On April 2nd, UL Benchmark had initially planned to launch its new cross-platform test, 3DMark Steel Nomad, within the first quarter of this year. However, as the first quarter came to an end, there was still no sign of it, and it's now confirmed to have been postponed.
According to official engineers, the release of Steel Nomad has been slightly delayed until the second quarter, likely sometime in April.
The primary reason for this delay is that as a cross-platform testing project, it requires time to digest and incorporate feedback from different partners, which has taken longer than expected. Unlike games that can be patched and updated upon release, benchmark tests must be thoroughly prepared in advance and require deeper testing.
The Steel Nomad test consists of two parts: the standard version, suitable for assessing the performance of high-end computers and graphics cards in non-ray-traced games, with system support for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
The second part is the Light version, suitable for Windows integrated graphics notebooks, Windows on Arm devices, Apple M series devices, iOS/Android devices, and more.
Yes, it supports both x86 and Arm CPU architectures, as well as five major operating systems. However, only the Windows version will be available at launch. Versions for macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android will be added later this year, allowing for comprehensive cross-platform comparisons.
By the way, the highly acclaimed Time Spy test results have already surpassed 42 million. If Steel Nomad can perform well across all platforms, it has a great chance of surpassing that.
