The most CPU and GPU intensive games For testing PC?

DeadlyTitan

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Oct 20, 2017
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So i am building a new system and i would like to see how its temperatures are and i hate to use benchmarking tools cause they are unrealistic and wont account to how i use my computer.

Generally what i am looking for are some games that are MOST GPU intensive and MOST CPU intensive.

Couple of games on my mind
  • Planetside2 - This game is pretty heavy on the CPU so i think it will work fine to test the CPU temperatures under heavy load.
  • Crysis 3 - This game is pretty GPU intensive and will work fine to test the GPU temperatures under heavy load
I heard Ashes of Singularity Is pretty good game to testing out things and it looks like fun game too.

Any other games that can help me test my system? I am out of loop regarding games as i have been working my ass off since 2012 and only now did i finally have some time to play some games.

Generally what i am looking for is games that can stress my system so i can check how the temperatures are in the system CPU, GPU and general ambient temperature inside the case. PS it'll help if the games are good/fun to play so i just dont end up buying stuff that i'll never use.

My system specs -
  • i7 8700(non K)
  • GTX 1080 Ti
  • 2x16G Ram
  • 1440p 144hz G-Sync IPS monitor.
 

TheELF

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Dec 22, 2012
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Ahes is only good for it's benchmarks,in gameplay it will only tax your gpu and again not nearly as much as it's benchmark would.

In general games that will use a lot of cpu in actual gameplay are watchdogs 2, AC:eek:rigins, battlefield 1 in dx11.

Crysis 3 is very different from level to level most levels are very confined so not very demanding and only a few are relatively open with a lot going on and thous are demanding,if you have some saves ready than good otherwise it's gonna take a while till you get to any good part.
 
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DeadlyTitan

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Oct 20, 2017
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Ahes is only good for it's benchmarks,in gameplay it will only tax your gpu and again not nearly as much as it's benchmark would.

In general games that will use a lot of cpu in actual gameplay are watchdogs 2, AC:eek:rigins, battlefield 1 in dx11.

Crysis 3 is very different from level to level most levels are very confined so not very demanding and only a few are relatively open with a lot going on and thous are demanding,if you have some saves ready than good otherwise it's gonna take a while till you get to any good part.

Oh that's a bummer, No i have no saves cause i am starting fresh after 4~5 years gap of not playing any games.

battlefield 1 good to know, its on my bucket list to buy.
 

TheELF

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Dec 22, 2012
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BF1 has a 10 hour trial in the origin store,full game nothing cut,play anything you want for 10 hours,the queue might treat you as a peasant but that's all.
Same for BF4 but a whole frigging weak of game play..
 

DeadlyTitan

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Oct 20, 2017
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BF1 has a 10 hour trial in the origin store,full game nothing cut,play anything you want for 10 hours,the queue might treat you as a peasant but that's all.
Same for BF4 but a whole frigging weak of game play..

Lol like a peasant :) that got me.. thnx for pointing it out.
 

zinfamous

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BF1 has a 10 hour trial in the origin store,full game nothing cut,play anything you want for 10 hours,the queue might treat you as a peasant but that's all.
Same for BF4 but a whole frigging weak of game play..

Does peasant queue time count against your 10 hours?
 

TheELF

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Dec 22, 2012
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Does peasant queue time count against your 10 hours?
Lol sadly yes,as long as the binary is running it counts down time,although I did play the trial and it didn't seem bad to me, but then again I have no idea how much faster the better tiers are treated.
 

DeadlyTitan

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Oct 20, 2017
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Thnx for all the help guys :). You guys have suggested some really great games .. Now am excited to play them.. That little gamer in me seems to be back.
 

Smoblikat

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Nov 19, 2011
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Am not so sure about buying out games that are still in beta and already have a DLC out. That gives bad vibes.

Haha i know what you mean, its technically a full release game (with a AAA price to boot) but still feels like its early access. The bugs in the Tribe system alone are enough to warrant a 50% reduction in price immediately. Unofficial servers/playing with friends greatly reduces the nonsense though.
 
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Try metro games they are resource hungry and can point you in right direction besides that Crysis 3 is a good entity to check your hardware.
 

DeadlyTitan

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Oct 20, 2017
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Update, tried a couple of games with both intel provided stock cooler (or paper weight) and a hyper 212x and the results are shocking.

Skyrim - CPU Temp - 100c With intel stock cooler, 75c with Hyper 212x

Planetside2 - Intel Stock cooler - 100c, Hyper 212X - 75c

Battlefield 1 - Intel stock cooler - 101c, Hyper 212x - 78c

The stock cooler provided by intel :pensive:... i mean why do they even bother? they are better off selling the non K chips without a CPU cooler for $5 less or something. Utterly disappointed by the stock cooler performance.
 

EXCellR8

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I found that the latest Sniper: Ghost Warrior, built with Cryengine, was pretty CPU and GPU intensive. I actually stopped playing it on my haswell i7 and upgraded the cooling a few months ago. Not a great game, and the dialogue is absolutely laughable, but it definitely stressed my systems.
 
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XavierMace

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Apr 20, 2013
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Update, tried a couple of games with both intel provided stock cooler (or paper weight) and a hyper 212x and the results are shocking.

