Introducing 3DMark Steel Nomad: Prepare for Your GPU to Feel Inadequate

UL Solutions, the company behind the popular 3DMark benchmarking software, has released a new update called Steel Nomad, designed to replace the aging Time Spy benchmark. This new benchmark is three times heavier for your PC than Time Spy and offers the latest graphical enhancements. While it lacks ray tracing, it provides a punishing 4K benchmark to measure the relative performance of various devices.

Steel Nomad comes in two versions: a standard version for discrete graphics cards and gaming laptops, and a light version for devices with integrated graphics, tablets, and smartphones. The benchmark can be run in DirectX 12 or Vulkan mode and is a free update for existing 3DMark suite owners.

As a graphics card reviewer and former overclocker, the author tested Steel Nomad on different systems, achieving impressive scores. The benchmark also includes a stress test option for overclock stability and a unique explorer mode to experiment with rendering settings.

Overall, Steel Nomad offers a visually appealing benchmark that is a welcome addition for users with devices that may lack ray tracing capabilities. The benchmark is available for free to existing 3DMark suite owners and can be purchased on Steam for $34.99. Additionally, Android and iOS users can download the benchmark from their respective app stores, with Linux and macOS support coming soon. With its challenging performance metrics, Steel Nomad is set to become a new standard for GPU benchmarking across various devices.