireStrike Ultra. Unlocked on the Advanced and Professional licenses, FireStrike Ultra doesn't need you to have an Ultra HD display, just a GPU with at least 3 GB of video memory. The main benchmark selection window has been polished up a bit more, and the benchmark logging now includes more details that should help with customer-support.DOWNLOAD: 3DMark (2013) v1.4.775

The change-log follows.

Here are some of the first benchmarks of Intel's ambitious Core M processor, a performance-segment dual-core processor with a thermal envelope of just 4.5W, making it ideal for tablets, ultra-portables, and mainstream desktops. At IDF 2014, Intel showed off a 12.5-inch tablet running a Core M 5Y70 chip. An MCM of the CPU and PCH dies, the CPU die features two "Broadwell" 64-bit x86 cores, a large new graphics processor with 24 execution units and 192 stream engines, 4 MB of shared L3 cache, a dual-channel LPDDR3 memory controller, and a PCI-Express 3.0 root complex. The PCH die wires out the platform's various connectivity options.

The 12.5-inch Core M tablet was put through three tests, Cinebench R11.5, SunSpider 1.0.2, and 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited. With the multi-threaded CPU-intensive Cinebench R11.5, the Core M scores a respectable 17 FPS in the GL bench, with 2.48 pts CPU. That's about 60 percent the performance of a Core i7-870. Significantly higher than anything Atom, Pentium, or AMD E-Series. With SunSpider, the Core M put out a score of 142.8, under Internet Explorer 12 running under Windows 8.1. With 3DMark IceStorm Unlimited, the Core M sprung up a surprise - 50,985 points. That over double that of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, and faster than the IGPs AMD E-Series APUs ship with. Color us interested.

Futuremark rolled out an update to its SystemInfo component, which ships with its 3DMark and PCMark benchmark suites, and helps detect hardware and software on the test system. The latest version (4.30) addresses compatibility issues faced by users of Intel's latest X99 Express high-end desktop (HEDT) platform, which cause benchmarks to crash or freeze. Those using the two suites through Steam will get the update automatically. Everyone else can grab the update from the link below.DOWNLOAD: Futuremark SystemInfo 4.30

AMD put out its own 3DMark FireStrike performance numbers for its soon-to-launch Radeon R9 285 performance-segment graphics card. Running on a test-bed powered by a Core i7-4960X six-core processor and 16 GB of DDR3-1866 memory, the R9 285 scored P7066 (performance preset) and X3513 (extreme preset); compared to an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 (337.88 WHQL driver) scoring P5650 and X2774, on the same test-bed. For a card that's in the same price-range (the R9 285 will start at $249) as the GTX 760 (currently going for as low as $239), that's an impressive performance uplift. The R9 285 will start selling on the 2nd of September, 2014.

NVIDIA is reportedly preparing new graphics cards based on the "Maxwell" architecture, which judging by the purported 3DMark FireStrike screenshots, could be high-end parts, maybe even the GeForce GTX 880. The cards could launch along the sidelines of Gamescon, a gaming expo held each year in Cologne, Germany, around mid-August. Given how most information to date points to a later-Q3, maybe even mid-Q4 launch of these cards, it wouldn't surprise us if NVIDIA merely teases these cards. NVIDIA's next big consumer GPU is widely expected to be the GM204, a performance-segment chip based on the "Maxwell" architecture.

Extreme overclockers, Vince "K|NGP|N" Lucido and Illya "Tin" Tsemenko have once again teamed up with the latest EVGA hardware to set new benchmark and frequency world records. Armed with an EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Classified K|NGP|N Edition graphics card, an EVGA X79 Dark motherboard, and the latest and greatest EVGA Power Supplies, Vince was able to push the GPU clockspeed up to a staggering 2025MHz, a new world record.

This frequency also allowed for a new 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme World Record, 8793 points. These accomplishments once again prove EVGA's dedication to the enthusiast community, and why EVGA hardware is the #1 choice for gamers and extreme overclockers. See the 3DMark World Record here.

AMD has today rolled out a Release Candidate (RC) build of its Catalyst 14.6 graphics driver. This version features support for the Radeon HD 5000, HD 6000, HD 7000, HD 8000, R5 200, R7 200 and R9 200 Series cards (and the Mobility Radeon HD 5000/6000/6000M/7000M/8000M mobile GPUs) and brings performance improvements for Plants vs. Zombies and 3DMark Sky Diver, CrossFire profiles for the Battlefield Hardline Beta and Grid Auto Sport, and more.

The Catalyst 14.6 RC is available for Windows 7 and 8.1.