Skyrim - CPU Temp - 100c With intel stock cooler, 75c with Hyper 212x

Planetside2 - Intel Stock cooler - 100c, Hyper 212X - 75c

Battlefield 1 - Intel stock cooler - 101c, Hyper 212x - 78c

The stock cooler provided by intel :pensive:... i mean why do they even bother? they are better off selling the non K chips without a CPU cooler for $5 less or something. Utterly disappointed by the stock cooler performance.

I wouldn't be happy with any of those numbers personally. You shouldn't be hitting 100c on the stock cooler with gaming loads unless you've got a really crappy case setup.
 

Artorias

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Its a bit of an older game but Ryse: Son of Rome from Crytek is a a good game to test out, the graphics are top notch.
 
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Stg-Flame

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Mar 10, 2007
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For CPU, I would recommend Supreme Commander/Forged Alliance (the expansion) on a 4X4 map with maxed AI difficulty. Set your spawn point at the back and turtle like you've never done before. Around the thirty minute mark your CPU should catch on fire so give it another 15 minutes for things to get really hectic and check your temps.

Others have said the Warhammer Total War games have brought their systems down on the high battle counts and with Warhammer 2 Total War being relatively new, I'm sure it would give your GPU a run for its money as well after a few high unit-count battles. In older TW games you could play skirmishes and set how many units were on each side to benchmark your system really quick.

As for the temps with a stock cooler, they really shouldn't be anywhere near 100c with a stock cooler. Even if it's hot where you live (I live in the desert), they shouldn't be that hot unless you're leaving your windows open 24/7 and it's reaching 80+ (Fahrenheit) inside your room, the temps shouldn't be that high with stock gear and decent airflow.
 

urvile

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Aug 3, 2017
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Far Cry 3 & 4 are the most poorly optimised games I have. The dunia engine seems to be heavily CPU bound and uses a single core. I hope they fix this for far cry 5.
 

DeadlyTitan

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Oct 20, 2017
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For CPU, I would recommend Supreme Commander/Forged Alliance (the expansion) on a 4X4 map with maxed AI difficulty. Set your spawn point at the back and turtle like you've never done before. Around the thirty minute mark your CPU should catch on fire so give it another 15 minutes for things to get really hectic and check your temps.

Others have said the Warhammer Total War games have brought their systems down on the high battle counts and with Warhammer 2 Total War being relatively new, I'm sure it would give your GPU a run for its money as well after a few high unit-count battles. In older TW games you could play skirmishes and set how many units were on each side to benchmark your system really quick.

As for the temps with a stock cooler, they really shouldn't be anywhere near 100c with a stock cooler. Even if it's hot where you live (I live in the desert), they shouldn't be that hot unless you're leaving your windows open 24/7 and it's reaching 80+ (Fahrenheit) inside your room, the temps shouldn't be that high with stock gear and decent airflow.

Supreme Commander Hmm yea heard about that game and it looks like fun too, i'll try that one next. Thnx for the suggestion.

Coming to the temperatures, my general room temperature is around 36c, while the outside is around 38/40c throughout the year. So yea 96 Fahrenheit is the general temperature here and 80 is actually considered cool and that's the temps we get in winters.

The stock cooler provided by intel may be sufficient for i3 8100 or even an i5 8400 if you live in a cooler climate, but its not even close when it comes to i7 8700. Please note that i did not apply any additional thermal paste when using the stock cooler and just used what it came up with, that is 3 strips of pre-applied thermal paste. i did it cause i wanted to test what intel thinks is sufficient to cooldown an i7 8700.
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
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im sorry just for the sake of this thread i need to say Crysis for the ever so infamous "can it run crysis" meme...

but seriously....

Ashes of Singularity is one of the standards because it can load a ton of sprites and AI commands. Its also multi threaded.
maxresdefault.jpg



Rise of the Tomb Raider - is a good GPU benchmark especially with all the settings on high because of Laura's hair. And no im not kidding about the hair.

It is not easy for a GPU to render that hair!
YNdwwjH.jpg


Rise-of-the-Tomb-Raider-Hair-Closeup-635x357.jpg
 
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urvile

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Try metro games they are resource hungry and can point you in right direction besides that Crysis 3 is a good entity to check your hardware.

Here is metro last light destroying my number 1. rig @ 2 x SSAA and Very High. How old is this game now? Another example of a game that is poorly optimised for multi core. Or maybe it is optimised? and is so resources intensive it smashes a 12 core CPU?


I have a custom loop in bound and expect to over clock @ 4.1 ghz be interesting to see what frames I get then.

Just as a comparison when I am playing games like dishonored death of the outsider or wolfenstein 2 my rig never goes below 85fps with everything maxed out @ 3440x1440. Is that the way of the future? If so GTX 1080ti SLI for the win. :)
 
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Stg-Flame

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Ashes of Singularity is one of the standards because it can load a ton of sprites and AI commands. Its also multi threaded.
I didn't think AoS was that hard on modern systems. I never encountered any issues with the game during the heavier battles, but I remember most 4v4 maps on Sup Com would cause lots of issues as the match went on.