Unigine Heaven Benchmark Score Explained

Unigine Heaven benchmark score is a weighted FPS result from one run, so higher scores mean smoother frames at those exact settings.

You’ve run Heaven, it spit out a score, and now you want to know what that number says about your GPU.

Heaven is older than most of the cards people test with it, yet it keeps showing up in forums and buy/sell chats because it’s simple, repeatable, and it can spot obvious issues fast.

This guide shows what the score is tied to, what you can compare it against, and how to rerun the test so your result means something. You’ll also get a clean checklist for the classic “my score is weird” moment.

What A Heaven Benchmark Score Is Tied To

Heaven’s score isn’t a universal “GPU power” number. It’s a summary of one run of one scene, under the settings you picked.

In the results window, Heaven gives you both FPS and Score. Treat FPS as the main signal and the score as a packaged version of that same run. If two people use the same settings, their scores usually line up with their average FPS.

What The Score Is Made From

Heaven renders a fixed fly-by scene and tracks frame rate during the run. The final screen lists average FPS plus min and max FPS, then converts the run into a single score number.

Average FPS — The core signal. This is what most comparisons rest on.
Score — A scaled number derived from the run’s performance so it’s easy to share.
Min And Max FPS — Useful for spotting stutter, throttling, or a rogue background load.

What The Score Does Not Tell You

It’s tempting to treat the score like a direct ranking across every setup. That breaks down fast, because Heaven reacts hard to settings, drivers, clocks, thermals, and even the window mode.

Raw “GPU vs GPU” wins — Only fair when resolution, AA, quality, tessellation, and API match.
CPU performance — Heaven leans GPU-heavy, yet a slow CPU can still cap frames on low settings.
Game performance in every title — Heaven uses its own engine workload, not your actual game.

Unigine Heaven Benchmark Scores And What They Mean In Practice

A score only becomes useful when you attach it to the exact workload. So the first move is to write down the settings shown on the results screen, not just the score.

If you’re comparing your run to a friend’s or to a post online, treat it like a lab test. Same inputs, same method, then you can trust the gap you see.

The Settings That Change The Score The Most

Heaven can swing from “easy” to “brutal” with a few toggles. Two scores that look close can still be from totally different loads.

Match Resolution First — 1080p vs 1440p can move scores a lot, even on the same GPU.
Match Anti Aliasing — 8x AA is a heavy hit in Heaven, so keep AA identical.
Match Tessellation — “Extreme” can drag scores down hard, yet it’s a common setting for stress runs.
Match Quality Preset — Medium vs Ultra isn’t a small change in this test.
Match API And Mode — DirectX 11 vs OpenGL can shift results, and fullscreen tends to be steadier than windowed.

A Simple Table To Keep Comparisons Fair

If you want one quick reference, use this table as your “same test?” filter. If any of these differ, you’re not comparing like-for-like.

Item To Match	Why It Matters	What To Do
Resolution	Pixel count drives GPU load	Use the same width × height
AA And Tessellation	These can swing FPS fast	Copy the exact levels
Quality And API	Changes textures, effects, driver path	Stick to one preset and API

Why Heaven Still Gets Used

Heaven runs a steady, repeatable scene. That makes it handy for spotting score drops after a driver change, catching an unstable overclock, or checking if a laptop is stuck in a low-power mode.

It’s also easy to rerun. You can test, tweak one thing, rerun, and see what changed without guessing.

How To Run Heaven So Your Score Actually Means Something

Most “my score is low” posts turn out to be two things: mismatched settings, or a system that isn’t running at full speed.

The cleanest way to use Heaven is to set a baseline run, then repeat it the same way each time.

A Good Baseline Setup

Pick settings you can repeat, that also reflect what you care about. For many PCs, 1080p or 1440p with DirectX 11 and a known preset works well.

Pick A Preset — Use a built-in preset first so your run is easy to repeat.
Choose Fullscreen — Fullscreen cuts odd window behavior and background overlays.
Warm Up The GPU — Run one pass, ignore it, then start the run you’ll record.
Close Extra Apps — Browsers with video tabs can mess with clocks and frame pacing.
Save A Screenshot — Keep a record of the settings and the results screen.

Where To Get The Right Build And Settings Notes

Heaven’s own manuals describe tessellation levels and how the built-in settings map to the run, so if you want the exact wording on each option, use the official docs on the Heaven site. You can grab the benchmark from Unigine’s Heaven download page and the user manual from the docs section there.

What To Record Alongside The Score

If you want the score to stay useful weeks later, record the stuff you’ll forget. It takes 30 seconds and saves a ton of head-scratching.

GPU Driver Version — Driver changes can shift results, so log the version.
GPU Clocks And Temps — Heaven can show temps; also note if the fans were loud or quiet.
Power Settings — Laptop on battery can crater the score.
Preset And Toggles — Quality, AA, tessellation, API, resolution, fullscreen.

What A “Good” Heaven Score Looks Like

People want a single number that means “good.” Heaven doesn’t work that way, because the score is welded to the settings.

So the better question is: does your score make sense for your GPU at the settings you used?

Use FPS As Your Anchor

When you scan other results online, compare average FPS first. The score tracks it closely, but FPS is easier to reason about.

Same GPU, same settings — Your FPS should land in the same rough band.
Same class GPU, same settings — Expect overlap between brands and models, yet big gaps can still signal a setup issue.
Different settings — Stop the comparison right there and rerun with matching settings.

