Gamecheck

Great battles, high demands. Total War: Three Kingdoms pits you as one of twelve legendary warlords to unite a torn China under a new dynasty during an era of three empires. Do not underestimate the system requirements though, as the game’s graphically intensive battles push even the most powerful GPUs to their limits in UHD on the ultra preset.

Runs and runs and runs...smoothly. The free-to-play MOBA, which saw the light of day almost 10 years ago and broke the 100-million-player mark in 2016, still remains very low-maintenance in 2019. Smoothly playable across the graphics card landscape of recent years, League of Legends also delights gamers with older hardware. However, one can't expect much in terms of graphics quality in such games.

Effect fireworks. Rage 2 comes eight years after its predecessor and is id Software's latest post-apocalyptic shooter. As the cover art implies, the game should be even more colourful and action-packed than Rage. Read on to find out which graphics cards can tame this savage title.

Fancy and demanding. Anno 1800 stresses not only the users’ heads, but also the hardware of the computers. We have benchmarked the real-time, city-building strategy game using several notebook and desktop GPUs.

Onwards and upwards. So far, The Division 2 has enjoyed a significantly better reception from the press and gamer community than its predecessor from 2016. Read on in our benchmark check to see how it fares it terms of hunger for system requirements.

Through the roof. In a very short time the free-to-play game Apex Legends has attracted millions of players - a good reason for us to have a look at the first-person shooter and put its system requirements under the magnifying glass.

An emotional rollercoaster. While Anthem has been criticised for its content and story, the first-person shooter has triumphant graphics. Read on to find out the system requirements for BioWare’s latest shooter along with how it performs on various laptop and desktop GPUs.

Sand in the gears. Nearly four years after Dirt Rally and two years after Dirt 4, Codemasters has released Dirt Rally 2.0 to the delight of racing fans, or at least those who are uninterested by Formula 1. Read on to find out how well Codemasters’ latest rally game runs on various laptop and desktop GPUs.

Demanding even without Raytracing. Metro Exodus is the next game to support Raytracing after Battlefield V. Read on to find out why this first-person shooter needs a powerful GPU even at moderate settings.

New setting, old tech. While the story of Far Cry New Dawn is set in a different time, the look of the game is still no different. In our benchmark analysis, we examine what kind of GPU horsepower you need to achieve playable frame rates at certain resolutions and on certain settings.

Out of nowhere. At the end of November without any hype in the press, the third installment in the Darksiders series came out. We examine whether it is a good or a bad sign with our performance analysis.

Rampage. Just Cause 4 is a real adventure playground like its predecessors. Read on in our benchmark article to find out which graphics cards are best for creating chaos.

Room for improvement. As expected, the 2019 edition of the popular and successful Farming Simulator has stormed the sales charts this winter. Read on to find out how well Farming Simulator 19 runs on different systems and what hardware is required to run the game smoothly at different resolutions and graphics levels.

The best-looking FPS with only minor graphics improvements. Although the engine underpinning Battlefield V has hardly improved from its predecessor, the latest game in the Battlefield series is one of the prettiest PC games around. Read on to find how well Battlefield V runs in our benchmark tests. You will also learn what the system requirements are.

Stale post-apocalypse. Fallout 76 has been received poorly by critics and players. Bugs, missing NPCs, weak story; the list of shortcomings is seemingly endless. Unfortunately, the game engine will not win many plaudits either, as we will discuss in our benchmark article.

Sandbox experience. Just like its 2016 predecessor, Hitman 2 offers very expansive levels, which can be completed in a wide variety of ways. You can learn how well the game performs with the help of our performance analysis.

Ciao single player, hello Battle Royale. Activision and Treyarch have jumped on the Battle Royale bandwagon, developing Black Ops 4 as a multiplayer game and abandoning a story-based campaign that has been a feature of all previous Call of Duty games. Our benchmark should provide you with all the information you need about what graphics card you need to play the latest instalment in the CoD series.

