3DMark06 highlights:
- Two HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, requiring DirectX 9 hardware with support for SM3.0, 16 bit floating point textures and 16 bit floating point blending.
- Two SM2.0 graphics tests, requiring DirectX 9 hardware with full SM2.0 support.
- Two completely new CPU tests, both supporting threading and multiprocessors, requiring DirectX 9 hardware with SM2.0 support.
- Feature tests focusing on key characteristics of graphics performance.
- The 3DMark06 demo the ultimate display of real-time 3D graphics featuring an original sound track.
- A wide range of benchmark settings and professional tools for image quality inspection, texture filtering quality testing, automated batch runs and a lot more.
- A mini-game based on the CPU test for users to run the game-engine used in the CPU test.

Note: The results and final score of 3DMark06 are not comparable with any previous version of 3DMark.

Minimum System Recommendations:
- Intel or AMD compatible processor 2.5GHz or higher
- DirectX  9 compatible graphics adapter with Pixel Shader 2.0 support or later, and graphics memory of 256 MB minimum
- 1GB of system RAM or more - 1.5GB of free hard disk space
- Windows XP operating system with latest Service Packs and updates installed
- DirectX 9.0c December 2005 or later
- Microsoft Excel 2000, 2003 or XP for some 3DMark functionality
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 for some 3DMark functionality

* To run the HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, a DirectX 9 compatible graphics adapter with support for Pixel Shader 3.0, 16 bit floating point textures and 16 bit floating point blending is required.