If your PC is far from a gaming behemoth but you still want to know how well it runs, the options are a little thin on the ground. Running any of the mainstream 3DMark tests with an integrated graphics chip at the core of your system is unlikely to give you much of a visual show. Indeed it may just stutter along in single digit frames per second, making you feel far from excited about your PC's potential. But the new Night Raid benchmark might change that.
Designed specifically with integrated graphics in mind, the low-level benchmark still looks good and it will prove a little more nuanced for that kind of hardware, meaning that people with different CPUs, RAM, and onboard graphics cores will have a better time comparing against one another since their scores will be broken down in greater detail than if they were to run Time Spy or Fire Strike 3DMark tests.
Night Raid is DirectX12 compatible and parent developer UL Benchmarks claims that it will be perfect for those running "laptops, notebooks, tablets, and other mobile computing devices," as well as ARM-powered systems, according to PCGamer".
Slated to launch in October, Night Raid is said to use visual elements from the Time Spy benchmark, but with much lower detail levels. It's not clear if it will be released for free in the 3Dmark benchmark proper, or if it will be its own standalone test.
