12. Synthetics

3D Mark 2005

3D Mark is a great way to show off higher graphics power, even when most games don’t require it. Alienware’s SLI pair of two GeForce Go 7950GTX graphics modules wins handily in both standard and anti-aliasing plus anisotropic filtering enhanced modes.

Alienware’s SLI configuration shows off in most SPECviewperf viewsets, but what the heck happened in Maya? On the other side, the Unigraphics TCVIS and UGNX benchmarks show no benefit whatsoever from the extra graphics processor.