3DMark Vantage Editor's Review

Test your PC out for gaming capabilities with this industry standard benchmark tool for Windows.

Gaming seems to be the stuff right now.

If you're a serious PC advocate, whether on a Mac, a PC or a Linux box, you're most likely doing some kind of gaming. This is one of the reasons why I really like tools like 3DMark Vantage. It’s a graphics benchmarking tool for Windows.

3DMark Vantage is the industry standard benchmark tool for DirectX 10-based gaming PCs. It includes two graphics tests, two CPU tests and six feature tests. 3DMark Vantage is one of the best ways to consistently and reliably test DirectX 10 with real world, game-like loads.

The Basic Edition is free.  The Professional Edition unlocks all of the app's features including custom testing options, unlimited test runs and priority customer support. A commercial license enables you to use the benchmark for business purposes, including testing for performance, standards compliance and stability.  For research and development including component evaluation, burn-in testing and competitor analysis and for promotional use including trade shows, consumer events, overclocking competitions and other sales and marketing activities, 3DMark Vantage is a must have tool.

The app's benchmark presets offer a convenient way of scaling the load to provide relevant results for all levels of hardware. These settings represent more advanced levels of visual quality, and a score is produced when running the tool when completed. That score is calculated differently for each preset, and scores are not comparable across different presets.

Pro’s: Basic edition is free

Con’s: Paid editions are expensive and have limited consumer use

Conclusion: If you're building a PC or looking for some kind of graphics subsystem upgrade, you need to take a serious look at this tool. If you're prepping your PC for an upgrade, getting the right components can mean the difference between flawless, flowing gaming video or pushing your PC and its equipment a bit too far.  While the Basic edition of this tool is free, the paid versions are a bit pricey, and the tool in general has limited appeal from a consumer point of view, unless, again, you're building a PC or looking to upgrade.