144 FPS and more in the graphics card benchmark : Test |CUP | Specs |Config

tl;dr: Monitors with 144 Hz or more are no longer uncommon. If you want to achieve the optimal frame rates for this, you need a very fast graphics card. The test shows that FPS beyond 144 Hertz can often only be achieved with high graphic losses, even on high-end GPUs.

Before the turn of the millennium, it was often a question of whether a title was running at all and from 30 FPS it was said that it was very playable, with the advent of Full HD displays with 60 Hertz as the standard, 60 FPS or more quickly became established achieving goal. Higher frame rates with deactivated Vsync still brought advantages in terms of control, but hardly anything changed in the actual “gaming experience”. Since gaming monitors in particular are increasingly coming with 144 Hz and sometimes even higher refresh rates, the advantages are significantly greater on corresponding displays.

Of course, the effect depends heavily on the game, but especially fast titles with direct control can create significantly more flow at three-digit frame rates. Now there are two ways to benefit from more than 60 FPS. A variable refresh rate (Adaptive Sync (FreeSync) or G-Sync) is particularly helpful, because then the frame rate does not necessarily have to be very high and the monitor is still continuously synchronized with the image output of the graphics card. This also has the advantage that the graphics quality can remain at a high level. If the computer can manage higher frame rates, this is kind of a bonus.

The goal in the test: at least 144 FPS for all games

The other option is to always be as close as possible, or better still above the maximum refresh rate of a monitor, at the expense of the graphic quality. For example, if a screen can work at 144 Hz, the frame rate should be consistently around or better slightly above 144 FPS. However, the graphics quality in current games has to be reduced massively, and the demands on the graphics card remain very high. Below the current GPU upper class, this shouldn’t be attempted in AAA games, games like the graphically undemanding perennial hit Counter-Strike: GO are prominent exceptions.

This article focuses on the more challenging titles. Most graphics cards immediately fail for this task. The GeForce RTX 2070 Super, GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and Radeon RX 5700 XT have to prove themselves in the test. In addition, the question arises whether there are possibly differences in the distances between the individual models.

The requirements for classic GPU tests are different

The requirements differ significantly from those of the classic graphics card tests. Instead of always burdening the test subjects with maximum details, it is now necessary that they still manage to use all the units installed, even with reduced resolution and reduced details. And in order to achieve the high frame rates, it is also necessary that the graphics cards can cope with an increasing CPU limit. The test clarifies how well the four candidates manage this.

The test system, the graphics cards and the games

The following graphics card benchmarks have been carried out on an Intel Core i9-9900K, which is operated with the standard settings. The test system can access a total of 32 gigabytes of RAM at a speed of DDR4-3200 (14-14-14-32). Windows 10 November 2019 Update (Version 1909) including all available patches is installed. The Adrenalin 20.4.2 and the GeForce 442.87 were used as drivers.

The graphics cards are a Radeon RX 5700 XT, GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, GeForce RTX 2070 Super and GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. All four models work according to AMD or Nvidia reference specifications.

The games and their settings

Seven games were used in the article for the benchmarks, whereby titles were deliberately chosen that clearly benefit from a high frame rate. These are Borderlands 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Destiny 2, Doom Eternal, F1 2019, Fortnite and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, a mixture of first-person shooter, action and racing game and at the same time one Mix of AAA and e-sports titles.

With the maximum graphic details, even on a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, the required frame rates are usually not nearly achieved. Accordingly, the levels of detail for the test have been significantly reduced. The goal was to get roughly into the desired frame regions on the GeForce RTX 2070 Super. The exact settings can be found in the following table. It can be seen at first glance that the graphics quality had to be massively reduced almost entirely.

On the next page: Benchmarks in FHD, WQHD and UHD with 144/240 FPS and the conclusion