3DMark05 is focused on measuring the performance of the DirectX 9 generation of 3D hardware using the technology of next generation games. Earlier 3DMark versions had usually been launched with the introduction of each new Microsoft DirectX version which was in turn based on each new hardware generation. This had somewhat limited how much 3DMark was able to utilize any new hardware features. At the time of this writing, DirectX 9 is already two years old, and there is now DX9 generation hardware available which allows 3DMark05 to fully utilize the features of the hardware. In fact, DirectX 9 hardware is required for every game test in 3DMark05, resulting in the ultimate tool for DirectX 9 hardware performance comparison.

The highest CPU score goes to the D 840 while the highest framerates, to the P4 650 but the difference between all three processors is negligible.