Why is your Graphics Card Score low in the Lumion Benchmark test?

1. Check if your graphics card meets or exceeds the minimum requirement

1.1: The first step is to double-check that your graphics card meets or exceeds the minimum requirements:

Knowledge Base article: Which graphics card do you need?

2. Make sure that the latest updates are installed

2.1: The next step is to make sure that the latest graphics card driver and all available Windows updates are installed:

Knowledge Base article: How do you install the latest system software required to run Lumion?

3. Check that your PC is using the right graphics card

If you are using a laptop PC, it is possible that it has two graphics cards: a fast one and a slow one.

3.1: Please follow the instructions below to make sure that Lumion uses the fast graphics card. Laptop PCs should also be plugged in instead of using the battery in order to ensure that the best benchmark results are achieved:

Knowledge Base article: Why is your computer using an Intel HD graphics chip instead of the dedicated graphics card?

4. Check the cables when using two monitors

4.1: If your computer has two graphics cards (e.g. a fast one and a slow one) and it is connected to 2 monitors, you need to make sure that the Lumion window starts up on the monitor that is (physically) connected to the fast graphics card with a cable.

It will not switch to the fast graphics card if you start Lumion on the monitor that is connected to the slow graphics card.

Please note that you can't just move the window over to that monitor - the Lumion window has to start up on it. Otherwise, Lumion will use the slower graphics card.

5. Run other benchmark tests

5.1: As the Lumion Benchmark test is very quick and superficial, we recommend that you test your PC with much more accurate benchmark utilities to see if it is underperforming or not.

A couple of examples are 3DMark Basic Edition (scroll to the bottom of that page for Time Spy) and PassMark Performance Test. Once you've got those benchmark results, you can compare them to PCs with similar configurations.

**6. What does the Benchmark test measure?**

Lumion 8.0 and newer:

The Graphics Card Score provides a rough indication of how fast it will render movies. It is (mostly) unaffected by CPU activity in the background during the Benchmark test. However, if the CPU (Processor) activity is 100% while you run the Lumion Benchmark test, the Graphics Card Score may be up to 15% lower.

To be sure that the CPU activity isn't affecting your score(s), please follow these instructions:

Knowledge Base article: Why is your CPU (processor) score low in the Lumion Benchmark test?

Lumion 7.5 and older:

The Graphics Card Score only provides a rough indication of the expected real-time performance, i.e. not how fast it will render movies. If there is a lot of CPU activity in the background during the Benchmark test, it will affect the Graphics Card Score (and the CPU Score) significantly. An example is if you try to run the Benchmark test when Windows hasn't finished booting yet. Also, anti-virus software might be scanning your harddrive in the background.