Vulpine GLMark is a new kick ass OpenGL benchmark, it can easily replace Quake3 as the standard OpenGL performance meter. It can even be considered an OpenGL based 3Dmark2001 equivalent, not just because it has mind boggling graphics, but rather because it is the only benchmark at the moment that makes use of some of the technology only supported by the Geforce3 so far (i.e Vertex Programs, Texture Shaders, Register Combiners). On top of that, other advanced features such as hardware T&L, cube mapping, S3TC, and NV_vertex_array (geometry data is uploaded on to the memory, only for Geforce line of cards) are used through out the long running demo.

The benchmark starts with a fly by along an island, with dense trees and the best damn looking mountains. Although the water could use some improvement, the environment overall is fantastic and probably one of the best looking and high detailed outdoor 3D scenery ever created (yes, as good as Giants). Later on, the demo moves into caves, which lead to secret laboratory and so on. Shadows are all done in real time, with accordance to the light sources and ton of curved surfaces. 

Instead of giving you a collective score as in 3Dmark2000, at the end GLMark just gives you an average overall FPS, and also automatically creates charts and graphs. My only complaint is that it takes a while for the benchmark to load up. In short, an all round excellent 3D performance analysis application.

Performance measured in Frames per Second & High Detail 32 Bit. (+ gf3 means extra GeForce3 options enabled)

Well, this surely took a while to get tested as the demo takes forever to finish. As you can see this very demanding benchmark clearly likes the new DetonatorXP drivers, it rocks all resolutions and even 1600x1200 in 32 Bit is running silky smooth. Not a performance gain to write home about.