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Benchmarks

GPU benchmark

The GPU benchmark evaluates your graphics card's performance across 3D rendering, general-purpose GPU (GPGPU) compute, and VRAM throughput. The combined result produces your GPU score, which reflects how your graphics hardware handles demanding visual and computational workloads.

What the GPU test measures

The GPU benchmark runs three test types that exercise different aspects of graphics hardware.

3D rendering

The 3D rendering test measures your GPU's ability to draw complex scenes in real time. Novabench uses the native graphics API for your platform:

  • Windows: Direct3D 11
  • macOS: Metal
  • Linux: Vulkan

The test renders a 3D scene, measuring per-frame render time throughout. The rendering workload includes geometry processing, texture sampling, lighting calculations, and shader execution, reflecting the types of work GPUs perform in games and 3D applications. The score is derived from average frame time. Lower frame times (faster rendering) produce higher scores.

GPGPU compute

The compute test measures your GPU's ability to perform general-purpose parallel calculations. Unlike 3D rendering, compute workloads do not involve drawing pixels on screen. Instead, they use the GPU's parallel architecture for tasks like scientific simulation, machine learning inference, video encoding, and image processing.

Novabench runs Vulkan compute shaders (MoltenVK on macOS) that execute large chains of fused multiply-add (FMA) operations across thousands of parallel work items. The result is reported in GFLOPS (billions of floating-point operations per second), reflecting raw GPU compute throughput.

VRAM throughput

The VRAM test measures memory bandwidth by transferring 128 MB buffers in repeated passes. Two transfer directions are measured: host-to-device (system memory to GPU memory) and device-to-device (within GPU memory only). Results are reported in MB/s. VRAM throughput affects how quickly the GPU can access textures, frame buffers, and compute data during rendering and compute workloads.

Multi-GPU systems

If your system has more than one GPU, Novabench lets you select which GPU to test. This is common on systems with both an integrated GPU (built into the processor) and a discrete GPU (a dedicated graphics card), or on workstations with multiple discrete GPUs.

Select the GPU you want to test from the GPU test configuration widget before starting the benchmark. Novabench identifies each GPU by name and confirms which device ran the test in the results.

Frame timing analysis

During the 3D test, Novabench tracks how long each frame took to render, and how much time the CPU and GPU each spend waiting for the other. The analysis identifies stutter (frames that take significantly longer than normal to render, appearing as noticeable gaps in animation), and potential bottlenecks between CPU and GPU.

What bottleneck analysis tells you

  • GPU-limited: the GPU is fully utilized while the CPU has idle time. Upgrading the GPU would improve performance.
  • CPU-limited: the CPU cannot feed the GPU fast enough, so the GPU has idle time. This can happen with a powerful GPU paired with an older or slower CPU. Upgrading the CPU or closing CPU-heavy background tasks would help.
  • Balanced: both the CPU and GPU are well-utilized with minimal idle time on either side. This is the ideal configuration.

Bottleneck analysis is most useful when evaluating upgrade decisions. If your system is heavily CPU-limited, upgrading the GPU alone may not improve real-world graphics performance.

Sensor data during the test

On Plus, Novabench collects sensor data while the GPU benchmark runs:

  • Temperature: GPU core temperature throughout the test, showing thermal behavior under sustained graphics load
  • Power draw: watts consumed by the graphics card during each test phase
  • Clock speed: GPU core frequency, revealing whether the card maintains its boost clock or throttles under load

A temperature curve that rises sharply during the 3D test and then levels off suggests the GPU reached its thermal limit and throttled. Lower-than-expected scores combined with high temperatures point to a cooling issue. See sensor monitoring for long-term GPU thermal tracking.

Factors affecting GPU scores

Driver versions

GPU drivers have a significant impact on graphics performance. Driver updates frequently include optimizations that improve rendering throughput and compute performance.

  • Windows: update through NVIDIA GeForce Experience, AMD Software, or Intel Arc Control
  • macOS: GPU drivers are included with macOS updates
  • Linux: install the latest proprietary drivers from your GPU vendor for best results

Power and thermal conditions

  • Power delivery: desktop GPUs require adequate power supply wattage. An underpowered PSU can cause the GPU to throttle or crash under load.
  • Thermal throttling: GPUs reduce clock speed when they overheat. Ensure your case has adequate airflow. On laptops, use a cooling pad and ensure vents are unobstructed.
  • Power plan: on laptops, power-saving modes may limit GPU performance. Use balanced or high-performance power settings when benchmarking.

Display and configuration

  • Resolution: the GPU benchmark uses a fixed internal resolution, so your display resolution does not affect the score. However, running other graphics applications while benchmarking can consume GPU resources.
  • Multi-monitor setups: additional displays consume GPU processing cycles for desktop rendering. This typically won't have a significant impact on test scores, but is worth considering as a factor to isolate if you're having performance issues.

Hardware factors

  • GPU architecture and generation: newer GPU architectures deliver more performance per watt and per clock cycle.
  • VRAM amount and type: more VRAM allows the GPU to store larger textures and data sets without swapping to system memory. VRAM type (GDDR5, GDDR6, GDDR6X, HBM) determines bandwidth.
  • Memory bus width: wider memory buses increase bandwidth. This is a fixed hardware characteristic that varies by GPU model.