The CPU thirst of the ancient world. The new title in the Assassin’s Creed series takes players to Ancient Greece, after having been set in ancient Egypt in the series previous outing, Assassin’s Creed Origins. We will be testing the new game on numerous GPUs while assessing the extent to which hardware requirements and graphics options have changed.

Champions League. Every year EA lures football fans with a new edition of its legendary FIFA series. Read on to see how the 19th version runs on different desktop and notebook GPUs. Is the game only playable on gaming machines or are multimedia systems powerful enough too?

Great looks, meager platform. Forza Horizon 4 is one of the most beautiful racing games ever released. Find out in our benchmark test whether the modern graphics of Forza Horizon 4 can overcome the weaknesses of the Universal Windows Platform (UWP).

A matter of settings. As one of the first PC games capable of supporting DirectX12, Shadow of the Tomb Raider should benefit significantly from DirectX 12. In this benchmark check we will assess whether the performance is actually better than that under DirectX 11, and which GPU is generally better for this action adventure.

Hardware Torture. While Monster Hunter World receives mostly praise from the press, the action role-playing title fares in parts significantly worse with gamers. Find out in our benchmark test whether the PC port was really unsuccessful or whether the gaming community is exaggerating.

Routine racing? Codemasters, like EA with its sports series, tends to make iterative changes to its racing simulations. Find out in this benchmark test the extent to which the hardware requirements have changed between F1 2017 and 2018.

City, Country, River. While the first game only took place on solid ground, The Crew 2 introduces players to racing in the air and on water. Find out in this review how well this open world racer runs on various notebook and desktop GPUs.

Advanced flight simulation. The X-Plane series is a stalwart in the commercial flight simulation market, and X-Plane 11 marks the latest iteration. It uses an advanced physics engine that mixes hard-coded data with aerodynamics to simulate realistic flight. When cranking up the settings the engine is heavily taxing on the graphics card and processor, which is particularly notable for its reliance on single-threaded CPU performance. The scope and scale of the game make it an ideal candidate for assessing system performance.

Experienced successor. While the last two Far Cry games were set in the Himalayas and the Stone Age, the fifth part of this series takes place in the US. Similar to BioShock Infinite, the game deals with a religious cult. We have tested which GPU can really give these fanatics a good working over.

My kingdom for a role-playing game. Kingdom Come: Deliverance was originally financed through Kickstarter and is an extremely ambitious Open World RPG. Will the medieval graphics look good, or suffer from performance problems? Find out in this benchmark article.

Heavyweight. Final Fantasy XV is due for release on PC next month, after console owners have been enjoying the open-world roleplaying game since the end of 2016. In the meantime, Square Enix have released a benchmarking tool as a way to shorten the wait for fans of the series. Update: Benchmarks of the final version

Battle Royale. Epic Games' Fortnite is a new survival shooter and wants to join the success of PUBG. We check the hardware requirements of the colorful multiplayer title. Is a low-end PC sufficient or do you need a high-end GPU similar to PUBG?

Difficult position. Because of loot boxes, micro transactions, gambling loans, and pay-to-win tendencies, the publisher EA has become the target of some massive complaints. In our benchmark article, we are looking more at the question of how well the game is running on various desktop and notebook GPUs.

Revenge is sweet. The name says it all for the latest installment of the Need for Speed series. For a racing game, Payback turns out to be surprisingly story-focused. Our benchmark test will show if the technical aspects are convincing as well.

Lukewarm Reception. With the previous installments in the series having drifted further and further into the realm of futuristic combat, Call of Duty is returning to its roots with its latest game, WWII. While the gameplay has changed little since the early days, the technology present has made improvements in leaps and bounds. We will test which hardware configurations are needed for the first person shooter game.

CPU eater. While frame rates in games usually scale with the performance of the graphics card, Assassin’s Creed Origins also requires a fair bit of CPU power. We examine whether the hardware requirements of Assassin's Creed Origins are justified.

