Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallJohn Carmack objected to drivers secretly recognizing a benchmark by name and changing how it ran. In a Nov. 16, 2001 .plan entry, he argued that benchmark scores should represent performance across a class of similar applications—not a special path for one executable—and that drivers should not automatically trade API conformance for speed. His criticism was specific: it did not rule out genuine performance improvements or settings users knowingly choose.
What Carmack objected to
Carmack’s position, recorded in his Nov. 16, 2001 .plan entry, addressed two separate problems: benchmark-name detection and automatic conformance tradeoffs.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Quake III: Arena | $12.95 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Quake III: Arena | $8.64 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Quake III: Arena (Jewel Case) | $12.16 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Quake III: Arena | $5.99 | Buy on Amazon |
Benchmark-name optimization
“Making any automatic optimization based on a benchmark name is wrong,” Carmack wrote. His reason was that a benchmark is meant to indicate how a similar class of applications will perform on a tested configuration, not merely how one specially recognized program performs. If a driver detects Quake III Arena by its executable name and applies a different path, the resulting score may not predict performance in other games—even ones with similar graphics workloads.
Automatic conformance tradeoffs
He also argued that a driver should not silently change expected API behavior to gain speed, even if its developers believe the difference will not matter. The risk is that applications change or derivatives behave differently from the one a driver team tested. Carmack specifically pointed to assumptions around compiled vertex array calls in Quake III and derivative games: an optimization based on what one program appears to do can become a compatibility problem when that assumption no longer holds.
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What contemporary reports said ATI’s driver did
In 2001, reports about ATI’s Radeon 8500 driver said it recognized Quake III Arena, reduced texture quality, and raised frame rates. WIRED reported that testers renamed the game executable and saw the performance gain disappear, suggesting the driver was detecting the program by filename. WIRED’s Nov. 28, 2001 account quoted ATI technical marketing manager David Nalasco saying, “We thought we were making the experience better for the user.” That was ATI’s reported rationale; it does not by itself establish that the change was appropriate or representative.
The Register’s Nov. 5, 2001 coverage likewise described a frame-rate-for-texture-quality tradeoff and noted that ATI had not disclosed the behavior before it was challenged. Its author judged the visual difference small in ordinary play, while arguing that performance should not be assessed from one application or frame rate alone. That was contemporary commentary, not a universal measurement of the image-quality impact.
Rank #2
- Control Elements Gamepad, Gamepad/Joystick, Keyboard, Mouse
Where Carmack drew the line
Carmack’s argument was not that every application-specific driver path is wrong. The important distinctions are who triggers the change, whether the user knows about it, and whether the default remains reliable and conformant.
- Acceptable in principle: a pure improvement that raises performance without a negative effect, or an explicit user-selected setting that trades image quality for speed.
- Potentially reasonable with care: an application-specific modifier or profile when it is disclosed and the default behavior remains conformant.
- His objection: a hidden optimization triggered by a benchmark’s identity, especially one that changes quality or expected behavior and can distort comparisons.
This distinction matters because “application-specific optimization” covers very different practices. A visible texture-quality setting gives a player control over the tradeoff. A concealed executable-name trigger may instead make a benchmark score depend on a special case reviewers and users did not know was active.
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Rank #3
- Deadly combat arena game
- Gorgeous 3D arenas to frag your opponents within
- All new weapons and character models
- For 1 to 4 players
Was it cheating?
“Cheating” was a characterization used in the controversy, not a settled technical or legal finding. The evidence described a reported quality tradeoff, application recognition, and concerns about disclosure and benchmark representativeness. Carmack’s stated principle explains why he objected to benchmark-name optimization; it does not, by itself, establish ATI’s intent or resolve every question about the driver’s implementation. ATI’s reported explanation was that it thought the change improved the user experience, while critics focused on the hidden behavior and what the resulting score represented.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the episode still matters to benchmark readers
The 2001 dispute illustrates a useful way to evaluate any benchmark result: ask whether the driver treated the tested program like comparable applications, whether a performance path changed image quality or API behavior, and whether reviewers and users could see or control the change. A higher frame rate is meaningful only in context: the test conditions, output quality, and behavior on other applications all affect what the number can tell you.
Rank #4
- Deadly combat arena game
- Gorgeous 3D arenas to frag your opponents within
- All new weapons and character models
- For 1 to 4 players
Carmack’s comments are a historical position dated Nov. 16, 2001, not a current statement about present-day graphics drivers. The archived .plan text is a reproduction; the central benchmark-name argument was also quoted in contemporaneous WIRED coverage.
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