10 GPU-Intensive Games Which Push Your PC to the Limit

For gamers who invest in high-end graphics, playing visually stunning games at high settings is essential. Most games today are designed for a wide audience, but some games push even the most advanced graphics cards to their limits. GPU-intensive games require high-end hardware, use image tracking, high resolutions, and complex environments that challenge even the latest GPUs.
To ensure the best performance and avoid hardware imbalances, using a bottleneck calculator can help identify if other components, like the CPU, might limit the GPU’s full potential. This tool is essential to maximize the frame rates and prevent system slowdowns in demanding GPU intensive games.

What are GPU-Intensive Games?

GPU-intensive games are games that require a lot of processing power from a GPU to run. These games often feature high-resolution textures, complex environments, and advanced graphical techniques like ray tracing, which require powerful hardware to render easily.

On the other hand CPU-intensive games are titles that place a heavy load on the CPU rather than the GPU. These games typically involve complex simulations, large-scale strategy mechanics, or extensive AI processing, which require significant computational power.

Key Factors That Make Games Demanding for Your GPU

Higher game resolution (like 4K) means the GPU has to process more pixels, making it harder for the graphics card.
Anti-aliasing helps smooth out rough edges, but it requires more GPU power, especially at higher settings.
Shaders make objects look realistic, and when they get complex, the GPU works harder.
Games with large open worlds, like vast landscapes and many objects, need the GPU to process and load a lot of data at once, pushing its limits.
In games with intense battles or crowded cities, your GPU has to render many objects at the same time, which makes it harder to keep up with the game’s needs.
If a game is designed to run at very high frame rates like 144 FPS, the GPU has to work even harder, especially in fast-paced scenes.

10 GPU-Intensive Games

Here are 10 of the most visually intense games that will challenge your gaming setup.

1. Forspoken

Forspoken takes players into the big world of Athia, filled with amazing magic and large spaces. To play the game at 1440p, you need an RTX 3070 graphics card, 150GB of storage, and 24GB of RAM for smooth performance.

Genre: Action RPG
Release Date: January 24, 2023
Developer: Luminous Productions
Minimum GPU: GeForce GTX 1060 6GB / Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB
Recommended GPU: RTX 3070 or higher

2. Black Myth: Wukong

Black Myth Wukong, created with Unreal Engine 5, offers stunning visuals inspired by Chinese mythology. Its detailed graphics and advanced lighting effects make it one of the most GPU-demanding games which needs high-end hardware to run smoothly in full 4K.

Genre: Action RPG
Release Date: August 20, 2024
Developer: Game Science
Minimum GPU: GeForce GTX 1060 / Radeon RX 6600 XT
Recommended GPU: RTX 4080 for 4K at 144 FPS

3. Ark: Survival Ascended

Ark, Survival Ascended, built with Unreal Engine 5, features stunning visuals with detailed environments and realistic dinosaurs. To run smoothly on ultra settings, the game requires 32GB of RAM and high-end GPUs for stable performance.

Genre: Survival Open-World
Release Date: October 26, 2023
Developer: Studio Wildcard
Minimum GPU: GeForce GTX 1080 / Radeon RX 5600 XT
Recommended GPU: RTX 3080 or higher

4. The Last of Us Part 1 (PC)

The PC version of The Last of Us Part 1 is known for its detailed textures and character models. With its immersive storytelling and realistic environments, running the game smoothly at high settings requires a GPU with at least 8GB of VRAM.

Genre: Action-Adventure
Release Date: September 2, 2022
Developer: Naughty Dog
Minimum GPU: GeForce GTX 970 4GB / Radeon RX 470
Recommended GPU: RTX 3060 or higher

5. Alan Wake 2

Alan Wake 2’s cinematic visuals and atmospheric lighting demand a powerful GPU. To enable ray tracing and high-quality textures, players need an RTX 3080 or similar which makes it one of the most GPU-intensive horror games.

Genre: Survival Horror
Release Date: October 27, 2023
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Minimum GPU: GeForce GTX 1060 6GB / Radeon RX 580 8GB
Recommended GPU: RTX 3060 or higher

6. Hogwarts Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy brings the magical world to life with detailed environments and character models. To run the game at 4K resolution with ray tracing, players need one of the most powerful GPUs available.

Genre: Action RPG
Release Date: February 10, 2023
Developer: Avalanche Software
Minimum GPU: GeForce GTX 960 4GB / Radeon RX 470
Recommended GPU: RTX 3090 Ti or Radeon 7900 XT

7. Starfield

Bethesda’s space epic offers over 1,000 explorable planets, detailed ships, and complex environments. To achieve high FPS at 4K resolution, players need powerful GPUs with ample VRAM.

Genre: Action RPG
Release Date: September 6, 2023
Developer: Bethesda
Minimum GPU: GeForce 1070 Ti / Radeon RX 5700
Recommended GPU: RTX 2080 or better

8. Returnal

Returnal’s procedurally generated environments and intense particle effects demand a lot from GPUs. To run the game smoothly at high settings, players need a top-tier RTX GPU.

Genre: Third-Person Shooter
Release Date: April 30, 2021
Developer: Housemarque
Minimum GPU: GeForce GTX 1060 / Radeon RX 580
Recommended GPU: RTX 2080 Super or higher

9. Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077’s ray tracing, detailed environments, and bustling Night City make it extremely GPU-intensive. Even after its release, achieving smooth 4K performance with ray tracing still requires high-end GPUs.

Genre: RPG Action
Release Date: December 10, 2020
Developer: CD Projekt Red
Minimum GPU: GeForce GTX 1060 6GB / Radeon RX 470
Recommended GPU: RTX 3080 or better

10. Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)

Microsoft Flight Simulator is known for its unmatched realism, rendering the entire globe in intricate detail. It is notorious for demanding the most from GPUs, particularly at higher resolutions and full graphical settings.

Genre: Simulation
Release Date: August 18, 2020
Developer: Asobo Studio
Minimum GPU: GeForce GTX 970 / Radeon RX 590
Recommended GPU: RTX 4090 for 4K Ultra

FAQs

These are games that are intense and require your graphics card to push power for a smooth frame rate. These include games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Hogwarts Legacy, and The Last of Us Part 1.

Yes, it is completely normal to see a GPU running at 100% during gaming, particularly when playing games that call for strong requirements. It means your GPU is running at full capacity to give you the best performance for graphics while gaming.

PUBG is not particularly GPU-intensive compared to some modern-day games; however, to play PUBG smoothly at higher settings with a decent amount of players in the environment takes a decent GPU. We found that playing PUBG at a mid-range GPU or a high-end GPU gives the better form of suitable and smooth gameplay.

Conclusion

We suggested lots of GPU-heavy games like Forspoken, Black Myth: Wukong, Ark: Survival Ascendant, and Cyberpunk 2077 that will need plenty of power for smooth operation. Especially at higher resolutions and settings, using high-quality graphics, high-quality textures, and complete environment settings, which require a good deal of GPU usage.

We also provided relevant information about the minimum and recommended GPUS for all games. It allows gamers to see the minimum hardware requirements to achieve optimal performance.

10 GPU-Intensive Games Which Push Your PC to the Limit

What are GPU-Intensive Games?

Key Factors That Make Games Demanding for Your GPU