Futuremark 4K Firesrike

[Charles Wirth]

The buzz around 4K gaming continues to grow, but can the latest hardware really deliver? And are the extra pixels worth the extra cost? Lately, we are being asked the same questions again and again:
Should I buy a 4K monitor for my current PC setup?
What hardware do I need to play games at 4K Ultra HD resolution?
To answer those questions, we've created Fire Strike Ultra, the world's first 4K Ultra HD benchmark, available now and ready to use in the latest version of 3DMark.

Run Fire Strike Ultra on your existing PC to answer the first question. Fire Strike Ultra renders the test content at 3840 x 2160 (4K Ultra HD) before scaling the output to your PC's display resolution. This means you don't need a 4K monitor to run Fire Strike Ultra, though you will need a GPU with at least 3 GB of dedicated memory.

For the second question, you can help your readers understand whether new hardware delivers on the 4K promise by testing it with Fire Strike Ultra. And while it's always been possible to run 4K tests with custom settings in 3DMark, using a dedicated 4K test will provide a common reference point for all your reviews. Your readers will also be able to search for and compare Fire Strike Ultra scores for different hardware configurations on our website.

To say that Fire Strike Ultra is demanding is putting it mildly. Most people know that 4K Ultra HD is four times larger than 1080p, but with Fire Strike Ultra that's only part of the story. Check out this comparison to see the truly monstrous amount of processing required to run Fire Strike Ultra.

Average amount of processing performed per frame
Fire Strike
Fire Strike Extreme
Fire Strike Ultra

Graphics Test 1: Tessellation patches
500,000
560,000
650,000

Graphics Test 1: Triangles
5.1 million
9.9 million
12.4 million

Graphics Test 2: Vertices
2.6 million
3.9 million
6.0 million

Graphics Test 2: Pixels
170 million
400 million
1,100 million


Take another look at that last row. To run Fire Strike Ultra Graphics Test 2 at a steady 60 frames per second at 4K Ultra HD resolution, your PC will need to process 66 billion pixels per second. You'll find more details, along with complete release notes for this update, in the 3DMark Technical Guide.

Naturally, there's a dedicated Fire Strike Ultra leaderboard in the Futuremark Hall of Fame, and I can't wait to see what the world's best overclockers achieve with the world's most unforgiving benchmark.

Download 3DMark v1.4.775
Fire Strike Ultra is available now in the latest versions of 3DMark Advanced Edition and 3DMark Professional Edition. The Steam version of 3DMark updates automatically. The standalone will prompt you to download and install the update.

Find out more and download:
http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark

[hecktic]

you need to test with 8k



See http://www.pcgamesn.com/both-nvidia-...-to-perfection

[DefStar]

Well, I don't have a 4k monitor but I have been using Gedosato to play DarkSoulsII and Borderland Pre Sequel. Gedosato renders the games at a higher resolution and then down-scales to your monitor's output. For example, I play the above mentioned games rendered at 3840 x 2160 and then down-scaled to 1920 x 1080....And I must say it is Absolutely worth the extra cost just to get the down-scaled effects of 4k, I could only imagine how much better an actual 4k monitor will look. Anyway, I like 4k because you essentially don't need much if any anti-aliasing at this resolution. Maintaining 120 fps at 4k would be visually stunning in a game!

[kuroikenshi]

^^ I do a fair amount of work with my friends and work with their cameras that currently work at a res of 5k and 6k video at native resolution.

the funny thing is that playback is always downscale.

I say we need MOAR RES!!!!

[DefStar]

^^ I do a fair amount of work with my friends and work with their cameras that currently work at a res of 5k and 6k video at native resolution.

the funny thing is that playback is always downscale.

I say we need MOAR RES!!!!

^^ I agree with that to, it just keeps looking more beautiful the higher the res. One important thing in games though is the ability to do 120 Hz VSYNC. I can see it, at 60 Hz panning a scene is be very, very blurry. At 120 Hz, well, it is a lot less blurry and less strain on the eyes. ALSO!!, using Nvidia 2D LigthtBoost (aka frame sequential in 2D) at 120 FPS is really what kind of quality we need to make a standard...it is damn near CRT quality in that regard.