SPEC’s Graphics Performance Characterization (SPECgpc) project group has released SPECviewperf 11, a new version of its graphics benchmarking software that includes a new GUI [graphical user interface] and fully updated viewsets based on traces from professional applications. SPECgpc members involved in the development of SPECviewperf 11 include Apple, AMD, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Intel, and NVIDIA.

"This is one of the most significant releases of SPECviewperf in recent years," says Ian Williams, SPECgpc chair. "It delivers a much better user experience and the major workload updates better align graphics performance results with what users experience in their day-to-day work with professional applications."

The new SPECviewperf 11 GUI makes it easier for novice or infrequent users to set up multiple benchmark runs, access results, and receive help for common issues, he says. Test files in SPECviewperf 11, called viewsets, are traced from newer versions of eight different graphics-intensive applications and incorporate advanced OpenGL functionality such as shaders and vertex buffer objects (VBOs).

The new viewsets also contain larger models – some with more than 60 million vertices – to exercise the latest generation of graphics cards and to reflect current user workloads. More information and initial results from SPECgpc members are available on the SPEC web site (http://www.spec.org).