New 3DMark Sky Diver benchmark test is aimed at mid-range PCs, gaming notebooks

By Konrad Krawczyk May 29, 2014

3dmark sky diver benchmark aimed at mid range notebook pcs 3d mark — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Futuremark’s Fire Strike test is currently the company’s most demanding benchmark, but what if you wanted to take your PC’s temperature, and Fire Strike is way too heavy for your rig to lift? A new test from Futuremark, dubbed Sky Diver, is coming soon, and may offer a better way to get a handle on what your DirectX 11 PC can and can’t do.

Sky Diver is positioned between Fire Strike, which is meant for heavy duty systems, and Cloud Gate, a test ideally suited for average consumer PCs. Futuremark says that Sky Diver is best suited for testing PCs with mid-range graphics cards, mobile-class GPUs, and integrated graphics chips. It features graphics, physics, and joint tests as well.

“Some people think that 3DMark is only for high-end hardware and extreme overclocking,” Futuremark CEO Jukka Mäkinen said. “Yet millions of PC gamers rely on 3DMark to choose systems that best balance performance, efficiency, and affordability. 3DMark Sky Diver complements our other tests by providing the ideal benchmark for gaming laptops and mainstream PCs.”

The development of Sky Diver is significant, because running Fire Strike on a not-exactly-high-end PC may cause the average consumer to conclude that they’re in need of an upgrade, when they really aren’t, especially if their computing needs don’t demand a tricked-out system. If Sky Diver delivers on what it promises, it could offer mid-range PC and notebook owners some greater insight into their system’s capabilities.

Sky Diver will be released as an update for 3DMark, along with 3DMark Basic Edition. Futuremark will show off Sky Diver at Computex in Taipei, which kicks off on June 3, which is when the company is expected to provide a release date for the new benchmark.

You can watch an official Futuremark 3DMark Sky Diver preview clip below, courtesy of YouTube:

Konrad Krawczyk

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…

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