                           OctaneBench 2.17
                          ==================

OctaneBench allows you to benchmark your GPU using OctaneRender.
The idea is to provide a level playing field by making sure that everybody
uses the same version and the same scenes and settings. Without these
constraints, benchmark results can vary a lot and become meaningless.

You can download OctaneBench from
  http://octane.otoy.com/octanebench/
and you can see the submitted results on
  http://octane.otoy.com/octanebench/results.php

OctaneBench comes in two flavours: As an archive that contains a demo version
with the benchmark resource files and as an archive that can be uncompressed
into an OctaneRender Standalone directory. The second flavour is recommended
only for experienced users.


System Requirements
--------------------
  
The hardware and software requirements to run OctaneBench are the same as for
OctaneRender Standalone. You can find details in the OctaneRender FAQ on
  http://home.otoy.com/render/octane-render/faqs/


OctaneBench Demo Archive
-------------------------

This is as easy as it gets: Just download the archive for the operating system
you are using, and unpack it into a directory of your choice. These are the
installation steps - depending on the platform you are using:


Windows:

Unpacking the archive "OctaneBench_2_17_win64" will create a new folder
"OctaneBench_2_17_win64", which contains the OctaneRender Standalone demo
application and the script "_run_benchmark.bat". Just run this script by
double-clicking it in the Windows Explorer to launch OctaneBench.

Linux:

Unpacking the archive "OctaneBench_2_17_linux" will create a new folder
"OctaneBench_2_17_linux", which contains the OctaneRender Standalone demo
application and the script "run_benchmark.sh". Just run this script to
launch OctaneBench.

Mac OSX:

Opening the archive "OctaneBench_2_17_macos" will show you the bundle
"OctaneBench 2.17" you can either copy it into the application folder or
just run it from there.


The Windows and Linux archives contain the regular demo version which can be
run directly, too, if you want. There you can then open the benchmark scene
package "benchmark_data/benchmark.orbx" and investigate it.


OctaneBench Data Archive
-------------------------

The OctaneBench data archive contains only the resource files required to run
OctaneBench and two scripts to launch OctaneRender Standalone on Windows or
Linux. Since OctaneRender Standalone is a bundle on Mac OSX, this method
doesn't work there.

To set things up, uncompress the ZIP archive into the directory, where the
OctaneRender application binary can be found and then just run the script
"_run_benchmark.bat" (if you are on Windows) or "run_benchmark.sh" (if you are
on Linux).

Please be aware that the benchmark data only works with OctaneRender Standalone
2.17 or 2.21 and higher.


Using OctaneBench
------------------

The usage is straight forward and consists of three steps:

1) Enable the GPUs you want to benchmark.

2) Click "Run" and wait until the benchmark run has finished.

3) Marvel at the statistics, which you can then upload or save as a text / CSV
   file. The upload is allowed only once until you run the benchmark again and
   only for runs on version 2.17.

In case you are wondering: The score is calculated from the measured speed
(Ms/s or mega samples per second) relative to the speed we measured for a
GTX 980. The ratio is weighted by the approximate usage of the various kernels
and then added up.

If your score is 100, your GPU is as fast as the GTX 980 we used as reference.
If it's less, your GPU is slower, if it's more your GPU is faster.

Please keep in mind that people are not only interested in multi-GPU performance
but also in the performance of single GPUs. Therefor it makes sense to not only
measure the whole system, but also the individual GPUs your system has.


Using OctaneBench via Command Line
-----------------------------------

You can also integrate OctaneBench into some automated testing system by running
it via command line with the following syntax:

  octane  --benchmark  [-g <GPU index>]*  [-a <file>]

-g <GPU index>: Defines the index of a GPU that should be used during the run
                (beginning with 0). You can define multiple GPUs by giving
                multiple -g arguments.
                
-a <file>:      If set, the benchmark will start immediately. When finished, the
                result will be written into the specified file and OctaneBench
                will be closed.


OctaneBench Scenes
-------------------

The three scenes used in the benchmark were kindly provided by:

Julio Cayetao (Idea)
Jrgen Aleksejev (ATV)
Enrico Cerica (Box)

A big thanks to these artists as well as to all the other artists that competed
in the benchmark scene competition back then (see
http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=62).


Happy Benchmarking!
Your OTOY NZ Team :)
