This Tech Short is a brief overview of Graphics Benchmarking.

Before we had our first graphics cards, graphics chips were usually integrated chips on either the CPU or motherboard, and they had very basic 2D abilities. If you wanted a PC with better graphics, it was just a simple case of paying more money.
But once 3D graphics cards came along and microarchitectures became more sophisticated, an expensive GPU didn't necessarily mean better performance than a cheaper alternative. So how did we know which card was better? Benchmarks.

Benchmarks were created to use a set of data commands so you could accurately test 2 or more components, and see how well those data commands were carried out with each piece of hardware. With gaming, it was a similar process, using a predetermined 2D and 3D renderings or real workloads to measure how fast the GPU could render them in real time. This is known as framerate.

While framerates today can reach in excess of 240 frames per second (FPS), some of the first benchmarks and GPU's could only produce 10 – 15 FPS. But as Graphics cards improved, so did the benchmarking software., using more and more complex programming to push the GPU's to there limit and still keep things as accurate as possible in order to test multiple hardware platforms at all levels.

Game benchmarks are generally broken down into two categories. Synthetic and Real World Benchmarks.

• Synthetic Benchmarks.

These are pre-rendered workloads designed to test only the GPU. This is done by reducing system bottlenecks that could be found in hardware like the CPU, Memory and Storage. This is the most direct type of benchmarking available for testing just the GPU. This is ideal for comparing 2 different GPU's that are inside 2 different systems.
Today, one of the more popular synthetic benchmarks is Unigine Superposition, and if you look here at there leaderboards, you can see how how the synthetic benchmark is used to compare various GPU's in multiple configurations and clock speeds.

Image Source

• Real World Benchmarks.

Unlike the Synthetic benchmarking, real world benchmarks use real workloads instead of a pre-rendered one. These can usually be found built into some high end games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, GTA V, Hitman and even Crysis. While these types of benchmarks don't reduce the impact other system hardware can have, it instead uses the exact same amount of system resources that it would use under normal gaming conditions, but still be able to give you an accurate representation of what the game will perform like.
This is not an 'Apples to Apples' comparison that the synthetic benchmark can give you, but it is a more accurate way of determining how a system will perform in the real world.
Some hardware reviewers will often have a ''Test Bench'' set up that has specific hardware and only change the GPU when running there benchmarks. This is the only way to determine which GPU has the better performance because the hardware remains the same.

Image Source

There are also other Benchmarks that don't quite fit into either group as they use a combination of synthetic and real world workloads. 3D Mark's Fire Strike is a perfect example of this as when it is benchmarking, it uses a combination of different tests that range from testing the GPU, Processor, and a mix of everything to give the end user a score to compare in there Hall of Fame.

Image Source

---

So when you are ready to buy your next GPU, and you want one with the most performance, Have a good look around online for benchmarks about the Graphics card you want.

Thanks for reading.

Make Steemit Work For You! Join SmartSteem NOW!... Click HERE to Find Out More!

---

Don't Forget to Upvote, ReSteem and Follow for more content like this!

---

Stu @TechMojo

---

Join the chat	TechMojo Discord Channel
Follow us	TechMojo OnG Social Page
Like us	TechMojo Facebook Page
Follow us	TechMojo Twitter

---

@TechMojo Recommended Blogs you should follow.

---

@Deeviras	@Gaming-Stuff	@retro-room
@gamesociety	@Rerez	@C0ff33a
@Free999Enigma	@deadspace	@SteemGC
@GeekClub	@XR-HammerGaming	@tygergamer

If you want to apper here, then contact us via our Discord Channel!

---

Like this Content? Why Not Donate Then.

Bitcoin Wallet Address.	1L8TZDQasoBU2RNcjkSeZX3iUsSaHT37aj
Ethereum Wallet Address.	0xe3c6372121554f73c38acae3312fc7b1ddaf670f