Hot on the heels of all the hardware announcements at Computex, our new 3DMark Sky Diver benchmark test is ready to download and use today. Every single 3DMark user - more than a million and counting - will get Sky Diver as a free update. For new users, Sky Diver is unlocked and ready to use in all editions of 3DMark. And for a limited time, you can buy 3DMark Advanced Edition, which includes more tests, custom settings and other features, from Steam for only $9.99 (60% off).

Sky Diver is a new DirectX 11 benchmark test for gaming laptops and mid-range PCs. It's ideal for testing mainstream graphics cards, mobile GPUs, integrated graphics and other systems that cannot achieve double-digit frame rates in the more demanding Fire Strike test.DOWNLOAD: 3DMark v1.3.708 with Sky Diver

Futuremark today announced 3DMark Sky Diver, a new DirectX 11 benchmark test for gaming laptops and mid-range PCs. 3DMark Sky Diver is the ideal test for benchmarking systems with mainstream DirectX 11 graphics cards, mobile GPUs, or integrated graphics. A preview trailer for the new benchmark shows a wingsuited woman skydiving into a mysterious, uncharted location. The scene is brought to life with tessellation, particles and advanced post-processing effects. Sky Diver will be shown in full at Computex from June 3-7, or find out more here.

Jukka Makinen, Futuremark CEO said, "Some people think that 3DMark is only for high-end hardware and extreme overclocking. Yet millions of PC gamers rely on 3DMark to choose systems that best balance performance, efficiency and affordability. 3DMark Sky Diver complements our other tests by providing the ideal benchmark for gaming laptops and mainstream PCs."

Futuremark rolled out a major update to its 3DMark (2013) graphics benchmark suite. Version 1.2.250 introduces "Ice Storm Unlimited" to the Windows version, letting you test Ice Storm at its maximum setting, and compare scores with iOS and Android devices. The suite also overhauled its hardware detection, and uses a detection engine developed by TechPowerUp. Hardware monitoring graphs will show clock speeds and temperatures of GPUs and CPUs again.DOWNLOAD: Futuremark 3DMark v1.2.250

The TechPowerUp HWBOT team, in partnership with Intel, is announcing the TechPowerUp HWBOT Competition 2013. Spread across three tests which anyone can participate in - 3DMark 2001, 3DMark 03, and SuperPi 32M, the competition gives you the chance to win some cool new gear, including a Core i7-4770K quad-core processor, an AMD CPU and motherboard combo, and a PayPal cash prize. The contest is open from November 1, 2013 to December 15, 2013.

For more information, visit this page.

If these performance numbers posted by credible reviewers at OCUK hold up, then AMD could have a second, more affordable graphics card for you, which outperforms NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 780, at least in synthetic benchmarks. In a brief performance run that spans synthetic tests, which included Unigine Heaven 3.0 at 1080p and 1440p resolutions, with normal level of tessellation; 3DMark 11 (performance preset) and 3DMark Fire Strike (both Normal and Extreme); the card we believe to be R9 290 (name blurred out in the graphs) is consistently faster than the GeForce GTX 780 reference, in the same bench.

Based on the same 28 nm "Hawaii" silicon as the Radeon R9 290X, the R9 290 is its more affordable sibling, featuring 2,560 Graphics CoreNext stream processors, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and a 512-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 4 GB of memory. It features clock speeds of 947 MHz (core), and 5.00 GHz (memory, GDDR5-effective). There's no word on pricing, but it could be available from the 31st of October, 2013.

The world's leading motherboard brand ASRock announced the winner list of FM2 A10 OC COMPETITION with HWBOT, sponsored by AMD, PowerColor, ADATA, and Thermaltake today. CherV, the overclocker from Hong Kong, broke the world record of CPU-Z once again and achieved the highest 3DMark11 Performance with ASRock FM2A88X Extreme6+ and AMD A10-6800K CPU.

The final champion of CPU-Z and 3DMark11 Performance, CherV, achieved an all-time high CPU-Z score of 8520.22 MHz and highest 3DMark11 Performance score of P 3177 with ASRock FM2A88X Extreme6+. With the amazing result, the final champion won the prizes worth over $5,000 USD, bonus prize of $2,000 USD, and extra $2,000 USD for breaking world records in 2 overclocking benchmarks.

Futuremark announced 3DMark for Windows RT, the ARM-friendly variant of Windows popularized by the Surface RT, and Surface 2. The 3D graphics benchmark suite includes three tests based on the "Ice Storm" test scene, namely "Ice Storm," "Ice Storm Extreme," and "Ice Storm Unlimited." The "Ice Storm" test stresses DirectX 11 feature level 9 test. "Ice Storm Extreme" runs the same scene at 1080p resolution, and with added detail, such as higher resolution textures and post-processing. "Ice Storm Unlimited" is designed to stress all key components, including the CPU and GPU, display resolution scaling, and other OS-related factors.DOWNLOAD: 3DMark for Windows RT