Futuremark Updates 3DMark with New Test, 4x GPU Support

It’s not common to see Futuremark release more than one patch for a product within the span of a couple of months, but when that product is about as complicated as a game, it’s easy to understand. Back in March, the company issued a small post-release update – namely to add official Windows 8 support – and this week, it’s released something a little more significant, version 1.1.0.

The biggest feature in this patch isn’t so much a feature but a fix: 4x GPU support. According to Futuremark’s President, Oliver Baltuch, adding this support was no easy task. It took much poring over the code to see why the program wouldn’t scale as it should, and finally, the problem was discovered and subsequently handled. While few of us out there are blessed with 4 GPUs, this is sure to make overclockers very, very happy.

Here’s the official patch summary, with note of a new test:

New

• The Ice Storm Extreme benchmark test has been added to 3DMark Advanced and Professional Editions. Ice Storm Extreme is a Direct3D feature level 9 benchmark test for Windows tablets, ultrabooks and notebooks. Ice Storm Extreme raises the rendering resolution from 720p to 1080p and uses higher quality textures and post-processing effects in the graphics tests to create a more demanding load for the latest mobile devices. You can compare Ice Storm and Ice Storm Extreme scores from Windows and Android devices.

Fixed

• 3DMark now works correctly on systems with up to four GPUs.
• Fixed the issue caused by Windows update KB2670838, which added partial DX11.1 support to Windows 7.
• Fixed a problem with the bloom post-processing effect when using very high rendering resolutions in custom settings.

As always, you can head on over to the official site to snag the latest version. If you own the app on Steam, you’ll likely already have it.