What is the most graphically demanding pc game

For as hellishly beautiful as 2016’s Doom looks, the game’s id Tech 6 engine helps it run really well on PC. Shooting monsters in the beginning minutes of the game with everything maxed out at 4K, our rig managed to achieve a 65.2 frames per second average. While it did dip to a low of 47, which will undoubtedly cause frame-rate enthusiasts to lower settings, it was very playable overall.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: Rockstar NorthGame Engine: RAGERelease Date: April 14, 2015Minimum FPS: 16Maximum FPS: 270

Average FPS: 60.9

GTA V has an almost dizzying array of graphical options on the PC. You can tweak texture quality, shaders, tessellation and even increase population density. When you crank everything to the max, video memory is taxed really hard. Luckily, our GTX 1080 has 8GB of fast GDDR5X VRAM, which helps mitigates this bottleneck. As a result, our rig achieved a 60.9 average FPS running the game’s built-in benchmark. We did notice the odd, occasional framerate hiccup, however, which is evident in our 16 FPS minimum.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: Avalanche StudiosGame Engine: Avalanche EngineRelease Date: November 2015Minimum FPS: 44Maximum FPS: 381

Average FPS: 55.9

Just Cause 3 is a big, wacky open-world game that features colorful environments that stretch to the horizon. Its Avalanche Engine also incorporates complex physics, which allow you to blow up and destroy the world around you. This makes it a pretty computationally intensive game. As a result, Just Cause 3 is the first game on our list with an average frame rate that falls below 60 FPS. Still, at 55.9 FPS on average, it remained very playable. We also didn’t notice too many framerate hitches, with it hitting a low of 44 FPS, which isn’t terrible.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: EA DICEGame Engine: Frostbite 3Release Date: October 21, 2016Minimum FPS: 42Maximum FPS: 68

Average FPS: 55.5

EA’s Battlefield 1, released last year, barely edges out Just Cause 3 with its 55.5 average FPS to garner the 13th spot on our list. We played through the opening few minutes of the single-player campaign and the battlefield looked realistic running maxed out with explosions and fire effects going off all around us. The Frostbite 3 engine allowed the game to run fairly consistent, and it never dipped below 42 FPS.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: CD Projekt REDGame Engine: REDengine 3Release Date: May 19, 2015Minimum FPS: 24Maximum FPS: 52

Average FPS: 39.9

The Witcher 3 is a beautiful game, thanks in part to its wonderful artistry and sophisticated REDengine 3 tech. The action RPG offers a bunch of graphical settings that allow you to enable advanced levels of Nvidia hair physics, ambient occlusion, and depth of field effects. Roaming through the game’s lush countryside environments on horseback, we could see the game’s advanced lighting effects cascade down between the tree branches below. All of this beauty comes at a cost, however. While the game was able to muster an above 30 FPS average, which is the minimum of what we consider to be playable, it did occasionally stutter, and reached a low of 24 FPS.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: Bluehole

Game Engine: Unreal Engine 4

Release Date: March 2017 (Early Access)

Minimum FPS: 26

Maximum FPS: 51

Average FPS: 38.5

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is far from the most visually impressive game on this list, but it is currently quite taxing on systems in its early access state. One of the reasons why the Unreal Engine 4 game is so demanding is because it features a large 7x7 mile world and provides vast draw distances with up to 100 simultaneous players. While our system managed to muster a 38.5 average FPS, it did dip as low as 26 FPS. This means means it runs a bit inconsistently. Because the game is in early access, performance is subject to change with optimization improvements and as the game adds new graphical features.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: Ninja Theory

Game Engine: Unreal Engine 4

Release Date: August 8, 2017

Minimum FPS: 32

Maximum FPS: 43

Average FPS: 37.2

The newest game on our list is Ninja Theory’s action game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. The game was released on August 8, 2017 and is powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine 4. Visually, it features very realistic faces that skirt around the creepy uncanny valley effect really well. The environments are also visually impressive. All of this graphical fidelity does take a toll on performance, however. Our system mustered a 37.2 average FPS, which gives Hellblade a 12th place spot on our list.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: Bohemia InteractiveGame Engine: Real Virtuality 4Release Date: September 12, 2013Minimum FPS: 28Maximum FPS: 44

Average FPS: 35.6

While Arma 3 may be one of the older games on our list, and you can argue that it isn’t the prettiest candidate here, its Real Virtuality 4 engine allows it to render massive environments that scale up to 270 square kilometers. The game also sports sophisticated physics with CPU-taxing destructible environments. Going on a helicopter ride in the beginning of the game allowed us to see the game’s vast draw distances. Here, our rig achieved a 35.6 FPS average. While it was largely playable, it did occasionally dip and reached a low of 28 frames per second.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: Ubisoft MontrealGame Engine: DisruptRelease Date: November 29, 2016Minimum FPS: 23Maximum FPS: 55

Average FPS: 30.0

Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs 2 cracks the top 10. The game uses a modified version of the Disrupt engine, which we saw in the first Watch Dogs, and renders a pretty realistic rendition of San Francisco. With everything maxed out, Watch Dogs 2 offers vast draw distances, vibrant colors, and realistic water effects. Driving around virtual San Francisco, our rig was able to achieve a 30 average FPS on the nose. It often dipped into the choppy 20s, however.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: Ubisoft ParisGame Engine: AnvilNextRelease Date: March 7, 2017Minimum FPS: 24.4Maximum FPS: 34.6

