Next up, we have 3D graphics testing with 3DMark Ice Storm. Ice Storm Extreme raises the rendering resolution from 720p to 1080p over the standard preset, and uses higher quality textures and post-processing effects in the Graphics tests to create a more demanding workload. In Unlimited mode frames are rendered in 720p off-screen while the display is updated with thumbnails every 100 frames to show progress.
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| 3DMark Ice Storm And Cloud Gate |
| Synthetic DirectX Gaming And Graphics Testing | |
Here we've decided to give you a view of how the Yoga 3 Pro, which arguably is a notebook-tablet hybrid of sorts, compares to some premium tablet devices on the market.
Amongst top-shelf slates like Apples iPad Air 2 and NVIDIA's SHIELD Tablet, the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro, offers top scores in all metrics by very comfortable margins. But let's take a look at how it fares versus competitive premium ultrabooks.
The Cloud Gate test is aimed at entry-level PCs and laptops, and has two subtests: a processor-intensive physics test and two graphics tests. We run the test suite at its default 1280 x 720 resolution and at default rendering quality settings. Keep in mind that 3DMark Cloud Gate scores aren’t comparable to scores from say, 3DMark Fire Strike (gaming PCs) or Ice Storm (smartphones and tablets).
Here the Yoga 3 Pro didn't fare as well, falling behind the Intel HD 4400 and HD 4000-enabled Core i5 systems. Again, at the risk of sounding apologetic, the 4.5 Watt Core M-5Y70 is competing against mostly 15 Watt chips here, with the exception of the Pentium N3530, which is a 7.5 Watt CPU. At this point, the Core M is looking like a "tweener" in terms of graphics performance; in other words it's significantly faster than a tablet but not quite up to same performance level of the average ultrabook currently. Let's look at a moderate game engine test though...
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| Ubisoft Far Cry 2 |
| DX10 Gaming Performance | |
Far Cry 2
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When it comes to lush vegetation in a steaming, sinister jungle, no one pulls it off quite like Ubisoft does in its Far Cry series. Far Cry 2 uses high-quality textures, complex shaders, and dynamic lighting to create a realistic environment. The game’s built-in benchmark gives us a good look at a system’s performance with DirectX 10. |
Here the Core M-powered Yoga 3 Pro clocked in about the same, though it was able to overtake some of the older Core series processors. Again, not bad for a 4.5 Watt chip but if you want playable frame rates, you'll have to dial things back even more or stick with less strenuous titles. To be fair, the Yoga 3 Pro is an ultralight notebook, so desktop-class gaming scenarios are probably a bit too much to ask. Tablet-class gaming on the other hand should be handled with aplomb.
