Both the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and CPU (Central Processing Unit) play a role in determining the FPS (Frames Per Second) in a game. The CPU and GPU work in conjunction with each other to process and render the game.
A faster graphics card delivers higher frame rates that let you see things earlier and give you a better chance of hitting targets. That is why players with better graphics cards average higher Kill/Death (KD) ratios. NVIDIA GeForce GPUs deliver the highest FPS for competitive games.
While your graphics card usually affects FPS more than your CPU, your CPU does affect FPS in many ways. It gives the GPU environment information for it to render, and it handles game logic such as calculations relating to your character's interactions with other in-game objects or characters.
The actual FPS is only directly tied to how many frames the GPU is expected to process. If you get, say, only 30 frame data per second for the GPU, a poor GPU may have to struggle at 100% usage just to get, say, 24, frames out on to the display (resulting in a 24fps with 100% usage).
When one component in the chain causes a bottleneck—for example, your CPU tells your GPU to render a large number of objects at once—your PC draws fewer frames per second. The most common reason for reduced FPS is graphics settings that create a larger workload than your hardware can handle.
Anything using a significant amount of the CPU, memory, or GPU will likely harm game performance. Close those before you start your game. Having your browser open with 50 tabs, letting cloud storage apps sync, or running file transfers while trying to play games can result in lower FPS—even on a good computer.
Enter: overclocking. A GPU overclock can also give you an edge when cranking up visual details. For example, only by overclocking can I play Nier: Automata at 4K resolution, with maximum details at a rock solid 60 FPS. Without that overclock, I'd have to dial back some visual settings and make sacrifices.
You can play most games, even most modern games, with 8GB of VRAM, so really that should be the lowest you go if buying a new graphics card. However, modern games that are built for the Xbox Series X/S and PS5, regularly exceed 8GB of VRAM even when playing at 1080p.
For heavy games, 100% GPU usage is good, while for low-ended games, they can't use all resources hence causing a low GPU usage. At the same time, keeping 100% GPU usage when idle for a long time may lead to higher temperatures, noise levels, and even an evident decrease in performance.
Several factors can cause your GPU usage to spike up to 100 percent, and here are a few of them: The GPU is not properly connected. A hardware failure has impaired your graphics card's performance. You're overstressing the GPU by running more resource-intensive tasks than it could handle.
RAM will boost your system's responsiveness, load the game faster, and improve frame rates. The exact amount of memory that you will need for gaming will be determined by the type of games you want to play and if you need to use any other applications at the same time.
The graphics card and CPU are the most significant contributing factors to a game's frame rate or FPS performance. The computer's CPU sends instructions from programs to the graphics card. The graphics card (GPU) will then process the instructions received, render the image, and send it to the monitor for display.
For general use, most PC users will see a bigger performance increase by having a powerful CPU than by having a powerful GPU. Most PC applications aren't graphically intensive, and even the most basic integrated graphics of modern systems can easily handle everyday tasks like word processing and browsing the internet.
GPUs for Gaming
GPUs are capable of rendering graphics in both 2D and 3D. With better graphics performance, games can be played at higher resolution, at faster frame rates, or both.
Since RAM stores short-term information, having a higher RAM will help in producing more FPS. Why? Because RAM is an essential tool that will help increase the speed of your computer in general. It's not fast in itself, but it allows your computer to be fast with its storage capacity.
PC bottleneck is a situation where one computer component hits its limit and limits the capacity of the other components in the system. If your favorite video game lags due to an underperforming video card, your processor's efficiency won't matter. The graphics are limiting your PC.
Still, generally, a temperature of 80-85 degrees Celsius (176-185 degrees Fahrenheit) is considered to be the upper limit of what is safe for most GPUs. Exceeding this temperature can cause damage to the GPU, leading to system crashes, instability, or even permanent damage.
A dangerously high GPU temperature starts at about 95 degrees Celsius.
Our recommendation is to go with a GPU with at least 6GB of graphics memory if you plan on playing games at 1080p, high quality and reasonable framerates. Most graphics cards with this VRAM capacity will run most modern games, even demanding ones above 60 fps at high quality.
While 8GBs of VRAM was once considered enough, it's no longer the case with modern gaming titles. Games like Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and Red Dead Redemption 2 require more than 8GBs of VRAM to run smoothly at all resolutions.
Gaming memory recommendations
Most games recommend 16GB of memory for speedy, high-performance play. Having this much RAM in your computer will allow you to change what games you play, and to avoid issues with lag and stuttering. At an absolute minimum 8GB is usually a good starting point for most games.
Your GPU usage is very low because you're using the integrated graphics, there's a driver issue, you have a CPU bottleneck, or the game you're playing isn't optimized. Possible fixes are reinstalling drivers, upgrading or overclocking your CPU, and adjusting certain game settings.
The amount of GPU usage also matters. For example, if it's around 80-90%, upgrading your CPU will increase your frame rate, but not by much. By contrast, if your GPU usage is close to 50%, you could potentially double your frame rate by upgrading to a better CPU.
Yes, overclocking a GPU increases FPS. One of the main benefits of overclocking is increased FPS for smoother, sharper graphics while gaming. The added computing power from a GPU overclock helps your graphics card crank out more FPS at higher resolutions.