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Summary
Benchmarks are a staple of PC building.
Perhaps no benchmark is as prominent as the all-important GPU benchmark.
Synthetic vs.
Lucas Gouveia / How-To Geek
Real-World Benchmarks
There are two main types of GPU benchmarks: synthetic and real-world benchmarks.
Synthetic benchmarks are artificial tests that test a GPU’s raw performance in a standardized test.
The most popular GPU benchmark tools are3DMark,Blender, andUNIGINE Superposition.
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In contrast, real-world benchmarks rely on GPU performance in apps that people use.
These usually come in the form of in-game and productivity benchmarks.
Synthetic benchmarks push the GPU to render complex workloads, which is the GPU’s primary function.
In contrast, CPUs can have very different performance results depending on how well an app utilizes itsthreads.
Still, I recommend prioritizing real-world benchmarks.
It’s especially obvious in tasks centered around AI and machine learning.
Josh Hendrickson / How-To Geek
Still, the other two companies are catching up fast.
So, prioritize benchmark results in the tools that you use.
Resolution
Let’s shift to in-game benchmark figures.
Cianna Garrison / How-To Geek
A higher average FPS means the game runs more smoothly, so it’s an extremely straightforward metric.
Very low 1% lows are a sign of stutter.
Benchmark videos sometimes show the current frame time, which is how many milliseconds each frame takes to render.
I only pay attention to clock speed when comparing differentgraphics card brandsof the same GPU.
Ray Tracing
Do you like eye candy?
NVIDIA cares so much about ray tracing that they switched to theRTX monikera couple of years ago.
Still, it’s possible for you to enableray tracing on AMD GPUsand get decent FPS.
In theory, upscaling increases your FPS significantly with a negligible impact on visuals.
Then there’s the more recent introduction offrame generation.
It effectively doubles your FPS by including an AI-generated frame between two real frames.
The quality of the implementation can vary significantly between games and technology vendors.
Upscaling benchmarks are especially relevant if you plan on upscaling the resolution at 1440p and 4K.
For instance, the RTX 4060 significantlyoutperforms equivalent AMD GPUswhen DLSS 3 is factored in.
Newer GPUs typically have a lower power draw and consequently run cooler and quieter compared to their predecessors.
Similar to clock speed, these metrics are especially relevant when comparing different versions of the same GPU.
Regardless of what your GPU budget is, there are always a few different models to consider.
That’s where benchmarks can help you make the final call.
