3DMark Vantage and 2006

3DMark Vantage is the latest 3DMark test from Futuremark. Traditionally, 3DMark focused on GPU performance but with 3DMark 2006 and Vantage, Futuremark has given more attention to the CPU. 3DMark Vantage features two CPU tests that focus on either artificial intelligence calculations or physics calculations. 3DMark 2006 features two CPU physics simulations of differing quality. These tests scale incredibly well with cores so the more threads available the higher the score.

3DMark Vantage is an interesting application. At stock speeds Phenom II and Core i7 have identical GPU scores, but Core i7 has a massive CPU score. The 500MHz overclock though bumps Phenom II over Core i7 due to the sheer CPU performance boost. 3DMark 2006 shows a solid win for Phenom II at both settings due to the much higher SM2 and SM3 scores with the CPU score not being as significant.