Once people have purchased a computer, the first thing they're usually interested in is finding out how good it is for playing games.

Of course, if you're not new at this, you probably know that the performance of a computer game mostly relies in the graphic card you're using (plus other hardware components).

If you really want to test the performance of your computer when it comes to video games, then you need a software like 3DMark06.

We're talking about a benchmarking tool that thoroughly analyzes your computer's performance by giving it a series of tests which are solely based on how well it handles video games.

The interface is very user-friendly but, unfortunately, you don't have the access to select tests, change settings and image quality, or filters, in the trial version.

3DMark06 will launch a game (with some pretty impressive graphics) that will actually test your computer system. During this game, you can view elapsed time and frames, as well as FPS (frames per second). The better your graphic card is, the higher the FPS will be.

Press "Esc" at any time to abort the benchmark.

There is also an option of viewing your results online. Here, 3DMark06 tells you if your computer has any shortcomings, by comparing it with other systems.

You can imagine the amount of memory this software uses while it's "in game", but the usage is minimum otherwise.

The conclusion is that 3DMark06 is an excellent tool for game players, but also for game creators (for testing purposes). Regardless of the reason you are using it, this application shows some excellent graphics and thorough results when it comes to computer performance.