Futuremark Announces 3DMark for Windows 8

Futuremark has today announced the next version of its 3DMark benchmark, tentatively titled, “3DMark for Windows 8”. At this time, specific details are scarce, and as the benchmark isn’t slated to launch until after Windows 8, that’s to be expected. The reason Futuremark wanted to get the word out so soon has to do with the fact that the direction of the benchmark will be broadened.

It’s clear that Microsoft has tablets in mind in developing Windows 8, so for that reason Futuremark is making sure that its software will be able to run on such devices, and likely any other device that can run the OS. While 3DMark has always been about pushing graphical boundaries, tablet and mobile gaming is huge, so it’s reasonable to see where Futuremark is coming from with this decision.

Bullet-points listed in the press release are as follows:

• Measures and compares gaming performance on all Windows 8 devices
• Stunning real-time scenes stress test all levels of hardware
• Supports both x86 and ARM-based architectures
• Can be used in both Metro UI and ‘classic’ Windows environments
• Created in co-operation with the world’s leading technology companies
• Currently in development, expected to be released in 2012

Most of these could have been predicted without seeing a list, but the mention of support for ARM-based CPUs is rather interesting. Given the company’s planned support of tablets, that support is necessary, but I admit it’s still a little odd to see ARM and 3DMark mentioned in the same breath. This gives Intel just one more reason to work harder to get into the tablet space, because if gaming does have as bright a future there as some are predicting, then the company has little time to waste.