3DMark 03 Performance Factors

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A very informative editorial has been posted at Aces Hardware. This will make you see 3DMark 03 in a different light, because it backs up what many have already noticed - 3DMark is far from putting realistic results from your system. While doing some research on an old 350 MHz Pentium II system, Johan came across some interesting results while benchmarking 3DMark03. When equipped with a high-end video card, like a Radeon 9700 Pro, the 350 MHz Pentium II was able to more than keep pace with a 1.4 GHz Pentium III Celeron and even a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 in several of the 3DMark03 game tests. Perhaps this should not come as a suprise, since 3DMark03 is, after all, primarily a video card benchmark. But how much of one? Given the sheer magnitude of difference between the 350 MHz Pentium II and more modern hardware, we decided to investigate further.