Skin deep won’t cut it: graphics benchmarks require real-world working models

Models, models, everywhere, but few suitable for a good benchmark. That statement pretty much sums up the conundrum faced by the SPEC Graphics and Workstation Performance Group (SPEC/GWPG), the international benchmarking organization. Do a search for 3D models and all kinds of options, free and paid, crop up. But very few of these models are representative of work done in the real world, and if they are, they often cannot be distributed freely to the public. “We work closely with ISVs to get models that best represent customers’ work, but that can sometimes be difficult due to proprietary concerns,” says