Use The Min FPS To Spot Trouble

Average FPS can look fine even when something’s off. Min FPS is often where problems show up first.

Watch For Big Drops — A low min FPS with a normal average can point to stutter, background tasks, or power swings.
Watch For Heat Patterns — If min FPS gets worse over time, thermals may be pulling clocks down.
Watch For CPU Caps — Low settings can push FPS high enough that the CPU becomes the limiter.

Use Your Own Baseline As The Best Reference

If your goal is to check changes on your own PC, your baseline run is king. The best “good score” is your own score when you know the system is healthy.

Once you have that baseline, you can test changes like driver updates, fan curves, or undervolts by rerunning the same preset and comparing the delta.

Why Your Heaven Score Can Look Wrong

If your score seems way lower than expected, don’t jump straight to “bad GPU.” Heaven is sensitive to small setup issues.

Start with the fast checks that fix a lot of cases.

Fast Fixes That Often Solve It

Plug In Power — Laptops on battery often lock to low wattage and low clocks.
Set High Performance Mode — Use your OS power mode that allows full CPU and GPU boost.
Disable Frame Caps — Turn off V-Sync and any driver-level FPS caps for the run.
Close Overlays — Game overlays and recording tools can cut FPS or add stutter.
Verify The GPU Used — On laptops, make sure the test runs on the discrete GPU, not the iGPU.

Thermals And Power Limits

Heaven can push a GPU into its thermal or power limits fast. When that happens, clocks dip, and the score follows.

Check GPU Temperature — If temps spike, clean dust filters, check fan curves, and confirm case airflow.
Check GPU Hotspot — Some cards throttle on hotspot even when core temp looks fine.
Check Power Limit — If a GPU is stuck in a low power state, the score can fall off a cliff.

Drivers And Settings Mismatch

If you’re comparing against a post online, mismatched settings are the number one culprit. The second is drivers.

Match The Preset — “Ultra” and “Extreme” are not the same thing in Heaven.
Match AA And Tessellation — These two toggles can reshape the score.
Update GPU Drivers — Use the official pages for your vendor, like NVIDIA’s driver download, then rerun your baseline.
Reboot Before Retesting — A clean reboot clears odd background loads and stuck overlays.

CPU And Memory Bottlenecks

Heaven leans GPU-heavy at higher settings, yet at lower settings it can run so fast that the CPU starts to matter. That can make high-end GPUs look oddly close in score, or make your system look “slow” when it’s just CPU-capped.

Raise The Resolution — A higher resolution shifts load back to the GPU.
Raise Quality — Ultra settings can reduce CPU caps in this bench.
Check Background Tasks — A heavy CPU task can drag min FPS down.

How To Use Heaven Results For Real Decisions

A Heaven score is a tool, not a trophy. It’s best for three things: comparing changes on your own rig, checking stability, and doing a sanity check after a hardware swap.

Use Heaven To Track Changes On Your Own PC

Run the same preset at the same resolution and log your score and FPS. That gives you a clean history.

Set A Baseline — One clean run with a screenshot of settings and results.
Change One Thing — Driver update, fan curve, undervolt, or RAM profile.
Rerun The Same Test — Same preset, same mode, same toggles.
Log The Delta — Note FPS and score changes plus temps.

Use Heaven As A Stability Check

Heaven’s steady load can expose a shaky GPU overclock or an unstable undervolt. The score matters less than whether the run stays smooth and crash-free.

Run Multiple Passes — Back-to-back runs can show heat-related instability.
Watch For Artifacts — Flickers, sparkles, or odd textures can point to instability.
Watch For Driver Resets — A black screen or driver crash is a clear fail for that setting.

Use Heaven When Buying Or Selling Used GPUs

If you’re checking a used card, Heaven is a quick screen. You’re looking for sane temps, stable clocks, and a score that matches the card class when settings match.

Confirm The GPU Name — Verify the model reported in the result screen.
Run A Stock Pass — No overclocks, no custom limits, clean baseline.
Check Temps And Noise — A card that hits high temps fast may need service.
Compare To Known Runs — Only against the same settings and API.

Common Mistakes That Break Comparisons

If you want your Heaven score to mean anything beyond “this PC ran the test,” avoid these traps.

Mixing Presets And Calling It A Comparison

“Ultra” with no tessellation and “Extreme” with tessellation are different workloads. If your goal is comparison, set the same preset and keep it.

Using Windowed Mode With Background Activity

Windowed mode can let other apps steal focus and GPU time. Fullscreen is cleaner for repeat runs.

Chasing A Higher Score With Random Tweaks

If you tweak five settings at once, you won’t know what caused the change. Keep it boring: one change, one rerun, one log entry.

When To Move Beyond Heaven

Heaven is still useful, yet it’s a DX11-era workload. If you’re testing a modern GPU for modern games, pair it with a newer benchmark too.

Unigine’s newer tests like Superposition are built for heavier loads and newer rendering paths, and they give you more recent comparison pools. You’ll find them on Unigine’s benchmark hub alongside Heaven.

A Quick Decision Checklist

Use Heaven — When you want a repeatable DX11 stress run or a simple stability check.
Use A Newer Bench — When you want modern GPU features and a larger pool of current scores.
Use Real Games — When the goal is “will it hit my FPS target in the titles I play?”

If you treat the Heaven score as a label for a specific workload, it becomes a clean tool: run it the same way, track changes, and spot problems fast. The moment you mix settings or compare unlike runs, that score turns into noise.