3DMark99 MAX

Put a late-1990s PC through a repeatable series of real-time graphics tests with 3DMark 99 MAX. Developed for Windows 95 and Windows 98, the benchmark uses Remedy’s MAX-FX engine to combine game-style scenes, focused graphics workloads, and detailed results. Each run follows a predetermined sequence, providing a consistent workload for examining how a processor and graphics accelerator perform together. Two game scenes sit at the center of the benchmark. The Race uses a racing-style environment with single-textured surfaces, fog, and transparency effects. First Person recreates the rendering demands of a first-person shooter, combining surface textures with lighting maps. Their measured frame rates form the overall 3DMarks score, connecting the visible movement on screen with a result that can be recorded and compared. The individual graphics tests explore fill rate, multitexturing, texture rendering, filtering, and polygon throughput. Texture workloads range from 2MB to 32MB, revealing how performance changes as the amount of texture data increases. Emboss bump-mapping tests added in MAX examine the cost of producing surface detail, while image-quality tests provide reference material for inspecting rendering output. MAX also introduces optimizations for Intel Pentium III SSE and AMD 3DNow! processors. Its dedicated CPU workload measures geometry transformation, lighting, and scene processing, producing a separate CPU 3DMarks result. Fill-rate and texture-rendering tests contribute to the 3DRasterMarks score, offering another view of the graphics accelerator’s capabilities alongside the game-scene results. The Professional Edition expands the available tests and display settings, including higher resolutions, 16-bit and 32-bit color, and advanced buffering options. Batch testing automates runs across multiple configurations. The Result Browser stores projects and system information, then brings results together for comparison. After changing a graphics card, adjusting settings, or updating a driver, the same workloads can be repeated to examine the effect on individual measurements. A dedicated demo mode turns the real-time graphics technology into a presentation accompanied by an original soundtrack. A particle-built sun, environment-mapped morphing objects, shifting light and shadows, and a jungle waterfall unfold in time with the music. These sequences give the hardware a visual showcase while capturing the effects and ambitions that shaped PC 3D graphics at the end of the decade.