Average FPS: 29.8

Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is one of the more recent games on our list. When we ran the built-in benchmark, which offered panning shots of the game’s detailed outdoor environments sprinkled with fancy fire and smoke effects, it performed marginally worse than Watch Dogs 2. This makes it the first game in our list to go below the 30 average FPS threshold.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: BioWare

Game Engine: Frostbite 3

Release Date: March 21, 2017

Minimum FPS: 10

Maximum FPS: 40

Average FPS: 26.7

While Andromeda's face models may need improvement, its Frostbite 3 engine allows it to create intricately detailed worlds coupled with gorgeous lighting effects. While you can certainly get Andromeda to run well on modest systems, it can really push high-end PCs to their limits if you crank all the settings up at 4K. While our 26.7 average may not look atrocious, the frame rate was highly inconsistent and dipped as low as 10 FPS.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: Ubisoft QuebecGame Engine: AnvilNextRelease Date: November 19, 2015Minimum FPS: 1Maximum FPS: 33

Average FPS: 25.6

While Assassin's Creed Origins is on the horizon, Syndicate is the latest game in the series that’s out on PC. It uses AnvilNext, which is the same engine that Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Wildlands uses. As we discovered last year, the PC port has some performance issues and perhaps isn’t as optimized as it should be. For instance, not only does the game not support SLI, but it’s one of the few games that actually runs worse with two graphics cards. It’s still a good looking game, though, with its relatively accurate recreation of Victorian era London. Our rig achieved a 25.6 average FPS running through the opening moments of the game. Our performance did hit some brick walls, however, with it dipping as low as one frame per second.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: CrytekGame Engine: CryEngine 3Release Date: February 2013Minimum FPS: 18Maximum FPS: 31

Average FPS: 23.0

When the original Crysis released in 2007, it was so graphically demanding that it started the “But can it run Crysis” meme. While Crysis 3 is the oldest game on our list, like the original, it was designed to be graphically future-proof. The CryEngine 3 pushes a ton of particle effects, complex physics, and a lot of tessellation. The game also serves up very high-resolution textures, which can eat up a lot of video RAM. When we cranked up all the graphical bells and whistles at 4K and played through the opening minutes of the game, we got a 23 FPS average.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Game Engine: Unreal Engine 4Release Date: June 2015 (early access)Minimum FPS: 17Maximum FPS: 42

Average FPS: 21.4

Ark: Survival Evolved is the only early access game on our list, so its performance is highly subject to change with potential optimizations. Having said that, the Unreal Engine 4-powered open-world game offers large and lush landscapes with great draw distances. The game also has realistic water effects, crisp textures, and lush vegetation with lots of geometry. Cranking everything to the max and playing the opening minutes of the campaign, the game broke into our top five with a choppy 21.4 FPS average.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: 4A GamesGame Engine: 4ARelease Date: August 2014Minimum FPS: 6.6Maximum FPS: 112.8

Average FPS: 20.0

When Metro first burst onto the scenes, it took the crown for most graphically demanding game. As a result, it became a benchmark staple for just about every respectable GPU reviewer. Several years later, Metro: Last Light Redux is still a beast of a game with its heavy use of geometric tessellation, volumetric fog, bokeh, sharp textures, and more. When we ran the game’s benchmark and enabled all the bells and whistles, we got a 20 FPS average.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: Crystal DynamicsGame Engine: FoundationRelease Date: January 28, 2016Minimum FPS: 2.2Maximum FPS: 56.3

Average FPS: 18.7

Developer Crystal Dynamics built its own Foundation engine for Rise of the Tomb Raider, which allows the game to render great character models that offer life-like animations. Rise of the Tomb Raider also has beautiful, detailed environments. When we ran the game’s built-in benchmark, which placed Lara in various tombs and frozen tundra environments, our system mustered a 18.7 average FPS, which makes it the first game in our list to drop below 20 average FPS.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: Slightly Mad StudiosGame Engine: MadnessRelease Date: May 6, 2015Minimum FPS: 15Maximum FPS: 19

Average FPS: 17.9

Project Cars is the only racing game on our list, and when you crank everything to the max, it’s arguably the most realistic-looking game here. At these settings, it can really bring powerful PCs to their knees. Developer Slightly Mad Studios made heavy modifications to the Madness engine, which the Need for Speed: Shift games have used. Duking it out with roughly a dozen other cars on a race track, our system mustered a 17.9 FPS average. This made it so choppy that it was often hard to steer effectively.

What is the most graphically demanding pc game

Developer: Eidos MontréalGame Engine: Dawn EngineRelease Date: August 23, 2016Minimum FPS: 2.6Maximum FPS: 8.7

Average FPS: 6.1

A lot of the games on our list will make the beefiest gaming PCs sweat, but running Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’s benchmark maxed out at 4K will make them cry. It’s important to note that the benchmark seems particularly brutal, and perhaps represents a worst-case scenario for the game. Regardless, it was the most graphically demanding game that we tested by a country mile with our system getting a 6.1 FPS average, which made it look like a slideshow. Its maximum frame rate only managed to hit 8.7, which is crazy low given what we have under the hood of our rig.