Methodology v2

How Volume Shader BM Test Measures Browser GPU Load

The benchmark stresses fragment shader ALU work through a WebGL raymarching scene. Scores are useful only when the same mode, browser class and test conditions are compared.

What the test measures

The test measures browser-exposed GPU performance for a fragment shader workload. It is sensitive to shader arithmetic throughput, WebGL driver behavior, frame pacing, resolution, device pixel ratio and thermal state.

What the test does not measure

It does not directly measure game FPS, ray tracing hardware, VRAM bandwidth, native compute APIs, CPU rendering, disk performance or full-system gaming performance.

Score formula

Score is calculated from average FPS and normalized shader complexity. This keeps higher-load modes meaningful, but scores from different modes should not be mixed in a single ranking. avg FPS * (steps / 200) * (solver / 8) * 100.

Fair comparison checklist

  • Use the same mode on both devices.
  • Use the same browser family when possible.
  • Plug laptops and phones into power.
  • Close video tabs, games and GPU-heavy background apps.
  • Run once for shader warmup, then compare the second run.
  • Let phones and fanless laptops cool down between runs.

Privacy boundary

The local benchmark does not upload results by default. Public result rows are reviewed records or opt-in submissions with enough context to make each row interpretable.