For our first gaming benchmarks, we'll look at the XPS M1730's performance in Futuremark's 3DMark06. For the overall score, we have compared the M1730 to several laptops we have reviewed in the past. In the rest of the benchmarks, the M1730 was compared to the ASUS C90S.
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| Performance Comparisons with 3DMark06 |
| Details: www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark06 | |
3DMark06 |
3DMark06 is the most recent addition to the 3DMark franchise. This version differs from 3Dmark05 in a number of ways, and includes not only Shader Model 2.0 tests, but Shader Model 3.0 and HDR tests as well. Some of the assets from 3DMark05 have been re-used, but the scenes are now rendered with much more geometric detail and the shader complexity is vastly increased as well. Max shader length in 3DMark05 was 96 instructions, while 3DMark06 ups that number to 512. 3DMark06 also employs much more lighting and there is extensive use of soft shadows. With 3DMark06, Futuremark has also updated how the final score is tabulated. In this latest version of the benchmark, SM 2.0 and HDR / SM3.0 tests are weighted and the CPU score is factored into the final tally as well. |
Futuremark 3DMark06 shows that the XPS M1730 is vastly superior in terms of performance than any of the laptops we have previously reviewed. The difference in performance between the M1730 and its predecessor, the M1710 is especially interesting. The M1710's single GeForce Go 7950 GTX is no match for the M1730's dual GeForce 8700M GTs in SLI. Note that the XPS M1730 and ASUS C90S were both running Windows Vista while all of the other systems were configured with Windows XP.
Here we can see the advantage that the M1730 has in performance over what can be considered a mid-range laptop that isn't gaming oriented. The 8600M GT used by the ASUS C90S is one of the most popular video cards seen in higher end laptops and this test gives us a good idea of where the M1730 stands in comparison.
