3DMark Editor's Review

While many gamers believe PC graphics can be superior to their console counterparts, there is an added level of complexity with computers. While gamers know that any two Xboxes or PlayStations that are the same model will give the same performance, the PC gaming experience can vary wildly depending on your computer and what customisation you have carried out on it.

3DMark06 is designed to assess your computer and test both the power of individual components such as the processor and graphics chips, and the way they work together. It gives you objective scores for your computer's capabilities, which will those with a more advanced computer knowledge to work out exactly what games will and won't run well on their machine. It can also help you figure out what upgrades may be worthwhile.

The software is designed to look to the future of the ever-changing game world as well as the present. With this in mind it has demonstrations of some of the three-dimension graphic techniques expected in upcoming games. When these work on your machine, they are truly beautiful. When they don't, it can be frustrating -- though of course that is the whole point of the demo, and better you find out this way than when you've wasted your money on a new game.

These tests are the reason for the biggest drawback of the software though: the huge size. You're looking at a 500MB download and you'll need at least 1.5GB of space on your hard drive to install it. This shouldn't be a problem for those with a serious gaming rig and broadband package, but it means this isn't something you want to download just to have a play about.

Pro's: Comprehensive tests; impressive demos

Con's: Large file size

Conclusion: 3DMArk is the best way to test your rig before buying a new game