How to choose a video card for a processor or a processor for a video card for games? The myth of the disclosure of the video card and processor
How to choose a video card for a processor or a processor for a video card for games? The myth of the disclosure of the video card and processor
How to choose the right video card for the processor or processor for the video card? To get the best performance in games, the processor and graphics card must be balanced. The selection of a video card for a processor is described in detail in this article.
We will also analyze the myth about the disclosure of a video card or processor. You will understand that these PC components do different tasks in games.
What does the processor and video card do in games? Why the disclosure of the processor and video card is a myth
Will my processor reveal this video card? Will my video card reveal this processor?
Have you heard these questions or asked them yourself?
The processor and video card in the game are engaged in different tasks. And they don't reveal each other. But choosing a video card for a processor is a more correct approach, or choosing a processor for a video card depends on what you already have available.
The processor is building the world. Those. the engine of the game itself. He roughly speaking tells the video card what and how to draw. Calculates artificial intelligence, process geometry, calculate physics, take into account scripts that are executed inside the game engine, process sound, etc. It also calculates the behavior of physical models of characters, instructions for the behavior of various objects, etc. At the same time, the load on the processor does not depend on the resolution of the picture and the set graphics quality. This is a very important point!
In the graphics settings, only changes in the number of NPCs (game characters) can affect the CPU load, the more there are, the more work the processor needs to calculate the interaction of each NPC with other objects and other NPCs.
It all depends on the game engine. In modern game engines, more and more work falls on the video card. But the processor will be loaded as much as the game engine requires, but we can regulate the loading of the video card by the graphics settings of the game itself.
The main task of the video card is to draw the world, the world that the processor has prepared for drawing and rendering. This is the imposition of textures on objects, rendering and rendering of shadows and light (make an object lighter if light hits it), sometimes rendering the geometry of an object and a physical model (deformation of foliage from the wind, physics of hair movement, etc.). In general, this is all that the video card does, for this it has texture mapping units (TMUs), cores for parallelizing the calculation of light and shadows, physics of movement and interaction of objects (Cores).
The operation of the video card is affected by the screen resolution or the resolution of the image that needs to be processed.
After this information, questions such as: will my processor reveal the video card or will the video card reveal the processor should no longer be. They perform different tasks and do not reveal each other.
Neither the processor nor the video card let through each other's power.
All of the above is just a simple example.
The processor prepared 50 frames per second and transferred them to the video card. And the video card when rendering ultra graphics can only render 40 frames per second. Accordingly, the video card will be loaded at 100% and the processor is not. It makes no sense for the processor to process 50 frames, because. the graphics card can only handle 40.
In this scenario, the processor will be loaded less than 100%, and the video card at 100%.
The same situation, but on the minimum graphics settings.
The processor produces the same 50 FPS, as we already know, the quality of the graphics does not affect the performance of the processor. And the video card, due to the reduced graphics resolution, can already render 60 frames per second. The processor will continue to produce 50 frames, it can no longer, and the video card will render 50 frames and partially idle, because. it could render 60 frames.
In this scenario, our processor will be loaded at 100%, and the video card will be less than 100%.
This is a simplified scheme of work, so that there would be an understanding of the work of the video card and processor in games.
You can also say about the quality and quantity of frames. If the 100% load of the video card on ultra settings was caused by high frame quality, then with low frame quality, we can load the video card not with quality, but with the amount of FPS.
What else can affect the performance of the processor and video card?
The performance and the final FPS can be affected by the computer's RAM and disk subsystem. This can cause freezes in games, regardless of the processor and video card.
To prevent this from happening, take care of at least 12 GB of RAM, a frequency of 1600 MHz or higher in two-channel mode, an SSD drive, or a fast HDD with a spindle speed of 7200 and cache memory. Then these components will not be a problem for the rest of the iron.
We select the video card for the processor
Usually they select the video card for the processor, because. The processor is usually cheaper than the graphics card. And it’s right to start with the processor, then you will find out why. And the processor for the video card is chosen if there is already a video card.
How to choose a video card for a processor?
What else can affect the performance of the processor and video card?
On performanceand the final FPS can be affected by the computer's RAM and disk subsystem. This can cause freezes in games, regardless of the processor and video card.
To prevent this from happening, take care of at least 12 GB of RAM, a frequency of 1600 MHz or higher in two-channel mode, an SSD drive, or a fast HDD with a spindle speed of 7200 and cache memory. Then these components will not be a problem for the rest of the iron.
We select the video card for the processor
Usually they select the video card for the processor, because. The processor is usually cheaper than the graphics card. And it’s right to start with the processor, then you will find out why. And the processor for the video card is chosen if there is already a video card.
How to choose a video card for a processor?
For testing purposes, I have a GTX 780 TI with 3GB of VRAM (that's a 1050 TI or RX 470 4GB level), an RX 580 with 8GB of VRAM (approx. 1070) and RX 5700 XT with 8GB of VRAM (approximately GTX 1080 TI, RTX 2070, RTX 2070 Super).
How to choose the optimal video card and not overpay for an unused video card resource?
We will be helped by gaming tests and iron load indicators.
First of all, you need to test the processor in the game at the minimum graphics settings. With such tests, the maximum FPS of the processor will be visible.
How to determine what exactly limits performance, processor or video card
There is no way to bring home all the cards, but it's all on Youtube. That is why there are so many video clips on the network with tests of various hardware configurations. In particular, there are a lot of tests of various configurations on our youtube channel.
We find game tests and look at the following indicators:
CPU Usage Percentage
Load Percentage (GPU)
Video memory usage. To understand if you have enough video memory for the game
Average FPS
Minimum FPS
We have three classic scenarios:
Processor limiting performance (CPU>90%, GPU<90%).
Graphics card limits performance (CPU<90%, GPU>90%).
The memory subsystem limits performance. The third option will not be considered. Remember, good HDD or SSD, dual channel RAM.
There is a percentage of processor load, there is a percentage of video card load.
Video card limits build performance in games
With a properly balanced assembly, your video card should be loaded at 100% and at the same time the FPS should suit you, as well as the smoothness of the game.
If you are satisfied with the performance, then all is well. If the performance is not satisfactory, then you can increase it in games by lowering the graphics settings or replacing the video card with a more powerful one. As a rule, the difference between the average and maximum settings is minimal.
The processor limits the performance of the assembly in the game
If the GPU load is less than 100%, then you need to determine why it is less. The first possible reason is the processor.
If the processor has 4 threads or less, and at the same time the load of all is more than 90%, then the problem is in the processor.
If the processor is multi-core, say 8-core Ryzen, then the load limit can be 60% or lower. At the same time, this is really the ultimate load for the game. Those. The game can't run better.
So for example, on 8 nuclear Ryzen, the percentage of loading in the game is at best 50%. This does not mean that the processor has a large margin for the game, i.e. this can be seen as an advantage if you know where to put the rest of the processor time. For example, stream games or other background processes. If you are just playing, then there is no sense in these idle times. And this is the complexity of parallelizing games. Even if the games are capable of all streams, this does not mean that they are 100%.
If the monitoring is less than 100% for the processor and less than 100% for the video card, in such cases it is the processor that limits the system.
If the performance is limited by the processor, and the video card is not 100% loaded at the same time, you can’t do anything about it. Changing graphics or screen resolution will not help raise FPS. Just buying a more powerful processor or overclocking it. How to overclock the processor, see the section on overclocking.