The GALAX GOC overclocking competition in Wuhan, China took place on December 11 and 12, and 14 professional overclockers competed for a chance to win a grand prize of 30,000 chinese yen (approximately $4,650 USD) by pushing Galax hardware to the limits. As part of the presentation for the event, Galax offered Futuremark some stage time to reveal the first glimpse of its upcoming Direct X 12 benchmark tool. A video of the presentation surfaced this weekend on Chinese video service YouKu and has since been reposted to YouTube by Guru3d.
“Time Spy” Benchmark Coming
Time Spy will consist of three tests — two graphics tests and a single physics test — which will test GPU and CPU performance. The test will also include a demo reel and soundtrack, as we’ve seen with previous 3DMark benchmark tests.
Futuremark said the Time Spy benchmark is being developed using a Direct X 12 engine that it created in-house to showcase the API’s new features. The company pointed out that one of DX12’s greatest benefits is its ability to have far more draw calls than the previous version of the API. We were told that “Time Spy has roughly five times as much content on screen as Fire Strike.”
On The Subject Of Bias
Futuremark said it has been following the news break about the benchmark and has noticed that there appears to be concerns of bias based on the Nvidia logo seen above the video presentation. The company was clear with us that the logos were there for the Galax event and not its own presentation, so the Nvidia part was purely coincidental.
Futuremark said that the Time Spy 3DMark benchmark is “being developed with input and feedback from all of our Benchmark Development Program partners” and added that it has been using this approach to develop all of its benchmark tools since 1997. Futuremark said all BDP members have the opportunity to review source code and make suggestions towards improving the benchmark and that BDP partners that had a hand in developing Time Spy include AMD, Nvidia, Intel and Microsoft, among others.
