Intel graphics drivers employ questionable 3DMark Vantage optimizations

“Intel may not be playing fair, though. We recently learned AMD
has notified Futuremark that Intel’s 15.15.4.1872 Graphics Media
Accelerator drivers for Windows 7 incorporate performance
optimizations that specifically target the benchmark, so we decided
to investigate.

“We tested 3DMark Vantage 1.0.1 with these drivers on a G41
Express-based Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2H motherboard running the Windows
7 x64 release-to-manufacturing build, a Core 2 Duo E6300, 4GB of
DDR2-800 memory, and a Raptor WD1500ADFD hard drive.

“We first ran the benchmark normally. Then, we renamed the
3DMark executable from “3DMarkVantage.exe” to “3DMarkVintage.exe”.
And—wouldn’t you know it?—there was a substantial
performance difference between the two.”

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