No ambiguity there, then: Vantage-specific optimizations aren’t allowed. Optimizations in the driver that utilize empirical data of 3DMark Vantage workloads are prohibited. With the exception of configuring the correct rendering mode on multi-GPU systems, it is prohibited for the driver to detect the launch of 3DMark Vantage executable and to alter, replace or override any quality parameters or parts of the benchmark workload based on the detection. These guidelines, which can be viewed here (PDF), explicitly forbid optimizations that specifically target the 3DMark Vantage executable. Given that history, it’s not surprising that the company has strict guidelines for the graphics drivers it approves for use with 3DMark Vantage. Yet the higher scores achieved through benchmark-specific optimizations could influence a PC maker’s choice of graphics solution or help determine the pricing of a graphics card.įuturemark’s popular 3DMark benchmark has been the target of several questionable optimizations over the years. Synthetic tests don’t have user experiences to improve, just arbitrary scores to inflate. The situation gets more complicated when one considers optimizations that specifically target benchmarks. If a driver can offer users smoother gameplay without any ill effects, why shouldn’t it be allowed? Optimizations that don’t affect an application’s image quality are harder to condemn, though, especially if you’re talking about games. Some optimizations surreptitiously degraded image quality in order to boost performance, which obviously isn’t kosher. Accusations were hurled with regularity, and in some cases, there was real cheating going on. In the early days of GPUs, application-specification performance optimizations in graphics drivers were viewed by many as cheating.
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