The benchmark details screen helps you understand how the test works. It describes the key features of each workload, the target hardware, and other details such as the rendering resolution. With the Explorer Mode you can even move freely in the scene of a benchmark. 

Click on the large, orange Run button to start the benchmark. Some benchmarks have an "Enable sound" toggle next to the run button, use it to experience - or deactivate - the soundtrack.

Settings

Rendering device

If your system has multiple GPUs, you can use this drop-down to choose which GPU is used for the benchmark run.

Display

If your system has multiple displays, you can use this drop-down to choose which display is used for the benchmark run.


If the selected rendering device is not connected directly to the selected display then the frame rate may be limited by PCI Express bandwidth and other factors.

Enable sound (select benchmarks)

Use this setting to choose whether you want to hear the benchmark run's soundtrack. Audio on or off does not affect your 3DMark score and fps.   

Include demo (select benchmarks)

Use this setting to choose whether the demo is included in the benchmark run. 3DMark demos do not affect your benchmark score. In newer benchmarks, the demo was replaced with the Explorer Mode.

Buttons

  • Click the 3DMark user guide button to open this online guide.
  • Click the Hall of fame button to go to the benchmark's Hall of Fame page on 3dmark.com.
  • Click Uninstall to uninstall the benchmark. You won't lose any benchmark results. 

Custom run

Many benchmarks have settings that you change to create a custom benchmark run. Click on the Custom run tab to open the custom run view. Custom settings help you explore your PC's performance limits by making the benchmark more or less demanding, by changing render resolution and aspect ratio. Depending on the benchmark you can choose resolutions from 640p to 8k, with different aspect ratios - including those of ultra-wide screen displays. 

Adjust the settings to your preferences, then click the orange Run custom button to start the benchmark. Click on the Reset button to return all settings to the default values for the test.

Custom settings aren't available in the free 3DMark Demo, only in the paid 3DMark (formerly: Advanced) and 3DMark for Enterprise (Professional) Editions. When you run a benchmark with custom settings, you will get results from each subtest as well as hardware performance monitoring information, but no overall score. 

You only get an official 3DMark benchmark score when you run a test with the default settings.

Explorer Mode

Some benchmarks and feature tests have an Explorer Mode to visit and move around in the scenes. Here, too, the resolution settings apply. In the Explorer Mode you can change further settings, pause the looping scene. It is even possible to discover secret rooms in Steel Nomad and Steel Nomad Light.

Click on the orange Run Explorer Mode button to start a benchmark's Explorer Mode.