OpenGL Benchmarks Instructions

  1. Ensure that you are running the latest version of WCS. Early (pre-5.18) versions did not have benchmarking capability.
  2. Be sure to note the speed of your CPU, as our Benchmark Report is unable to determine this for itself, and it does affect the results.
  3. Set your display to 1024x768, 24-bit/32-bit/truecolor. The report will indicate which depth you used. Some cards perform better in different color depths, so try them all and report which one does best for you.
  4. Try not to have any other programs running while benchmarking as they may impair your system or GL performance.
  5. Start WCS, and select the Quad matrix configuration. This should ensure that everyone's individual windows sizes are approximately the same. System font size may slightly affect how much room is left over for the view windows, but we regard this as insignificant. The report will indicate the actual size of the View you benchmarked.
  6. Open View Preferences, and set your Max Polygons setting to 60,000. This will ensure everyone is comparing scenes of the same complexity.
  7. Open the Demos/LoneTree project. Do not adjust any settings.
  8. Click on the right hand (Overhead Camera) View to make it active.
  9. Hold down the shift key, and press the number 7 at the top of the keyboard to get the '&' symbol. (International users: We're not sure if this will be the same key on your keyboards.)
  10. WCS will pause for a moment as it tests your graphics system, then it will ask you "Report GL extensionlist?". Answer Yes.
  11. It will then ask "Write results to file?". Answer Yes again.
  12. Use the file requester to tell WCS where to save the file. A default name, "WCSGLOG.txt" is suggested. If this file already exists, the new results will be appended to the existing file. In this way, you can benchmark your system under different conditions, and build up a useful spectrum of results. If you do not elect to write the results to a file, WCS will display them in the Status Log.
  13. File the report by sending it as part of a message to wcsml@egroups.com. DO NOT ATTACH THE BENCHMARK REPORT FILE TO YOUR REPLY AS AN ATTACHMENT. The mailing list system will not permit any attachments, and your report will be lost. Windows Users: If you double-click on the text file that WCS creates, it will open up in a text editor, and you can copy and paste the info into your e-mail message. Mac Users: Use SimpleText to open the file, and copy/paste.


Benchmarks can be found organized by card type at the OpenGL Benchmark Listing.

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