Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation

Frequently Asked Questions about SPECapc for 3ds Max 2011
6 July 2011

What is the difference between this benchmark and SPECapc for 3ds Max 9?

New features and tests have been added and major upgrades have been made in SPECapc for 3ds Max 2011, including:

• Updates that exercise new functionality implemented by Autodesk in 3ds Max 2011.
• An improved user interface that makes it much easier to configure and run tests.
• New and revised test cases for CPU, GPU, modeling and interactive graphics.
• Two separate versions of the benchmark, one for professional and one for personal use.
• Increased level of testing for shading and rendering, including in the professional version taking advantage of the Autodesk Quicksilver engine that uses both the CPU and GPU for accelerated rendering.
• In the professional version, a city scene model containing nearly 32-million polygons that tests extremely large model creation and playback.
• Automated benchmark results compilation in the professional version.
• A pay-for-download system that collects payments online.

What are the differences between the professional and personal versions of the benchmark?

The professional version sells for $495 and is designed for those serious about better performance. This includes users for whom performance increases can yield significant bottom-line value, consultants who make their living helping clients eek out maximum performance per dollar spent, and vendors that rely on performance measurement as a means of improving products, boosting sales, creating competitive advantage, and enhancing relationships with customers.

The professional version is a comprehensive test suite that exercises diverse aspects of 3ds Max 2011 performance, including modeling, interactive graphics, CPU and GPU. It includes 58 separate tests – including tests that build and render a city scene containing nearly 32-million polygons (faces) in real time – providing a complete performance picture for systems running 3ds Max 2011. Results from the professional version can be published publicly and submitted to SPEC for publication on its website.

The personal version sells for $20 and provides a basic, easy-to-use benchmark that generates a single score. It runs a subset of the tests found in the professional version, testing performance based on smaller models. This is ideal for someone who is seeking more information about 3ds Max 2011 performance, but who does not have the need for a comprehensive test suite using large models and does not require publication of test results.

SPECapc benchmarks have always been free. Why are you charging for them now?

Benchmarks such as SPECapc for 3ds Max 2011 are expensive to create, test and validate. Industry companies have always paid the bills for SPECapc benchmark development, but in recent years industry consolidation has reduced membership revenue, forcing SPECapc to investigate new revenue models. With SPECapc for 3ds Max 2011, SPECapc is asking customers who benefit from its benchmarks to help contribute to the cost of their development.

Does this mean that SPECapc will charge for all of its benchmarks?

Not necessarily. The decision to charge or not charge for future SPECapc benchmarks will likely be made on a case-by-case basis.

Who is SPECapc and why is it qualified to create this and other application benchmarks?

The SPECapc (SPEC Application Performance Characterization) group was formed in 1997 to address performance evaluation based on popular workstation applications. Current members include AMD, Dell, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Lenovo, NEC and NVIDIA.

Since its inception, SPECapc has worked with independent software vendors (ISVs) to ensure that its benchmarks represent what application users experience in the real world. The credibility of SPECapc benchmarks is proven by the number of SPECapc results reported by publications, websites, vendors and analyst organizations throughout the world. In addition to SPECapc for 3ds Max 2011, SPECapc provides benchmarks for Autodesk Maya, Lightwave, Pro/ENGINEER, SolidWorks and Siemens NX.

SPECapc is part of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC), a non-profit corporation formed to establish, maintain and endorse a standardized set of relevant benchmarks that can be applied to the newest generation of computers.