Welcome to 3DMark®2001 Second Edition (SE)

MadOnion.com is proud to present 3DMark2001 SE, the global standard for 3D game performance measurement. Like all of our benchmarks in the 3DMark Series, 3DMark2001 SE is an accurate and reliable diagnostics tool, which continues to provide you with benchmark results that empower you to make informed hardware assessments. It also combines DirectX®8.1 support with stunning scenes in real time 3D graphics, giving you a hint of what the graphics quality in games could be in the future.

While running the awesome scenes, 3DMark measures the game performance of your PC and provides you with:

• The 3DMark score, which is a standard, globally recognized, comparable measurement of PC game performance.
• Detailed results of all of the tests, including tests measuring theoretical speed, and some trying out new DirectX8 (DX8) hardware accelerated features.
• Comparison of your system's 3D gaming performance to the results of other 3DMark2001 SE users from around the world. See how your PC performs against the fastest PCs there is.
• A reliable estimate of how your system would perform, if you were to upgrade your graphics card or CPU.

Build 330 New Features

3DMark2001 Second Edition (build 300) was our major update for 3DMark2001, and as such, even contained a new test. The Advanced Pixel Shader test demonstrates the latest in Pixel Shader technology, but also offers some nice eye candy. Four months after the 3DMark2001 SE launch DX9 betas got out and revealed a DX version identification problem. Also, new hardware has been released or will be released in the near future, requiring further updating. All of this made it sensible to update 3DMark2001, to build 330, in order to offer the latest technology for 3D game performance benchmarking.

The build 330 new features are:

• Future DirectX version support
• AGP 3.0 (AGP 8x) support
• Support for the latest and the upcoming hardware
• All known issues have been fixed

NOTE: 3DMark2001 SE build 330 results are comparable with original 3DMark2001 SE results and 3DMark2001 results.

Introduction to 3DMark®2001 SE

3DMark2001 SE is a diagnostics tool for measuring the 3D game performance of PCs. It is entertaining and easy to use, which makes it "must have" software for all PC users interested in 3D games. Even a beginner PC user can get a game performance measurement with 3DMark2001 SE. For the more advanced users, 3DMark2001 SE offers a wide range of display settings and testing options for the benchmark run. The most skillful performance tweakers can get the latest news on PC performance upgrading through MadOnion.com's on-line services. There you can also challenge the fastest PCs in the world and get good performance tuning advice in the discussion forum or the on-line chat.

At the same time, 3DMark2001 SE is a reliable tool for professional hardware performance measurement and comparison. The Pro version of 3DMark2001 SE includes additional tools for pro-users, making their work easier, less time consuming and more fun. The Pro version of 3DMark2001 SE can be purchased on-line, allowing you access to all of the "Pro features".

3DMark2001 SE uses a real game engine (MAX-FX Technology™, by Remedy Entertainment) in all tests. This means that the obtained performance level in the game tests is accurate. If additional time would be spent on implementing more content, interactivity and game storylines, all game tests could be made into real games. We have proven this by making a game demo of the first game test. The scene is the same as in the test, but this time you are behind the steering wheel.

System Requirements

3DMark2001 SE is the tool for measuring 3D game performance of the latest PC hardware. This means that some older hardware does not have what it takes to run some of 3DMark2001 SE. If your system cannot run 3DMark2001 SE, we encourage you to download (from www.MadOnion.com/download) and run 3DMark2000.

Minimum System Requirements:

• Intel® compatible 500 MHz processor
• 128 MB system memory
• 1999 released 3D accelerator with 32 MB memory
• Windows 98/SE, ME, 2000 or XP operating system
• DirectX 8.1 or later

NOTE: If you run Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional, 192 MB of system memory is recommended.

3DMark2001 SE does run on systems that don't quite meet the minimum requirements, but for example less video memory will cause texture swapping in the middle of some tests. Texture swapping would seriously distort the test result, which means that the result could not be concidered a reliable measurement of the system's game performance.

Recommended System Specifications:

• Intel® compatible 1 GHz processor
• Fully DirectX 8 compatible graphics hardware

3DMark2001 SE Features

Features in 3DMark2001 SE:

• Support for Microsoft® DirectX 8.1
• 3 game tests, all run in both low and high detail.
• A 4th game test using DX8 hardware accelerated features. DX8 graphics hardware is required for running this test.
• DX8 feature tests showing Vertex Shaders, Pixel Shaders and Point Sprites
• DOT3 bump mapping
• Full-Scene Anti-aliasing
• DirectX texture compression
• An awesome demo featuring an original soundtrack. This demo will show you what your PC really can do.
• A new, more powerful System Info utility, which analyses and displays everything in your system from the driver versions to hardware components.

Features familiar from 3DMark2000:

• Ease of use: 3D game performance benchmarking at its simplest.
• Online services. Inspect your benchmark result in detail and compare the performance of your system to the fastest PC's on the planet.
• A wide range of tests measuring both overall game performance and theoretical speed.

3DMark2001 SE Pro features:

• ResultBrowser2001 SE: A program for advanced result comparisons that is easy to use.
• Image Quality Testing with Reference Pictures. There are test images of all game tests and reference images both with and without FSAA.
• Batch Run Wizard. Run all resolutions and color depths with a few clicks and go get some coffee. When 3DMark finishes, change the display adapter and just let the program work for you again.
• Batch Run Command Line Automation.
• A Special Bonus: A playable game demo, where you drive the car in game test 1.

Other MadOnion.com Benchmarks

Video2000
Video2000 introduces the first ever video performance and image quality testing tool, designed for evaluating the video quality, performance and features available in modern graphics accelerators.

BAPCo/MadOnion.com WebMark2001
WebMark2001 has been designed for the professional evaluating of PC performance on the Internet from their user's perspective, recording and reporting how the client computer and the speed of connection affects the overall Internet experience.

BAPCo/MadOnion.com SYSmark2002
BAPCo/MadOnion.com's SYSmark2002 is the industry standard application-based benchmark, testing your system's ability to run today's leading edge software applications for Internet Content Creation and Office Productivity. SYSmark2002's standardized testing and reporting guidelines ensure reliable, repeatable results.

The above products are available for purchase at www.madonion.com/purchase.

MadOnion.com On-Line Services

Online ResultBrowser
The Online ResultBrowser lets you review your results on-line and gives you valuable insights on ways you can improve your computer's performance.

Recommendation Services
Our Recommendation Services provides you with component upgrade suggestions that will improve your PC's performance and expand its capabilities. It also directs you to several online retailers, should you wish to pick up your component upgrades online.