Legendary or trashy? Like its predecessor the new Wolfenstein II combines humorous elements with a rather grave and serious suppressive regime rebel story. The underlying framework has been completely renovated though, and it is now based on the id Tech 6 engine. Our benchmark test will reveal which (mobile) GPU is going to be capable of running the first person shooter smoothly.

Frenzy effect. While the first volume was exclusive to consoles, Destiny 2 will be playable on the PC platform, as well. Our benchmark tests will shine a light on hardware requirements and we will see whether it is a convincing game.

Diamond in the rough. Although at first glance ELEX appears unpolished, beneath the tough exterior there is a suspenseful and multi-faceted role-playing game that skillfully weaves sci-fi and fantasy elements together. But how well does the mixed-genre game run on various laptop and desktop GPUs? Read on to find out.

Thrilling. While it is rather rare that horror movies stand out due to their high quality, there are various horror games for the home computer that could be considered first-rate. In addition to "Resident Evil 7" we could also currently mention "The Evil Within 2" here, which we tested for its performance using several notebooks and desktop GPUs.

Mass slaughter. After its 2014 predecessor left a surprisingly good impression (not in the least thanks to the Nemesis System), Warner Bros. Interactive has launched its successor, “Shadow of War”, a well-made action game based upon the Lord of the Rings universe. We test out the hardware requirements for PC and notebooks.

Bumpy start. You might think that due to the routine, EA could not do too much wrong in the yearly FIFA update. But, you would be mistaken since the release of version 18 is creating several negative headlines. We evaluate the (technical) situation with several notebooks and desktop PCs.

Dinosaur whisperer. It has been one of the most popular early-access titles of the last few years, and now that the dinosaur action spectacle Ark: Survival Evolved has been officially launched it is time to take a look at its system requirements to figure out whether or not the game gulps up computing power as fast as it does player avatars. Update: 25 Systems tested

World tour. F1 2017 starts into the current Formula One season with extremely wide rear tires and very flat-looking bodies. Our benchmark article will reveal whether motorsport fans will get their money's worth in terms of driving experience as well as technology.

A 10-year old strategy shooter Despite its advanced age, TF2 remains to be one of the most popular games on Steam. This is probably due to the fair free-to-play model and the moderate system requirements. The fast-paced 3D shooter is nevertheless quite a challenge, especially for cheap entry-level laptops and Windows tablets. More often than not, it is the processor and not the graphics card that leads to a jerky reproduction and unplayable frame rates. We tested the performance on various laptops, tablets, and desktops in the following benchmark check.

Gaming companion with stamina. Dell has equipped the Inspiron 15 7000 gaming series with cutting-edge hardware and not only convinces us in terms of performance but also surprises us with an exemplary battery life. We are impressed - but not with the display.
Update: Measurement Results of the IPS panel
Intel Core i7-7700HQ | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile | 15.60" | 2.8 kg

Early Success. Although Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (abbreviated PUBG) is still in a very early stage of development, the Battle Royale shooter is already very popular. We also plunged into the fight for survival and analyzed the game's performance for this article.

Hail to the emperor. Eight years after the last version, the real-time strategy game Dawn of War is back. Our benchmark test explores the technology behind the game, and how smoothly it performs on various desktop and notebook GPUs.

Into the mud. Codemaster's Dirt-series is the go-to company of rally sports for those of us who like to dig deep into the mud and dirt of rally racing. We have benchmarked the latest 2017 version of the game to present to you the various notebook- and desktop-class GPU results.

Men's dream? When talking about typical clichés, cars and football are at the very top of many men's wishlists. Rocket League has been combining the two as a fun multi-player game since 2015. Due to the (continuously) very high number of players, we found it about time to check the system requirements.

Successful reboot. The "pre-Prey" from 2006 proved to be a genuine first-person shooter with its gravity components, which players long remembered. After discontinuing the originally planned Prey 2, the publisher Bethesda has announced a reorientation of the franchise in 2017. We checked the PC version's performance.