Ad-Hoc Group Formed to Explore Application-Based DirectX Benchmarks

A SPEC/GPC sponsored meeting for those interested in DirectX benchmarking efforts has been scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday, May 23 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. MT during the GPC meetings in Albuquerque, N.M. A teleconference will be set up at the meeting to accommodate those who cannot attend in person. Parties interesting in attending the DirectX meeting in person or via telephone, can e-mail gpcinfo@spec.org for more information.

More than 20 professionals from a dozen companies participated in a March 14 meeting sponsored by SPEC/GPC to explore opportunities for new DirectX benchmarks. The meeting was held in Sacramento, with a telephone hook-up that allowed others to participate.

Based on the level of interest, an ad-hoc group, led by Jeff Ma of Intel and David Zenz of Dell, has been formed to further discuss DirectX benchmarking and the possibilities of forming a project group within SPEC/GPC.

Participants in the initial meeting favor application-based benchmarks over synthetic ones. There was a strong preference for benchmarks that go beyond graphics to exercise the entire system, including CPU and I/O. The greatest interest is in DirectX benchmarks based on best-selling games within different genres. There was also some interest in a DirectX benchmark for 3ds max.

Future face-to-face and telecon meetings are planned for the new group. Updates will be posted on www.spec.org/gpc. Those interested in participating in future meetings or discussions, can e-mail gpcinfo@spec.org.