Introducing the Multi-GPU Index

3DMark 06 is a benchmark designed to test advanced shader models 2.0 and 3.0 in your graphics cards.  While it does test video performance it seems to rely heavily on overall CPU performance so the results will be somewhat less accurate as we switch between the different processor and system architectures.

Testing was done using the default settings just like if you were to run the benchmark for an HWBot submission.

The results of this test seem to mimic scores posted using 3DMark Vantage.  Overall they tend to level off as we add more video cards except for on the P55 platform.  This leveling can be attributed to the CPU not being able to supply the cards with enough data.  If you were running this benchmark for HWBot and ran into a similar situation you would have a couple of choices to improve your score. 

1. Invest in a faster processor or tune your CPU overclock for better performance.  
2. Increase your video card clocks to make them more efficient.  
3. both

It is not uncommon to run into this situation which is why many of the scores you see on HWBot tend to be higher when using two cards over using three or four.