CPU Test 1:

Click for larger image.

The first CPU test is a fully parallelized AI simulation, with several airplanes flying around attempting to find a safe path without crashing into any objects or each other. 

CPU Test 2:

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The last test is a physics test.  If there is an AGEIA PhysX accelerator found on the system, then the test will utilize it.  Otherwise, the calculations are done with the CPU.   It will be interesting to see if support is added later for AMD or nVidia based physics acceleration. 

Conclusion:

It is always exciting to get new toys to play with, and 3DMark Vantage is no exception.  As usual, the new tests make my hardware want to cry, which is to be expected.  I feel that the different testing pretests will go a long ways at keeping Vantage relevant to actual gaming performance, so long as the community in general is willing to accept them.

The scoring system isn't the only thing that is different, as the cost structure has changed as well.  The trial is now only good for a single run, and the basic version that was free before now costs $7.  The full version is still pretty cheap at $20, which in my opinion is not bad at all, especially if you do a lot of stress testing.

Performance:	N/A
Innovation:	4 out of 5
Quality:	4 out of 5
Stability:	N/A
Aesthetics:	4 out of 5
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Overclocking:	N/A
Value:	4 out of 5
Project Skill Level (5 being most difficult)	1 out of 5