(Taipei, Taiwan) -- The recent stream of killer DX11 game releases has gamers fired up and ready to go. But how do you know if your graphics card has what it takes to run a game with all of the graphics settings on high? Now, MSI, the leading international motherboard and graphics card maker, in conjunction with well-known graphics card benchmarking website oZone3D, has integrated the Kombustor stress test software directly into MSI's Afterburner overclocking utility. The exclusive one-touch burn-in function simulates heavy gaming loads to give players a way to quickly benchmark their graphics card. Kombustor also makes use of four special effects benchmarking routines: Fur Rendering, PhysX, Tessellation, and Geometry Instancing. These special effects are extensively used in the latest DX11 games. The photo-realistic graphics in the blockbuster first-person shooter Battlefield 3, for example, make use of powerful Tessellation effects. In the hero action game Batman: Arkham City, the way Batman's cape and banners flutter in the wind pushes PhysX effects to their limits. The benchmarks generated by Kombustor not only provide gamers with an impression of their graphics card's actual overclocked performance, but can also be uploaded for comparison with other gamers from around the world. MSI Kombustor requires no additional downloads, is easy to setup, and runs with high efficiency. It is without doubt the most useful graphics card benchmarking utility available for gamers and overclocking enthusiasts everywhere.

The Kombustor burn-in and benchmark utility integrated into Afterburner offers a simple interface for testing graphics card performance and stability in real-time.

Easy to Use Software with One-touch Burn-in and Benchmarking
The Afterburner graphics card overclocking utility not only offers an extensive range of configuration options but also comes with the simple and easy-to-use Kombustor burn-in and benchmarking utility. Once the graphics card's overclocking settings have been set, simply click the "K" button on the interface to launch the burn-in utility. The GPU load will be increased to 100% and all temperature fluctuations will be recorded while the card performs under simulated high loads for extended periods of time. Unlike other commonly used burn-in software, Kombustor does not require any complicated setup to begin benchmarking, making it easy to use for both beginners and advanced users alike.

Simply click on the "K" button in the top left corner of Afterburner to start burn-in testing!

Realistic Gaming Performance with Four Special Effects Benchmarks
Those who are interested in how their graphics card performs in-game can, in addition to using in-game benchmarks, also use Kombustor to easily determine their real-world gaming performance. The Kombustor benchmarking routine uses the four most common special effects modes used in retail games. These include Fur Rendering for textures, Tessellation for more realistic game models, PhysX for improved physics, and Geometry Instancing for making graphics come alive. Benchmarking these four special effects give players an idea of how their graphics card performs in-game. Kombustor is easier to set up compared to professional benchmarking software and other in-game benchmarking utilities. Benchmarking results are available within a short period of time and can also be uploaded to a dedicated webpage for comparison against other gamers around the world.

Four special effects modes can be used to benchmark a graphics card's true gaming performance.

For more information about Kombustor, please visit http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/kombustor.htm
For a detailed description of the MSI Afterburner overclocking utility, please visit http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/