A graphics card that sails through one game will struggle in another, and the published system requirements rarely explain why. Each page here sets out what actually limits performance in that title, what technologies it supports, and which class of card suits it at each resolution.
Demand classifications are CompareYourGPU’s editorial judgement based on engine behaviour and published requirements. They are not measurements, and they are labelled as such on each page.
CD Projekt Red · 2020 · REDengine 4
The standard stress test for ray tracing. Cyberpunk 2077 runs acceptably on modest hardware in pure rasterisation, but its Ray Tracing: Overdrive path-tracing mode is among the heaviest workloads any consumer GPU faces, and it is the mode most people are actually asking about when they compare cards.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, XeSS
Valve · 2023 · Source 2
The reference point for competitive frame rates. Counter-Strike 2 is far lighter than any AAA title here, which means the CPU and the monitor, not the graphics card, are usually what decide the frame rate you actually see.
Upscaling: None
Epic Games · 2017 · Unreal Engine 5
Two very different games depending on the rendering mode. Performance mode runs on almost anything; the Unreal Engine 5 mode with Lumen and Nanite is a genuinely demanding modern workload that separates GPU tiers clearly.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, XeSS
Treyarch · 2024 · IW engine
A high-frame-rate multiplayer shooter with a scalable engine. Competitive players chase 144 Hz and above at reduced settings, which shifts the buying question away from raw GPU power and towards consistent frame pacing and enough VRAM for high-resolution textures.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, XeSS
Rockstar Games · 2019 · RAGE
Still one of the most demanding pure-rasterisation workloads available, with no ray tracing to muddy the comparison. That makes it a clean way to judge raw graphics-card throughput, particularly at 4K.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR
Avalanche Software · 2023 · Unreal Engine 4
One of the clearest examples of why VRAM capacity became a buying criterion. Hogwarts Legacy is memory-hungry at high texture settings, and cards with 8 GB show stutter and texture pop-in that faster cards with more memory avoid.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, XeSS
Bethesda Game Studios · 2023 · Creation Engine 2
A demanding title with no ray tracing at all, and one where the CPU matters far more than usual. Cities and dense interiors can hold a fast graphics card back regardless of which one you buy.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, XeSS
Larian Studios · 2023 · Divinity 4.0
Moderate GPU demands but a heavy CPU load in the third act, where dense crowds and simulation cost more frame rate than the graphics settings do. A mid-range card is enough for a good experience at 1440p.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR
Game Science · 2024 · Unreal Engine 5
One of the heaviest Unreal Engine 5 titles released so far. Its full ray tracing mode is close to a path-traced workload, and the publisher's own recommended specification assumes upscaling is switched on.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, XeSS
Remedy Entertainment · 2023 · Northlight
A technical showcase and one of the few games where path tracing is a headline feature rather than an afterthought. Even the publisher's minimum specification assumes a card with hardware ray tracing support.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, XeSS
CD Projekt Red · 2015 · REDengine 3
An older game given a modern renderer. In rasterisation it is undemanding by current standards; switch on the ray-traced global illumination added in the next-generation update and it becomes a serious workload for mid-range cards.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, XeSS
FromSoftware · 2022 · Dantelion
Capped at 60 FPS by the engine, which changes the buying question entirely: past a certain point a faster graphics card buys you frame-time consistency and higher resolution, not a higher number.
Upscaling: None